| Who by Fire | |
| Artist: | Leonard Cohen |
| Album: | New Skin for the Old Ceremony |
| Released: | 30 August 1974 |
| Recorded: | February 1974 |
| Studio: | Sound Ideas Studio, New York |
| Genre: | Folk rock |
| Length: | 2:33 |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Leonard Cohen John Lissauer |
"Who by Fire" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen in the 1970s. It explicitly relates to Cohen's Jewish roots, echoing the words of the Unetanneh Tokef prayer.[1] [2] In synagogues, the prayer is recited during the High Holy Days.[3] The song was written after Cohen's improvised concerts for Israeli soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula during the Yom Kippur War.[4] The song is sung as a duet with Jewish singer, Janis Ian. It was included in Cohen's 1974 album, New Skin for the Old Ceremony.
On October 6, 1973, the Yom Kippur War started when an Arab coalition led by Egypt and Syria, launched a surprise attack on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.[4] Amid high fatalities among Israeli soldiers and a sense of despair in the country, Cohen arrived in the country to perform on the battlefield in the Sinai Peninsula for small groups of soldiers. He said: “I am joining my brothers fighting in the desert,” adding “I don’t care if their war is just or not. I know only that war is cruel, that it leaves bones, blood and ugly stains on the holy soil.”[3] He arrived to perform with a pickup band of four Israeli musicians.[4] Cohen wrote and shelved a manuscript about the experience.[4]
The song is a meditation on death and was inspired by the Unetanneh Tokef prayer recited in synagogues during the High Holy Days.[3] The prayers begins : “On Rosh HaShanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.[3] How many will pass and how many will be created.” In his adaptation of the prayer, Cohen added the question : “And who shall I say is calling?” to the traditional liturgy:[3]
In 2022, Canadian-Israeli journalist, Matti Friedman referenced the song title with his book, Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai. The book is an account of Cohen's experience performing in the Sinai.[4]
The song has also been featured in a number of film and television projects, including:[5]
A 2024 French-Canadian film, Who by Fire, directly references the song in its English-language title.[6]
The song was one of the best received by critics reviewing the album collection.