When I first heard it I had no idea about triangle motif.
I thought: He writes to her, she left for other man and let him and their daughter (Jane) alone, he also leaves a message for the other man.
Just to see how could you be mistaken especially if English is not your first language.
Famous Blue Raincoat - What is it about
Welcome to the Forum, Jozef 
.
Jane as a daughter is something that had never occurred to me. Yes, understandable these misunderstandings based on language difference. Next time I listen, I'll do it from the perspective of 'daughter' ~ it's not necessarily so that this wouldn't work, too
. I'll be interested to hear it, with that in mind.
~ Lizzy
.Jane as a daughter is something that had never occurred to me. Yes, understandable these misunderstandings based on language difference. Next time I listen, I'll do it from the perspective of 'daughter' ~ it's not necessarily so that this wouldn't work, too
. I'll be interested to hear it, with that in mind.~ Lizzy
The Raincoat
On thought that i had about the raincoat was that it was a military coat with strips on the side which had been removed. Famous for familar.
Just a thought
Just a thought
There is a crack in everything that's how the light gets in. lc
"Famous Blue Raincoat"
--------------------------------
This is a song about the Greystoke's rivalry
for the hand of Lady Porter of Baltimore --"Jane".
John Clayton, or Lord Greystoke, who grew up in the jungle
and is called "Tarzan" ("Tar-Zan" = "white-skin" in the ape language),
"stands in the way" of William Clayton, the present Lord Greystoke.
Tarzan and Jane fall in love.
Tarzan considers "going clear",
that is to say, "leaving the jungle" for Jane's sake.
To Tarzan every place is "desert" relative to the jungle.
But Jane doesn't see it his way.
So he threatens that they'll have to become a "swinging couple"
if he doesn't have trees to swing on.
Jane tries to explain to him that there is more to civilization
than just swinging. But Tarzan can't think of anything
to relate them to.
Jane throws a fit and rips out a lock of his hair.
She then marries Lord William, and lives happily ever after.
Until the forest is "clear cut" and Tarzan is forced out.
He spends his last days as 'Tarzan' lurking outside the Graystoke manor
in a blue rain coat, but otherwise naked as a blue jay.
He opens the rain coat only to scare away annoying children,
but there are complaints. And then, one time, while escaping the Bobbies,
he stops to hug a shaggy dog and rips his collar on the dog's
collar, who's studs had been sharpened into razor sharp points
by a sadistic owner. Tarzan drinks only exlax in order to "stay clear"
and to fit into the desert of civilization, as he sees it.
But it all goes for naught.
Then one day he just gives up the ghost, and becomes a lawyer.
He represents William, in William vs Jane, since he and William had
become good friends, and were often seen hand in hand
at Leonard Cohen concerts.
Leonard Cohen heard the story, and wrote the song.
----------------
I want to thank you all for this thread. I like it!
Please accept my humble contribution to it
in the spirit intended.
~greg
Every boy wants to be Tarzan!
Few boys want to be Jane.
--------------------------------
This is a song about the Greystoke's rivalry
for the hand of Lady Porter of Baltimore --"Jane".
John Clayton, or Lord Greystoke, who grew up in the jungle
and is called "Tarzan" ("Tar-Zan" = "white-skin" in the ape language),
"stands in the way" of William Clayton, the present Lord Greystoke.
Tarzan and Jane fall in love.
Tarzan considers "going clear",
that is to say, "leaving the jungle" for Jane's sake.
To Tarzan every place is "desert" relative to the jungle.
But Jane doesn't see it his way.
So he threatens that they'll have to become a "swinging couple"
if he doesn't have trees to swing on.
Jane tries to explain to him that there is more to civilization
than just swinging. But Tarzan can't think of anything
to relate them to.
Jane throws a fit and rips out a lock of his hair.
She then marries Lord William, and lives happily ever after.
Until the forest is "clear cut" and Tarzan is forced out.
He spends his last days as 'Tarzan' lurking outside the Graystoke manor
in a blue rain coat, but otherwise naked as a blue jay.
He opens the rain coat only to scare away annoying children,
but there are complaints. And then, one time, while escaping the Bobbies,
he stops to hug a shaggy dog and rips his collar on the dog's
collar, who's studs had been sharpened into razor sharp points
by a sadistic owner. Tarzan drinks only exlax in order to "stay clear"
and to fit into the desert of civilization, as he sees it.
But it all goes for naught.
Then one day he just gives up the ghost, and becomes a lawyer.
He represents William, in William vs Jane, since he and William had
become good friends, and were often seen hand in hand
at Leonard Cohen concerts.
Leonard Cohen heard the story, and wrote the song.
----------------
I want to thank you all for this thread. I like it!
Please accept my humble contribution to it
in the spirit intended.
~greg
Every boy wants to be Tarzan!
Few boys want to be Jane.
tarzan and the famous blue raincoat
Dear Greg,
THanks, I will have to consider your post the next time i listen to the song. It seems pretty wild to me but it certainly is interesting and i would not have come up with that on my own.
David Perrings
THanks, I will have to consider your post the next time i listen to the song. It seems pretty wild to me but it certainly is interesting and i would not have come up with that on my own.
David Perrings
~greg wrote:"Famous Blue Raincoat"
--------------------------------
This is a song about the Greystoke's rivalry
for the hand of Lady Porter of Baltimore --"Jane".
John Clayton, or Lord Greystoke, who grew up in the jungle
and is called "Tarzan" ("Tar-Zan" = "white-skin" in the ape language),
"stands in the way" of William Clayton, the present Lord Greystoke.
