This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Now I greet you from the other side of sorrow and despair, with a love so vast
And so shattered, it will reach you everywhere.
And I sing this for the captain whose ship has not been built, for the mother in
Confusion, her cradle still unfilled.
For the heart with no companion, for the soul without a king. for the prima
Ballerina who cannot dance to anything.
Through the days of shame that are coming, through the nights of wild distress,
Though your promise count for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.
You must keep it for the captain whose ship has not been built. for the mother in
Confusion her cradle still unfilled.
For the heart with no companion, for the soul without a king, for the prima
Ballerina who cannot dance to anything.
And so shattered, it will reach you everywhere.
And I sing this for the captain whose ship has not been built, for the mother in
Confusion, her cradle still unfilled.
For the heart with no companion, for the soul without a king. for the prima
Ballerina who cannot dance to anything.
Through the days of shame that are coming, through the nights of wild distress,
Though your promise count for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.
You must keep it for the captain whose ship has not been built. for the mother in
Confusion her cradle still unfilled.
For the heart with no companion, for the soul without a king, for the prima
Ballerina who cannot dance to anything.
Lyrics submitted by division2ronin
Heart With No Companion Lyrics as written by Leonard Cohen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think this song is less literal than some other songs and hard to attach one meaning too, but this is how I connected with it…
Now I greet you from the other side Of sorrow and despair
I have felt sorrow and despair, I survived, now I reach out to you
With a love so vast and shattered It will reach you everywhere
I have so much love left, even after it all. However, It has been so shattered that it must be capable of reaching you, wherever you are. The pieces are everywhere.
And I sing this for the captain Whose ship has not been built
I sing this for those that have not yet reached their ambitions, yet they will.
For the mother in confusion Her cradle still unfilled
For those that do not understand “in confusion” , that are mourning what will never be, no matter how hard you try “still unfilled”
For the heart with no companion
For those that no one understands, whose deepest longings yearn to be shared, but there is no one.
For the soul without a King
For those searching for values, for something to live for, something to rule their mid and decisions, their soul (could be God etc)
For the prima ballerina Who cannot dance to anything
Although you have the capacities to dance beautifully, you cannot. I imagine a beautiful dancer with pointe shoes on sitting on the floor hugging her legs as music comes on and off, with each song her head gets lower, no, not that. I think what he is getting at is that there is a melody of sorrow, and that once you experience despair, deep suffering, it is like no one understands. That melody of sorrow cannot be heard or understood by others, therefore you cannot dance to it. Although you are accomplished, no one will ever see.
Through the days of shame that are coming
Because of what you are suffering from, maybe a divorce you will be ridiculed for things will not get better right away
Through the nights of wild distress
You will not be able to sleep for many nights, you will agonize, debate whether you made the right choices and wrestle with God
Tho' your promise count for nothing
Whatever you are living for will seem like nothing
You must keep it nonetheless
You must keep it for the captain Whose ship has not been built For the mother in confusion Her cradle still unfilled
Keep it for those that will find peace and success instead of having to go through this suffering. Keep this hope for the person you were before this happened. Keep this hope for others that will go through what you have.
For the heart with no companion ...
And yet, you will have no companion, you must got though this alone.
I greet you from the other side ...
You will survive, eventually, and those who have survived before you can at least understand that no one can understand