Famous Blue Raincoat - Analyzed to Shreds

I was challenged by nancycle to explain what I meant when I referred to Leonard Cohen's lyrics as "being able to carry messages at several different levels". I will probably regret this severely when I consider the knowledge and caliber of some of my readers. Still part of blogging is the exchange of ideas and I am sure I'll learn a lot from the dissenting comments.

Okay, my previous post was on "Villanelle for our time". The lyrics was not by Cohen; only the music. So in order to explain my statement, I am making use of another popular Leonard Cohen song which is "Famous Blue Raincoat".

Squirrel Nitpicker (the critic) says:

This song/poem is in the form of a letter. When I read the lyrics, I am first struck by the background detail that paints an atmosphere and a mood. It is not just trivial information. It is cold, at the end of December and it is very early in the morning. It's 4 o'clock to be specific. Why would someone be up at that time of the night? Probably the letter writer is depressed, unsettled, melancholic (with music from Clinton Street) and lonely?

On the surface, it is a cordial letter. The purpose of the letter is to ask if "you" are better. We are not told what is wrong with "you". But, I surmise, that this and the concern about how "you" is living in second stanza, are just the smokescreens of the writer.

If we look to the next level, I believe the writer is actually troubled by a pivotal incident which is Jane coming by "with a lock of your hair". We now realise that Jane, "You" and writer are somehow intimately related and yet seem to be separated. Jane came by but after what must have been sometime...going back all the way to the night that "You" went away. Yet Jane also spends the night at writer's as if it was natural.

Now clearly there is some history and some hurt that has occurred between writer and "you". If it was myself penning the words, it would have resulted in a very two dimensional descriptive of my feelings with regards to this hurt. Leonard Cohen, instead, is able to give us insights to all three characters and how the incident has affected all of them.

And what is it that we learnt? This letter tells of a love triangle. Possibly the writer and Jane are or were married ("you treated my woman") but "you" could be writer's brother ("my brother, my killer") or a very close friend. What amazes me is that we learn so much about all three characters and it is done in such a natural an uncontrived manner.

Jane's relationship with writer was obviously set back or damaged by some level of infidelity when she runs off for a short time with "you". She liked the excitement of "you" in contrast to the dull, conservativeness and passiveness of writer. She needed more than what writer could supply and despite her short liaison with "you", "you" was able to "take the trouble from her eyes".

"You" is a free spirit. Seeking an ideal woman ("Lili Marlene")which doesn't exist, he is unable to be in long term relationships. Yet, "you" being the idealist is more an expert of the heart than writer and is more passionate.

Writer is the saddest but most complex of all. He hated "You" for what he did but now that time has passed, he realises that "You" was able to give fulfillment to Jane in a way that he was impotent to do. His anger has disappeared ("enemy is sleeping") and is replaced by resignation and an acknowledgement that it would actually be better for "You" and Jane to be together.

Well, that's my understanding of this song and is multilayered because it covered three characters not one and the surface words are often contradicting the underlying intent and finally the story may be about betraytal but the message is about self-effacing love.

As a footnote to this, I actually am most familiar with the version sung by Jennifer Warnes. In this version, just a few choice words were changed. These are shown alongside the lyrics below in yellow. By just these few changes, the story changes to that of an estranged couple. The writer is the mother who seeks reconciliation. She recognises that their daughter, Jane, loves and needs her father and hopes her estranged husband realises that his ideal life or whatever he was seeking for is just a mirage. The writer invites him home.


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 (But she never turned up I mean Lili Marlene)

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life (And you treated some woman....)
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. (...and your 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 (Sincerely, a friend)