Tarzan and Jane fall in love.
Tarzan considers "going clear",
that is to say, "leaving the jungle" for Jane's sake.
To Tarzan every place is "desert" relative to the jungle.
But Jane doesn't see it his way.
So he threatens that they'll have to become a "swinging couple"
if he doesn't have trees to swing on.
Jane tries to explain to him that there is more to civilization
than just swinging. But Tarzan can't think of anything
to relate them to.
Jane throws a fit and rips out a lock of his hair.
She then marries Lord William, and lives happily ever after.
Until the forest is "clear cut" and Tarzan is forced out.
He spends his last days as 'Tarzan' lurking outside the Graystoke manor
in a blue rain coat, but otherwise naked as a blue jay.
He opens the rain coat only to scare away annoying children,
but there are complaints. And then, one time, while escaping the Bobbies,
he stops to hug a shaggy dog and rips his collar on the dog's
collar, who's studs had been sharpened into razor sharp points
by a sadistic owner. Tarzan drinks only exlax in order to "stay clear"
and to fit into the desert of civilization, as he sees it.
But it all goes for naught.
Then one day he just gives up the ghost, and becomes a lawyer.
He represents William, in William vs Jane, since he and William had
become good friends, and were often seen hand in hand
at Leonard Cohen concerts.
Leonard Cohen heard the story, and wrote the song.
----------------
I want to thank you all for this thread. I like it!
Please accept my humble contribution to it
in the spirit intended.
~greg
Every boy wants to be Tarzan!
Few boys want to be Jane.
There is a crack in everything that's how the light gets in. lc
-
Byron
- Posts: 3171
- Joined: Tue Nov 26, 2002 3:01 pm
- Location: Mad House, Eating Tablets, Cereals, Jam, Marmalade and HONEY, with Albert
I was brought up to believe that Tarz-an was the derogative title given to a bottom-knocker's junior assistant. It derives from the ancient Uluruan meaning ozzierules'll crackyernutsboyo. However, the thrunge-link on me squiffle flange has become quite rusty from lack of nitrogen sploontarter, so I'm probably incorrect, for once. 
Anyway, who the hell wears a raincoat these days? We call them macs. Short for Macintosh, who was a bloke who managed to 'stay clear' of Her Majesty's Inland Revenue Officers for 4 decades and a hail mary.
Anyway, who the hell wears a raincoat these days? We call them macs. Short for Macintosh, who was a bloke who managed to 'stay clear' of Her Majesty's Inland Revenue Officers for 4 decades and a hail mary.
Last edited by Byron on Thu Nov 02, 2006 9:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Bipolar is a roller-coaster ride without a seat belt. One day you're flying with the fireworks; for the next month you're being scraped off the trolley" I said that.
Maybe the person leonard is writing to isn't a person at all. Perhaps it is a quality/personality trait that he lacks or is unable to harness. Perhaps it is something that his lover desires or needs that he is unable to provide. It's a thorn in his side, a weakness that he can't stop thinking about, even at 4AM some winter morning.
ut invicem se diligant
Somehow didn't see your lucid explanation 'til now, Greg -
david birkett
- Posts: 302
- Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2004 12:05 am
- Location: HITCHIN, ENGLAND
- Contact:
Interpretation
Sorry to pluck at what I know is a long and old thread, but I do find this to be one of Cohen's most fascinating and moving songs.
I've always seen it as a love triangle story, with Jane having been the difficult lover of the singer and his (metaphorical) brother, who is struggling to 'go clear' from something that could be some kind of addiction, although whether this is to a substance or some self-destructive pattern of emotional behaviour is unclear (and unimportant, I think).
I can think of few lines which are so charged with brilliant, embittered poetry as
"And you treated my woman
To a flake of your life
And when she came back
She was nobody's wife".
Even typing them send shivers where they are accustomed to go.
Best wishes -
David
I've always seen it as a love triangle story, with Jane having been the difficult lover of the singer and his (metaphorical) brother, who is struggling to 'go clear' from something that could be some kind of addiction, although whether this is to a substance or some self-destructive pattern of emotional behaviour is unclear (and unimportant, I think).
I can think of few lines which are so charged with brilliant, embittered poetry as
"And you treated my woman
To a flake of your life
And when she came back
She was nobody's wife".
Even typing them send shivers where they are accustomed to go.
Best wishes -
David
The Ogre does what ogres can,
Deeds quite impossible for Man,
But one prize is beyond his reach:
The Ogre cannot master speech.
Deeds quite impossible for Man,
But one prize is beyond his reach:
The Ogre cannot master speech.
Re: Famous Blue Raincoat - What is it about
I think I'll re-hash this old thread, too.
My own interpretation: it's a two-person narrative, starting with Leonard, handing over to the other guy at the first "Yes" (whip it out, listen again with this in mind, and you'll see what I mean). Leonard was the one who treated Jane to a flake of his life, and only takes over the narrative again with "Sincerely, L Cohen", or that could even be a statement instead of a sign-off, by the other guy.
I don't believe he has "forgotten the triangle", Leonard seems to have a very retentive memory. I believe he just doesn't want to divulge much.
Gina
My own interpretation: it's a two-person narrative, starting with Leonard, handing over to the other guy at the first "Yes" (whip it out, listen again with this in mind, and you'll see what I mean). Leonard was the one who treated Jane to a flake of his life, and only takes over the narrative again with "Sincerely, L Cohen", or that could even be a statement instead of a sign-off, by the other guy.
I don't believe he has "forgotten the triangle", Leonard seems to have a very retentive memory. I believe he just doesn't want to divulge much.
Gina