Thursday, April 27, 2006

a song for poetry thursday...

Famous Blue Raincoat

It’s four in the morning, the end of december
I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better
New york is cold, but I like where I’m living
There’s music on clinton street all through the evening.

I hear that you’re building your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now, I hope you’re keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without lili marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody’s wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see jane’s awake --

She sends her regards.
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I’m glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear

-- sincerely, l. cohen

my first real job of any truth and reality
was at a record store.
one day a man came in the store
and bought a leonard cohen cd.
i mentioned that i liked his poetry...
a couple of days later, the same man came back
with 6 poetry books for me,
all leonard cohen...
he just gave them to me.

i have loved this song
from the first moment i heard it...
the lyrics, the deepness of his voice,
the sadness, the honesty.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ooh, I never read this before and I loved the rhythm and motion of the lines...

Wow. I'll need to read more of his work.

I love learning something new!

Thank you.

Deb R said...

I've never heard that song, but I love the words.

Anonymous said...

I love this too...I could hear the music as I read it. Need to go listen to it again. Thanks

kristen said...

I love the story behind this poem and the poem is very good too; very Leonard Cohen. For some reason, as I was reading this and then your story afterwards, I had the image of that movie High Fidelity running thru my brain.