I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you
But now it's come to distances and both of us must try
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye

I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time
Walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme
You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me
It's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea
But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye

I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm
Your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm
Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new
In city and in forest they smiled like me and you
But let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie
Your eyes are soft with sorrow
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye


Lyrics submitted by Fistan

Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye Lyrics as written by Leonard Cohen

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye song meanings
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23 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    the shoreline and the sea are things that happen naturally with the world, they can't really be changed and are unpredictable, just like the sun setting and rising.

    you can't change them. it's just the way the world works.

    lost love. acknowledging lost love. understanding and accepting lost love. easing the pain of lost love with a comforting goodbye.

    people that are very much in love but will never be together, because of each other.

    go in peace, i will always love you.

    i'm done.

    iluke1on January 04, 2008   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm, What we had was real, I acknowledge that it was true and mutual your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm, But even then your hair, like a storm foreshadowed that we could never be a permanent couple yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new, Why do I feel like we are the only people that are hurting because we cant be together? in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, I know that countless others have felt this way, have shared love like we have, but ours cannot last as theirs might have but now it's come to distances and both of us must try, We have no choice but to separate, it could never happen and we knew it. We cannot understand, but we must accept it. your eyes are soft with sorrow, You are holding back tears, so am I, neither of us want this separation Hey, that's no way to say goodbye. Gently, I know we feel this way, but lets try to see past this I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, This was not an affair, it was a relationship. I am not looking for another, I don’t know if what we had could be replicated walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme We will always understand each other, we shared a special connection you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me, I will never stop loving you, and I know you will never stop loving me it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea, But sometimes life is like this, and things change. We cannot do anything about it. but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie, Lets not focus on what we cannot change. We cannot untie our love, it will always exist, but lets not focus on how we must leave each other now.

    One of my favorite all time songs. Cohen captures perfectly how it feels when a relationship ends imperfectly that feels like it was meant to be.

    Student1988on November 13, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    "I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me, it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea" In absolutely adore this piece of this song. Especially the last part, when I hear that, I see the sea drawing back, but the shoreline moves exactly like the sea does. It seems to me like he's saying, our love is forever, and we will always be right for eachother ("our steps will always rhyme"). And I think that's a beautiful thought, to which I can absolutely relate at the moment. But then there's that sadness, the sorrow and the goodbye. Very beautiful. So strong. I find it very hard to explain what exactly it means to me. So strong

    Philosophyon March 21, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    When I heard this song for the first time, just a few days after learning that a woman whom I loved did not love me in the way I did her... It was just, so incredibly powerful.

    Anything but the fact that I wouldn't get to spend another morning with her just faded from my mind as I sat there in the middle of all my friends and stared blankly into space.

    Now, whenever I hear this song the moments she and I DID share, are played back to me... And partly thanks to Leonard, it is a fond memory, not a painful one. And that is really what this song has become to be about for me, as iluke1 writes, about accepting love that cannot be, and making it into a memory or an experience that is not entirely negative.

    531on September 14, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    There are ways to say goodbye, ways that impart the depth of love felt, but saying goodbye to one you don't really want to say goodbye to can never be right no matter how much you try to convince them. Or yourself. Some love may not be meant to be, and may be impossible to keep if those mountains are so high, but those chains that can't be untied will hold you within that love. her eyes would be filled with sorrow; by saying that's no way to say goodbye it acknowledges her pain but also relegates it to a lost love status. That is potent,yes, and speaks more of pushing her love away. That's no way to say goodbye.

    gothravenon December 30, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    this song always seemed to me like a nice way to dump a girl,

    i loved you in the morning ( as contrasted with now when he doesn't ?)

    our love affair was nothing new ....

    Im not looking for another ..

    Now its come to distances and both of us must try ....,

    lets not talk of love and chains and things we cant untie (marriage) ...,

    your eyes are soft with sorrow (crying)

    hey thats no way to say goodbye

    but i agree - this is one of the most beautiful songs - probably my favourite line is " your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm " - if i could write like that i would be happy.

    bungleboy42on July 27, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is about the imperfect goodbye that's common with broken relationships.

    charrbinon May 28, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think it's about a love that can't be, meeting someone at a point in your life when a relationship isn't possible.
    For me, it's about an affair, kinda like the feeling that 'the bridges of maddison county' give me.

    geybelkeon August 24, 2007   Link
  • +1
    Memory

    His description of her sounds like something my ex-husband once wrote about me in a poem.
    We love each other, but there are some things that we couldn't compromise on and we realized that it wouldn't work out between us.

    The Infamous Ton January 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    No comments? It's such a lovely (and lonely) song! It comes to mind anytime I am missing someone. Which is a lot. Wah

    perfectandslowon February 21, 2005   Link

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