Famous Blue Raincoat

I see this whole song as Cohen's attempt to reconcile his emotions with his deteriorating relationship with Jane. Perhaps he knew that Jane was never really satisfied with Cohen emotionally, yet they continued to stay together, and Cohen is having trouble coming to terms with the fat that he would never completely satisfy his "woman."

The "brother" was close to both parties and was suffering from manic depression and drug addication. The line that describes the "brother" as going to the station to meet every train and coming home without Lili Marlene refers to his depression - his manic ambition to get better (meeting every train) and the inevitable return of the depression and drug abuse (Lili Marlene being as strictly symbolic figure). I think it's possible that Jane and the "brother" had an emotional but Cohen assumed it was sexual and because of his own insecurity (knowing he knew he wasn't making Jane happy but unwilling to see it as his own fault or too emotiaonally immature to be proactive about it) labels the problem as Jane's.

Jane knows the "brother" needs help and because she is also a close friend to the "brother" (and maybe because she could identify with depression) believes that she can make him better. She brings back the lock of hair (which I see as Jane's attempt to literally clean him up with a haircut and shave) to Cohen because she knows how much the friend means to him. Maybe Jane has even fallen in love with the brother, but realizes that the "brother" will never "go clear" from the drugs or make the commitment to get better so a relationship would never work. I think when Cohen refers to the "brother" as a thin, gypsy theif, it's a sarcastic remark at how disappointed he is in the "brother" - that he perhaps has a certain amount of disgust in the fluctuation of his moods and senses Jane's emotional bond with the "brother" that Cohen sees as being stolen from him.

I feel that Jane and Cohen were living together and their relationship worked enough to keep them together, dispite their differences and emotional needs. Maybe Jane really longed to be with the "brother" but knew she could never deal with the drug addication and while Cohen didn't provide her with the excitement and whirl-wind romance she wanted, he was stable - so the two remained together as companions, too afraid to break away from each other. So they're together and both still quite concerned for the "brother." I see Cohen writing to the "brother" after a night of reflection and drinking - a letter he doesn't really intend to send. And maybe he's doing it to punish Jane. I think he's trying hard to resolve his inner conflict - he wants to forgive the "brother" and obviously thinks of him enough to not want to cut him out of his life although he might have for a short time. I think Cohen went through a period when he tried to dismiss the "brother" or forget about him altogether, but in the end he just couldn't do it because he of his love for him...hence the lyric "I'm glad you stood in my way."

I think the line in which Cohen writes "if you ever come by here for Jane or for me, your enemy is sleeping and his woman is free" is his bitter invitation to the "brother" to visit him - he admits he's still very angry and hurt but has gotten over it for them moment; he also eludes to his own emotional detachment to Jane. While he's struggling to resolve his bitterness, anger and sadness over the situation, he realizes that the "brother's" relationship with Jane was necessary in order for Cohen and Jane to be together at all. Maybe it's his way of saying that he knew that Jane had feelings for the "brother" (maybe still does) but if she hadn't gone to visit him and try to "fix" him she would never have come to terms with the fact that the "brother" was never going to "go clear" - that he would never take the steps necessary for him to treat his depression and kick his habit.

Cohen ending the song with a line he uses at the beginning of the song (the lock of hair) emphasizes the crux of Cohen's conflict - he let Jane go to help the "brother" and when Jane returned somehow uplifted he made up his mind that they'd had an affair and knew it was silly but just couldn't get over it and constantly struggles to resolve it.