The song's oblique lyrics are suggestive of religious and end time themes, with references to prayer, meaningful birthmarks and signs in the sky.

Writing for The Guardian in 2015, Ben Hewitt drew attention to the lyrics' apocalyptic nature, imagining Cohen "greedily eyeing world domination like a Bond villain".

[1] Rolling Stone magazine's Mikal Gilmore similarly described the song as a threatening vision of "social collapse and a terrorist's revenge".

[5] Warnes' original recording is notable for the distinctive driving lead guitar played by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

In late February 1986, at the annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Beck asked Vaughan to record the guitar for the song.

Filmed in New York City, the video features Stevie Ray Vaughan playing his weathered "Number One" guitar (with its distinctive "SRV" logo) on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The 20th anniversary edition of the music video contains a German intro about the West Berlin discotheque bombing.

Leonard Cohen's own synth-pop[9] version of "First We Take Manhattan" (with additional verses) was released in 1988 as the first track on his eighth studio album I'm Your Man.