Leonard Cohen sings here about the end of a relationship and questions whether it's worth moving on to a new one I guess I'm just somebody who Has given up on the me and you I'm not alone, I've met a few Traveling light like we used to do Cohen described the song in press materials as "A seeker hits the road and finds the joys of solitude."
Cohen is alluding to his early days on the Greek island of Hydra, the clue being the Greek bouzouki that is heard, as well as the background vocals by Greek singer-songwriter Athena Andreadis. It may be that Cohen is nodding towards his late longtime love Marianne Jensen (later Ihlen) whom he lived with on Hydra. She was the muse for several of his songs including "Bird On The Wire" and "So Long, Marianne." Ihlen passed away in the summer of 2016 before the release of You Want It Darker.
The song is a reworking of a poem that first appeared in Cohen's 2006 poetry collection Book of Longing.
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.