Come Healing

The power and profound impact of the right song at the right time

In my book "Runhundred" there is a chapter about the song "Come Healing" by Leonard Cohen. The chapter is called:

Forgiving Myself and Others

It was the last chapter I wrote for Runhundred, and these words only found their way into the book very late on. In the end, however, it became one of the most important chapters because it explains in a very unconventional and compact way what happened to me at Western States, particularly between the aid stations Devil's Thumb and Cal-1.

The song "Come Healing" is about forgiving yourself and others. At Western States, I forgave the heat for being my downfall. At the same time, I forgave me for abandoning my true will and for deciding to drop out of the race. Although the race turned out quite differently, it was the moment when I came to terms with myself.

(In fact, I was on the verge of giving up all hope even before the start)

Forgiveness releases the pressure in your chest. Pressure that comes from anger, resentment, and disappointment. It creates space for new, softer feelings. It takes courage and strength to forgive, but when we dare to take this step, it is like a new beginning.

In "Runhundred" I speculate about what the concept of forgiveness could have meant in my family history. I came up with it because both my father and my brother had a time in their lives when they loved listening to Leonard Cohen. Maybe they still do. Many of our family conflicts might have been resolved, or at least would have felt different. And we would certainly all still be in contact, which in reality is only occasionally the case.

Be that as it may, I close this Das Z Letter with the beautiful words of Leonard Cohen's "Come Healing":

O gather up the brokenness
And bring it to me now
The fragrance of those promises
You never dared to vow

The splinters that you carry
The cross you left behind
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

Behold the gates of mercy
In arbitrary space
And none of us deserving
The cruelty or the grace

O solitude of longing
Where love has been confined
Come healing of the body
Come healing of the mind

O see the darkness yielding
That tore the light apart
Come healing of the reason
Come healing of the heart

O troubled dust concealing
An undivided love
The Heart beneath is teaching
To the broken Heart above

O let the heavens falter
And let the earth proclaim:
Come healing of the Altar
Come healing of the Name

O longing of the branches
To lift the little bud
O longing of the arteries
To purify the blood

And let the heavens hear it
The penitential hymn
Come healing of the spirit
Come healing of the limb

O let the heavens hear it…

(Source: Leonard Cohen Website)

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Everything not Running

I would have loved to print the lyrics of “Come Healing” in my book. Unfortunately, this is not possible without further ado, as it could violate copyright law and it is an endless odyssey to get permission for such a well-known song. I'll spare you the details, but if you think you can just pick up the phone and call the lyricist or songwriter, have a little chat and then get permission to use the lyrics with a handshake, then you've got it all wrong.

But with another song, or more precisely one line of text, getting the permission worked. I really wanted to have the chorus of "Ebbe & Flut" by German punk band Slime as an epigram in my book. Fortunately, the lyricist – spoiler alert, it's not a member of Slime – was also his own publisher and was therefore able to give me permission quickly.

I'm delighted every time I open Runhundred and see the Slime text and the dedication to Lisa. It was worth writing the book for that alone.

(Epigraph of “Runhundred”)