When I Light Your Darkened Door

J. Tillman

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When I light your darkened door
When I light your darkened door
When I light your darkened door
Will you curse the day?

When your name breaks on my lips
When your name breaks on my lips
When your name breaks on my lips
Will you know the sound?

There are roses in your hair
And a lily on your breast
And a longing in your heart
Will you be ashamed?

Lyrics submitted by mctaggey

When I Light Your Darkened Door song meanings

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My Interpretation
I was listening to Leonard Cohen's Bird on the Wire, and there's a lyric, "[I saw] a pretty woman, leaning in her darkened door / She cried to me, 'Hey, why not ask for more?'" I've read that Tillman's a Leonard Cohen listener (he also played a cover for MOJO's The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered), so I wonder if perhaps he took the phrase from that song.

I think of "Bird on the Wire" as a redemption song, or forgiveness song, written through the perspective of a guy who feels like he's fucked everything up. So it's cool to think about, that maybe this song was written to kind of continue on the relationship of those characters - a beautiful woman offering herself to this guy who considers himself to be unworthy and good for nothing. If you think of it like that, this song is like his inner dialogue, and his self-doubt in thinking that this woman doesn't know who she's looking at, that the "darkened door" refers to her not being able to see him clearly for who he is.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen's Bird on the Wire, and there's a lyric, "[I saw] a pretty woman, leaning in her darkened door / She cried to me, 'Hey, why not ask for more?'" I've read that Tillman's a Leonard Cohen listener (he also played a cover for MOJO's The Songs of Leonard Cohen Covered), so I wonder if perhaps he took the phrase from that song. I think of "Bird on the Wire" as a redemption song, or forgiveness song, written through the perspective of a guy who feels like he's fucked everything up. So it's cool to think about, that maybe this song was written to kind of continue on the relationship of those characters - a beautiful woman offering herself to this guy who considers himself to be unworthy and good for nothing. If you think of it like that, this song is like his inner dialogue, and his self-doubt in thinking that this woman doesn't know who she's looking at, that the "darkened door" refers to her not being able to see him clearly for who he is.

Reason:

prettybirdon June 21, 2012 Link
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