| Leonard Cohen – The Stranger Song Lyrics | 11 years ago |
|
This song is about autonomy. Leonard Cohen often explores this theme with songs of domination/submission, power/weakness etc. In his earlier works, especially “Songs of Love and Hate” he vacillates between feeling like a monster and demonizing or devaluing others despite recognizing the beauty in them. The narrator is speaking about a person(woman?) who has felt discarded after often being there for others. It is difficult to always console a man who is always looking for something just out of their reach that they can submit their will to rather than to claim their own autonomy. After is all said and done and the woman is picking up the pieces she realizes that these people in their need take, but did not give very much. When they go she is so sad she is no longer able to even laugh. She realizes that he was someone who will always be looking for a better shelter. The way he detaches from the woman is by rejecting her and telling her it’s her fault. She caused him to be weak by offering herself to him. She gave him her autonomy. He can not respect her help because he himself can not claim himself as sovereign. He dismissively uses the excuse that “I told you” when I first met you I would leave as if this is a justification for his modus operandi. After this she meets another man who is just the same and won’t truly connect with her. He is just out of reach and she can finally see he is the same as the others. His rusty forearm is a dead giveaway as to how long he has been playing this game with himself and others. She really cares about this person so it is hard to watch him give his own autonomy to another again, and even while this is happening she can see the smoke curling up behind him as he plans his next escape. Just as she is becoming aware of this pattern between them she has invited him in her sheltering heart again but this time she realizes he has jammed the door and cast her out onto the road. Or, she realizes she had best make a run for it. The narrator tells her not to be scared and she can finally see why she is not much different in her own way. She has always offered up her autonomy with her love in the form of giving, and he offered his up to someone else in hopes to not have to take ownership of his life. She is afraid of her own power so she keeps giving it away, and he is angry that he has none because he is always giving it away to the next warm form in his bed in hopes she will be the one that can take charge or care of him. He asks her if she would be willing to meet tomorrow. He was hoping and waiting for her to meet him again some day and tries to explain that he never had a secret chart to understand his actions. He did not mean to be so obtuse, but he has been asleep most of his life. She secretly knows it is because he is always dreaming of submitting to another. She realizes he is still being as vague as ever and she has no idea what he still wants from her. But without his own autonomy, he doesn’t even know who he is or how he feels at this point. He is still unaware of himself. She agrees to meet him again at a different place and time in their lives. In the end he gives the same excuse over and over. I warned you that when we met I would eventually leave. They are like two satellites trapped in an orbit of their own making. Neither will ever really escape the gravitational pull of the other until one or both of them decide to claim their own power. This song is from so long ago so maybe by now they have found this with each other or someone else. Leonard Cohen is always so vague about his songs, which is probably why HE is probably “The Stranger”. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.