In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The light came through the window
Straight from the sun above
And so inside my little room
There plunged the rays of love
In streams of light I clearly saw
The dust you seldom see,
Out of which the nameless makes
A name for one like me
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
Then I came back from where I'd been
My room, it looked the same
But there was nothing left between
The nameless and the name
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
Love itself
Love itself was gone
Straight from the sun above
And so inside my little room
There plunged the rays of love
In streams of light I clearly saw
The dust you seldom see,
Out of which the nameless makes
A name for one like me
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
Then I came back from where I'd been
My room, it looked the same
But there was nothing left between
The nameless and the name
All busy in the sunlight
The flecks did float and dance
And I was tumbled up with them
In formless circumstance
I'll try to say a little more
Love went on and on
Until it reached an open door
Then love itself
Love itself was gone
Love itself
Love itself was gone
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@garysong Love it
I can't believe that nobody commented on such a beautiful song... :) I can't even express how much I respect and cherish the genius of the artist Leonard Cohen... I love all of his songs, but now I particularly relate to this one... It expresses so delicately how easily love disappears sometimes, either because we let it slip away or because we just don't see that it's there, right in front of our eyes.... Love Itself... I guess it's true when they say that you can't see with the sun in your eyes!
My impression is that this beautiful song is about journeys through life, it’s about how we are created by the hand or the will of the Nameless from dust, and then have a trip through formless circumstances. And finally return to the same room where there is no difference between the nameless and the name or between being ever created or never being exists. Also this part of the song could mean that after our journeys through life and after our trips there will be no different between the human creature and his creator ( The Nameless or God and the Name or the creature) great song indeed.
@amaranta31 Love it
My impression is that this beautiful song is about journeys through life, it’s about how we are created by the hand or the will of the Nameless from dust, and then have a trip through formless circumstances. And finally return to the same room where there is no difference between the nameless and the name or between being ever created or never being exists. Also this part of the song could mean that after our journeys through life and after our trips there will be no different between the human creature and his creator ( The Nameless or God and the Name or the creature) great song indeed.
@AshrafBotros62 Love it
This is close to what I drew out of this song. The rays of light illuminate the dust seldom seen: our sinful nature in the divine light of God's circumstance. At our death, we will reunite with God and there will be nothing left between the nameless and the named. In the Old Testament, God was too sacred to be called by name, thus he is the nameless. The open door is our exit from this life to life eternal.
Last night I had one of the most vivid waking dreams I've every had in my 43 years while drifting off to sleep listening to this song. I'm going through a tumultuous time in life. My wife and I have hit a rough patch and I have been reflecting on how quickly love can lose its presence in a relationship. When the song reached the verse about love reaching an open door, and disappearing, I envisioned an amorphous white human shape standing, nearing the exit door of a room, then disappearing. When the song reached the verse about going back to the room, the room was filled with that same beautiful light of love. To me this means that love doesn't disappear unless you let it go.
@flythebike Love it
Sounds like Leonard is describing a meditation. Where his spirit gets in contact with itself and manages to fulfill itself with pure love. The spririt world, the Nameless, is helping him with this. And when the meditation is over, his material body is not dualistic anymore, but in contact with the soul. Nothing left between the nameless and the name.
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@trudde Love it
I love all the comments on this song as I feel a special kinship with every Leonard Cohen fan. I too am amazed there are so few commentators, The beauty in his lyrics is how they speak so personally to each individual soul. How he does that is his own special genius. I wonder if even he knows how he does it sometimes. I know on his album Popular Problems, the unnamed figure offstage, while calling our hero a lazy bastard living in a suit, also concedes that , well, he does say what I tell him - he simply can't refuse. Anyway, knowing how emotionally attached to my own interpretation of some of his lyrics I am, it is with some regret that I point you to a video on YouTube of the Zen master Shinzen Young, a fellow student of Leonard Cohen's, explaining the lyrics of this particular song in detail. The video is in two parts. First is the explanation, then Shinzen Young meditates to the song before our eyes. Sorry, I don't know how to perform that kind of link, but if you really want to see it, the two names will take you there - if you really, really want.