leonardcohenforum.com

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

I wonder if he is not talking about death ?

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

This song also resonates a lot with me.
The subject of the hill as in « If it be your will »; is recurrent in his work.
In the case of « she », I did not thought about death, but now that you mentioned it, would it rather be life?
« What I left undone, she will certainly do… » Life goes on.

Anyone who has more information or interprétation to provide on that song… please shoot.

I’ve listened to this song over and over. I believe that it’s about reincarnation. ‘For in this second, our lives will collide the endless suspended the door open wide’. As he is dying, a woman will be born and ‘what I left undone she will certainly do’. Interested in your opinion on this.

Hi Ingrid, welcome to the Forum and thank you for your thoughts! I can go along with your interpretation (btw it's "For less than a second"). I've been listening to this song a lot, I was thinking about a female Messiah, your explanation has helped me further. I'm sure Leonard Cohen was familiar with the concept of reincarnation, which is to find in Jewish mysticism, even in relation to a female Messiah (Eva Frank)! He was also the narrator of The Tibetan Book Of The Dead.
Still puzzled by "the thing" : For someone will use
The thing I could not be