Sometimes I find I get to thinking of the past.
We swore to each other then that our love would surely last.
You kept right on loving, I went on a fast,
Now I am too thin and your love is too vast.
But I know from your eyes
And I know from your smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
I choose the rooms that I live in with care,
The windows are small and the walls almost bare,
There's only one bed and there's only one prayer;
I listen all night for your step on the stair.
But I know from your eyes
And I know from your smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
Oh sometimes I see her undressing for me,
She's the soft naked lady love meant her to be
And she's moving her body so brave and so free.
If I've got to remember that's a fine memory.
And I know from her eyes
And I know from her smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
We swore to each other then that our love would surely last.
You kept right on loving, I went on a fast,
Now I am too thin and your love is too vast.
But I know from your eyes
And I know from your smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
I choose the rooms that I live in with care,
The windows are small and the walls almost bare,
There's only one bed and there's only one prayer;
I listen all night for your step on the stair.
But I know from your eyes
And I know from your smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
Oh sometimes I see her undressing for me,
She's the soft naked lady love meant her to be
And she's moving her body so brave and so free.
If I've got to remember that's a fine memory.
And I know from her eyes
And I know from her smile
That tonight will be fine,
Will be fine, will be fine, will be fine
For a while.
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thompson's version is incredible i agree! i somewhat agree with floodline but somehow i think that they are already broken up when he sings this song and he regrets. i think this is kinda a self pity song; he's basically saying why did i leave her?
in the first verses he is describing how originally they loved each other and it was all dandy. she went on loving him and he stopped loving her and "now i am too thin and your love is vast" she found someone new and he is alone.
i think the second verses emphasize this thought. emotionally he is very reserved and he has a hard time exposing his feelings. the room he chose for himself is small with little access "windows" to the outside world. 'there is only one bed' and 'only one prayer' in the room' is an admittance of his selfishness in general and particular when they were together. he wishes he hadnt fouled things up and hopefully waits for her to somehow come back to him.
the last verses are just beautiful flashbacks of making love with her and a final bittersweet statement that if memories are all he has then that they are better than nothing.
i've read alot of cohen's works not only his song lyrics, and by his own admission sex is a heavy underlying theme in the majority of his writing. i think that the chorus is more or less the singer masturbating either physically or mentally fantasizing and feeding off of those memories to do so, her "eyes" and "smile" .
Mental masturbation is an amazing expression.