Jazz Police | “Jesus taken joyous by a few”
Jazz Police
Can you tell me why the bells are ringing?
Nothing's happened in a million years
I've been sitting here since Wednesday morning
Wednesday morning can't believe my ears
Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police are talking to my niece
Jazz police have got their final orders
Jazzer, drop your axe, it's jazz police
Jesus taken serious by the many
Jesus taken joyous by a few
Jazz police are paid by J.Paul Getty
Jazzers paid by J.Paul Getty II
Jazz police I hear you calling
Jazz police I feel so blue
Jazz police I think I'm falling
I'm falling for you
Wild as any freedom loving racist
I applaud the actions of the chief
Tell me now oh beautiful and spacious
Am I in trouble with the jazz police?
Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police are talking to my niece
Jazz police have got their final orders
Jazzer, drop your axe, it's jazz police
They will never understand our culture
They'll never understand the jazz police
Jazz police are working for my mother
Blood is thicker margarine than grease
Let me be somebody I admire
Let me be that muscle down the street
Stick another turtle on the fire
Guys like me are mad for turtle meat
Jazz police I hear you calling
Jazz police I feel so blue
Jazz police I think I'm falling
I'm falling for you
Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police have got their fire orders
Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police have got their fire orders
Comments
The idea for this song came to Cohen when he was working on Recent Songs with the fusion group Passenger. He had to act like "jazz police" because they kept sneaking jazz riffs into his songs. And in typical Cohen fashion, he worked on this song for nine years before he completed it.
We meet two types of people in this song—the jazzers, who make the music, and the jazz police, who are the critics. But the line between the two can run right through each of us. Cohen knew what it was like to be a jazzer/musician under the scrutiny of the jazz police. But he also heard the call of the jazz police and admitted to them, "I think I'm falling, I'm falling for you."
The mention of Jesus cues us to the fact that the meaning of this song goes beyond music. And what he mentions of Jesus reveals his knowledge and playful interaction with the gospel accounts. "Jesus taken serious by the many / Jesus taken joyous by a few." This line is playing off of something Jesus said: "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). According to Cohen, many have fallen to the call of the jazz police. They are those who take Jesus seriously, most likely in a critical sense. Only a few chosen jazzers have resisted this. They are the ones who know how to take Jesus joyously.
The seriousness and the joy could be describing the disposition of the many and the few. It could also be expressing how the many and the few understand Jesus to be himself. I wouldn't be surprised if Cohen intended for us to think of both possibilities.
This line has challenged me to re-read the gospels as a jazzer, as one who takes Jesus joyously. As I have done this, one passage in particular sticks out. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' Yet wisdom is proved right by her children." (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34)
"Son of Man" was Jesus' favorite name for himself. And eating and drinking with friends appeared to be his favorite activity. If he wasn't at a meal, he was usually coming from one or going to one. This gave him a reputation, especially it seemed among the jazz police of his day, for being someone who ate and drank too much and with the wrong kind of people.
These were meals where the sick were healed, the guilty were forgiven, and the lost were found. Those kinds of things make people happy and full of laughter. But 'serious' people don't understand things like healing and forgiveness. So they must come up with another explanation. "Obviously, a lot of alcohol was involved." They don't get the wisdom and joy of Jesus.
But thankfully, there are moments when their guard is down, and Jesus can slip his joyful riffs into their lives. And because of this song, I'm trying to let my guard down more often.
Share your responses to the above lyrics and commentary here. Different points of view and disagreements are welcome, but please be respectful.