Famous Blue Raincoat

It's four in the morning, the end of December I'm writing you now just to see if you're better New York is cold, but I like where I'm living There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

(This sets the mood. Really pretty setting. Cold New York December and music. Cohen is writting to the man who had an affair with his lover Jane. Maybe it was a friend of his. Or maybe he just learned to know him through the whole thing. Cohen has said himself that he didn't know who this song was really about and that he had a blue raincoat. I think he was just doing some creative writing and mixing his own emotions into it.)

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

(The guy is lost. Isolating himself. Cohen hopes the guy is still keeping track of what is happening and not just letting go of everything.)

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair She said that you gave it to her That night that you planned to go clear Did you ever go clear?

(Jane came back to Cohen after the guy left her. She had a lock of his hair as a keepsake. The guy left to try to get back on his feet. To feel better. Maybe it's a reference to scientology or drugs or just anything bad. And Cohen wonders if the guy ever achieved that goal, in a friendly way.)

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder You'd been to the station to meet every train And you came home without Lili Marlene

(Cohen and Jane saw the guy at some point and it seems like he was not doing better at all. Still looking for himself or something. Lili Marlene is an old song and I think here it just means the guy didn't find the peace-love-clarity-strenght he was looking for, although he did try hard.)

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

(Cohen is a little mad that the guy didn't take good care of Jane. Treating her like she was nothing and just leaving her when he was feeling too bad. She probably went back to Cohen after he left her, but she wasn't Cohen's anymore. Althought it seems he ended up taking her back. At least he is still sleeping with her and seeing her sometimes.)

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth One more thin gypsy thief Well I see Jane's awake She send her regards.

(Cohen remembers the guy to be a fake and someone who just takes and never gives back cuz he is lost himself and looking for something. And then he says Jane is awake. Pointing out that she is still around. She tells Cohen to say hi to him for her.)

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer What can I possibly say? I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you I'm glad you stood in my way.

(When Cohen says ''his brother'' maybe he means that the guy was a good friend. Or simply that he understands how one can be really hurt and lost and end up hurting people around him. And so Cohen forgives him. The word ''brother'' also contradict the word ''killer'' that he uses right after. Probably just trying to show the contradiction he feels about the guy. Still loving him, but hating him for taking Jane away. And he seems to be glad, in a way, that the guy took Jane away. As Cohen and Jane both needed it. Maybe their relationship was suffocating or something.)

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me And your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.

(Cohen doesn't mind seeing him again. The guy probably was a friend. And Cohen is just saying that he doesn't wanna fight anymore and that he doesn'T care much. He can take Jane back if he wants. He's probably tired of all the pain he suffered from Jane going away and he has let go of it all.)

Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

(Jane was probably a sad, broken girl too. Cohen thought nothing could save her and never even tried to help. And he's glad cuz the guy seems to have given something back to Jane. Or given her hope or something. And now she's more peaceful.)

Sincerely L Cohen

(Very pretty... his name at the end, like a real letter. I really like the whole mood of the song. Somewhere between regrets, forgiveness, letting go and not killing yourself over the way things are and how some things can't be changed. Incredible song really.