☝️ Key Points
- The song 'So Long, Marianne' by Leonard Cohen is a profound and emotional declaration of love, marked by a mixture of melancholy, love, and farewell.
- The protagonist tries to better understand his beloved Marianne and feel closer to her, both physically and spiritually.
- They have many shared memories, both happy and sad, and it is time to relive them - laughing and crying.
- Cohen admits that his love for Marianne has sidelined other important aspects of his life and neglected him spiritually.
- Although Marianne assures him that she is with him, he feels lonely and confused, desperately searching for her hidden love.
- He is afraid of losing her and wants to keep her close, mentally and emotionally, even though he knows he has the ability to love anyone.
Interpretation
The song lyrics 'So Long, Marianne' by
Leonard Cohen is an emotional and profound declaration of love to a woman named Marianne, who played a significant role in Cohen's life. The song is characterized by a mixture of melancholy, love, and farewell.
In the lines 'Come over to the window, my little darling / I'd like to try to read your palm / I used to think I was some kind of gypsy boy / Before I let you take me home', the protagonist tries to better understand his beloved and feel closer to her.
'So long, Marianne / It's time that we began / To laugh and cry / And cry and laugh about it all again' shows that they have experienced many ups and downs together and that it's time to go through those memories together - laughing and crying.
Cohen admits in the line 'Well, you know that I love to live with you / But you make me forget so very much / I forget to pray for the angels / And the angels forget to pray for us' that his love for Marianne was so intense that he neglected other important aspects of his life.
The words 'Your letters, they all say that you're beside me now / Then why do I feel alone?' express his loneliness and confusion, even though she assures him that she is with him.
The line 'For now, now I need your hidden love / I'm cold as a new razor blade / You left when I told you I was curious / I never said that I was brave' shows his desperation and need for her hidden love.
The line 'If you leave, where will I keep you then? / In my heart, as some man say / And I, who was born to love everyone / Why should I keep you so far away?' expresses his fear of loss and the desire to keep her close, even though he knows he can love anyone.