I cannot follow you, my love,
You cannot follow me.
I am the distance you put between
All of the moments that we will be.
(Leonard is a big fan of love, loss and religion and this both exemplified and juxtaposed in this song. Like Pink Floyd's "Mother" [a parallel between war and the mother/child bond] Cohen starts off with the literal, we can't be together due to overwhelming spiritual/environmental/individual differences. It is "me" "I" that is the obstacle to intimacy and connection, sabotaging our future together).
You know who I am,
You've stared at the sun,
Well I am the one who loves
Changing from nothing to one.
(you've truly seen me, in all my nakedness and vulnerability; the second piece of the chorus gets at the author's attachment style. He becomes highly involved/engaged in love ones, becoming one, but at the same time this intimacy terrifies him, and so he shuts down or leaves the relationship entirely).
Sometimes I need you naked,
Sometimes I need you wild,
I need you to carry my children in
And I need you to kill a child.
(I need you to be vulnerable, I need you to be adventurous/spontaneous, I need you to be nurturing, I need to not be dependent on you, like a child.
If you should ever track me down
I will surrender there
And I will leave with you one broken man
Whom I will teach you to repair.
(but if you manage to stick with me, through all my efforts to sabotage and reject you, eventually I will accept your love. I'll show you my brokenness. I'll let you help me heal)
Although there is obvious religious undertones, such as "becoming one" and "surrendering" this song to me is mostly about how much the author wants love and intimacy, and yet how much this terrifies him at the same time; this is is his character flaw as a man, and yet there is hope, for with time trust can be achieved.
I cannot follow you, my love, You cannot follow me. I am the distance you put between All of the moments that we will be.
(Leonard is a big fan of love, loss and religion and this both exemplified and juxtaposed in this song. Like Pink Floyd's "Mother" [a parallel between war and the mother/child bond] Cohen starts off with the literal, we can't be together due to overwhelming spiritual/environmental/individual differences. It is "me" "I" that is the obstacle to intimacy and connection, sabotaging our future together).
You know who I am, You've stared at the sun, Well I am the one who loves Changing from nothing to one.
(you've truly seen me, in all my nakedness and vulnerability; the second piece of the chorus gets at the author's attachment style. He becomes highly involved/engaged in love ones, becoming one, but at the same time this intimacy terrifies him, and so he shuts down or leaves the relationship entirely).
Sometimes I need you naked, Sometimes I need you wild, I need you to carry my children in And I need you to kill a child.
(I need you to be vulnerable, I need you to be adventurous/spontaneous, I need you to be nurturing, I need to not be dependent on you, like a child.
If you should ever track me down I will surrender there And I will leave with you one broken man Whom I will teach you to repair.
(but if you manage to stick with me, through all my efforts to sabotage and reject you, eventually I will accept your love. I'll show you my brokenness. I'll let you help me heal)
Although there is obvious religious undertones, such as "becoming one" and "surrendering" this song to me is mostly about how much the author wants love and intimacy, and yet how much this terrifies him at the same time; this is is his character flaw as a man, and yet there is hope, for with time trust can be achieved.