Leonard Cohen – Famous Blue Raincoat Lyrics

From the acclaimed 1971 album Songs of Love and Hate – a very personal song in a form of a letter from one side of a love triangle to another, invoking multiple images including the first biblical murder of Abel by his brother Cain.

Famous Blue Raincoat Lyrics by Leonard Cohen

[Verse 1]
It’s four in the morning, the end of December
I’m writing you now just to see if you’re better
New York is cold, but I like where I’m living
There’s music on Clinton Street all through the evening
I hear that you’re building
Your little house deep in the desert
You’re living for nothing now
I hope you’re keeping some kind of record

[Chorus]
Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?
[Verse 2]
Oh, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You’d been to the station to meet every train
But then you came home without Lili Marlene
And you treated my woman
To a flake of your life
And when she came back
She was nobody’s wife

[Chorus 2]
Well, I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane’s awake
She sends her regard

[Verse 3]
And what can I tell you my brother, my killer?
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you. I guess I forgive you
I’m glad you stood in my way
If you ever come by here
For Jane or for me
Well, your enemy is sleeping
And his woman is free
[Chorus]
Yes, and thanks for the trouble
You took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good
So I never tried
And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Sincerely, L. Cohen