The Wind and the Dove Lyrics

Lyric discussion by hemlock_echo 

Cover art for The Wind and the Dove lyrics by Bill Callahan

To me it sounds like the Linger On part was a reference to the Velvet Underground song Pale Blue Eyes. It sounds pretty similar and since "And I am a child of linger on" doesn't make much grammatical sense, maybe he is saying that he is influenced by Velvet Underground.