The Hills: “She will be born” Meaning?

Leonard Cohen's posthumous album (2019)
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Lonesome_Hero
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Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:01 am

The Hills: “She will be born” Meaning?

Post by Lonesome_Hero »

Hi everyone,

I’ve been listening to the album quite often since its release and was wondering what others thought about the meaning of “The Hills”.

I’m specifically interested in your interpretations of who or what “she” represents in the context of the underlined verses

Is she the one that “will use the thing I could not be”, and is that Cohen’s body of work, what he could not accomplish, or something else all together? Or is she the poetic muse, which may make more sense in terms of “she will be born to someone like you”? This may also make sense in terms of “For less than a second our lives will collide...the door open wide” as that may be a description of the instances when he has been “where the good songs came from”, to quote the PoA speech. These are just the thoughts that pop into my head, but they don’t seem to fit well enough.

I’m not at all sure and would love to hear what you all think!

Lyrics:

I can't make the hills
The system is shot
I'm living on pills
For which I thank God

My animal howls
My angel's upset
But I'm not allowed
A trace of regret

For someone will use
The thing I could not be
My heart will be hurt impersonally

She'll step on the path
She'll see what I mean
My will cut in half
And freedom between

For less than a second
Our lives will collide
The endless suspended
The door open wide

And she will be born
To someone like you
What I left undone
She will certainly do

I know she is coming
And I know she will look
And that is the longing
And this is the hook

I can't make the hills
The system is shot
I'm living on pills
For which I thank God

My page was too white
My ink was too thin
The day wouldn't write
What the night penciled in

But I know she is coming
And I know she will look
That is the longing
This is the hook

And I know she will look
(That is the longing)
And this is the hook

I can't make the hills
The system is shot
I'm living on pills
For which I thank God

I sailed like a swan
I sank like a rock
But time is long gone
Past my laughingstock

And I can't make the hills
The system is shot
I'm living on pills
For which I thank God
"The goal falls short of the reach"
Titou19
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Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:14 am

Re: The Hills: “She will be born” Meaning?

Post by Titou19 »

I wonder if he is not talking about death ?
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lschwart
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Location: Richmond, VA

Re: The Hills: “She will be born” Meaning?

Post by lschwart »

To put it broadly--and I think that's appropriate in this context--I think the she is the future reader/listener of/to the work.

Louis
Louis Schwartz

"The sea so deep and blind/ The sun, the wild regret/ The club, the wheel, the mind,/ O love, aren't you tired yet?" Leonard Cohen, "The Faith."

https://english.richmond.edu/faculty/lschwart/

https://www.facebook.com/mysonthedoctorRVA/

https://www.youtube.com/user/mysonthedr
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