he's searching for someone to teach him how to use his heart (cohen has battled depression throughout his life, so i take this as him seeking out some sort of cure to his chronic illness)
the first two verses shows that he looked for the answer in women, to me symbolizing relationships or maybe just flings...
neither worked out so he continues asking 'are you the teacher of my heart?'
if you've read most cohen's work, the comforts of women is his weakness when bad, and his strengths when good... therefore i think these failed attempts with women leaves him to running into that 'lost man'
in my opinion i believe the lost man is himself, i would think this would be the point of coming face to face with who he was becoming. he states 'had yet to find', therefore at that point he has yet to be completely wreck and looking for something else to cure himself for himself, he enters a mental hospital.
"no one was sick" (physically) "but no one was well" (emotionally)
but instead of helping him, it seemed to have dragged him more over the edge, and still seeking his cure, or just some sort of relief.. he beings self cutting.. and one of my favorite Cohen lines 'some girls wander by mistake, into the mess that scalpels make'.. the nurses walk in on him. the last lines always gave me a feeling of these places being so cold, and lonely... it's not what he's seeking, and if anything broke his spirit even more.
after that i think when he says 'carve' it's more symbolic then literal. it seems that all else failed.. he begins just with negativity scraping away at himself..
....when he finally looks up to god for help, god tells him to eat (spiritually) to fatten him up emotionally and mentally. He starts 'spending' his hatred, meaning the further he went down this path the more those thoughts would disappear. For every good act it's as thought it cost him one of his angry thoughts. soon he learned to let others accept him and vice versa
leaving him in the end to ask 'teachers are my lessons done' to what they laugh and reply 'well are your lessons done'..
..he was always looking for the answer in something else that when he ask the same question he asked time before, and redirect the question to him, as to pinpoint out that it was him himself that was his own teacher and he should be asking himself that.
Sorry about the empty comment. An accident. I very much like your interpretation, up until he gets to the hospital, which may be symbolic instead of literal. The scalpel blade may be a reference to suicidal thoughts or mental rather than physical self mutilation. The silver spoon may be a reference to drug (heroin) use, which he was no stranger to at that point in his career, which has an element of self mutilation, especially when you're a very conscious guy and you know what you're doing to yourself. This was about the time...
Sorry about the empty comment. An accident. I very much like your interpretation, up until he gets to the hospital, which may be symbolic instead of literal. The scalpel blade may be a reference to suicidal thoughts or mental rather than physical self mutilation. The silver spoon may be a reference to drug (heroin) use, which he was no stranger to at that point in his career, which has an element of self mutilation, especially when you're a very conscious guy and you know what you're doing to yourself. This was about the time he was shooting up with Janis in the Chelsea hotel.
The idea of spending hatred being a good thing, I'm not sure about. He asks his "teachers' how much the suppers (possibly the fame and money he was just beginning to acquire, or even the women) cost, and the hatred seems to be both price and currency, a suffering he endured which fueled his music and his despair as well.
"Someone gave me wishes" might refer to his becoming known outside literary circles when Judy Collins etc. started covering things like Suzanne, and he started "running for the money and the flesh" (as per Chelsea Hotel #2 again). For those who believe LC never experimented with homosexuality, I refer you both "and then I was embraced by men" and that element in Beautiful Losers. Except he realizes he wasn't getting quite what he was looking for. And some critic (God, himself, fans) knows he hadn't expressed himself fully yet. "The words you sang were wrong"
I do agree with your ending. No one else decides when your lessons are done.
he's searching for someone to teach him how to use his heart (cohen has battled depression throughout his life, so i take this as him seeking out some sort of cure to his chronic illness)
the first two verses shows that he looked for the answer in women, to me symbolizing relationships or maybe just flings...
neither worked out so he continues asking 'are you the teacher of my heart?'
if you've read most cohen's work, the comforts of women is his weakness when bad, and his strengths when good... therefore i think these failed attempts with women leaves him to running into that 'lost man'
in my opinion i believe the lost man is himself, i would think this would be the point of coming face to face with who he was becoming. he states 'had yet to find', therefore at that point he has yet to be completely wreck and looking for something else to cure himself for himself, he enters a mental hospital.
"no one was sick" (physically) "but no one was well" (emotionally)
but instead of helping him, it seemed to have dragged him more over the edge, and still seeking his cure, or just some sort of relief.. he beings self cutting.. and one of my favorite Cohen lines 'some girls wander by mistake, into the mess that scalpels make'.. the nurses walk in on him. the last lines always gave me a feeling of these places being so cold, and lonely... it's not what he's seeking, and if anything broke his spirit even more.
after that i think when he says 'carve' it's more symbolic then literal. it seems that all else failed.. he begins just with negativity scraping away at himself..
....when he finally looks up to god for help, god tells him to eat (spiritually) to fatten him up emotionally and mentally. He starts 'spending' his hatred, meaning the further he went down this path the more those thoughts would disappear. For every good act it's as thought it cost him one of his angry thoughts. soon he learned to let others accept him and vice versa
leaving him in the end to ask 'teachers are my lessons done' to what they laugh and reply 'well are your lessons done'..
..he was always looking for the answer in something else that when he ask the same question he asked time before, and redirect the question to him, as to pinpoint out that it was him himself that was his own teacher and he should be asking himself that.
nice interpretation. thanks for posting :)
nice interpretation. thanks for posting :)
@xpsychicheartsx
@xpsychicheartsx
@xpsychicheartsx
@xpsychicheartsx
Sorry about the empty comment. An accident. I very much like your interpretation, up until he gets to the hospital, which may be symbolic instead of literal. The scalpel blade may be a reference to suicidal thoughts or mental rather than physical self mutilation. The silver spoon may be a reference to drug (heroin) use, which he was no stranger to at that point in his career, which has an element of self mutilation, especially when you're a very conscious guy and you know what you're doing to yourself. This was about the time...
Sorry about the empty comment. An accident. I very much like your interpretation, up until he gets to the hospital, which may be symbolic instead of literal. The scalpel blade may be a reference to suicidal thoughts or mental rather than physical self mutilation. The silver spoon may be a reference to drug (heroin) use, which he was no stranger to at that point in his career, which has an element of self mutilation, especially when you're a very conscious guy and you know what you're doing to yourself. This was about the time he was shooting up with Janis in the Chelsea hotel.
The idea of spending hatred being a good thing, I'm not sure about. He asks his "teachers' how much the suppers (possibly the fame and money he was just beginning to acquire, or even the women) cost, and the hatred seems to be both price and currency, a suffering he endured which fueled his music and his despair as well.
"Someone gave me wishes" might refer to his becoming known outside literary circles when Judy Collins etc. started covering things like Suzanne, and he started "running for the money and the flesh" (as per Chelsea Hotel #2 again). For those who believe LC never experimented with homosexuality, I refer you both "and then I was embraced by men" and that element in Beautiful Losers. Except he realizes he wasn't getting quite what he was looking for. And some critic (God, himself, fans) knows he hadn't expressed himself fully yet. "The words you sang were wrong"
I do agree with your ending. No one else decides when your lessons are done.
Thanks for liking this song as much as I do.