The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
I saw you this morning
You were moving so fast
Can't seem to loosen my grip
On the past
And I miss you so much
There's no one in sight
And we're still making love
In my secret life
In my secret life
I smile when I'm angry
I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do
To get by
But I know what is wrong
And I know what is right
And I'd die for the truth
In my secret life
In my secret life
Hold on, hold on, my brother
My sister, hold on tight
I finally got my orders
I'll be marching through the morning
Marching through the night
Moving cross the borders
Of my secret life
Looked through the paper
Makes you wanna cry
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it's either black or white
Thank God it's not that simple
In my secret life
I bite my lip
I buy what I'm told
From the latest hit
To the wisdom of old
But I'm always alone
And my heart is like ice
And it's crowded and cold
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
I saw you this morning
You were moving so fast
Can't seem to loosen my grip
On the past
And I miss you so much
There's no one in sight
And we're still making love
In my secret life
In my secret life
I smile when I'm angry
I cheat and I lie
I do what I have to do
To get by
But I know what is wrong
And I know what is right
And I'd die for the truth
In my secret life
In my secret life
Hold on, hold on, my brother
My sister, hold on tight
I finally got my orders
I'll be marching through the morning
Marching through the night
Moving cross the borders
Of my secret life
Looked through the paper
Makes you wanna cry
Nobody cares if the people
Live or die
And the dealer wants you thinking
That it's either black or white
Thank God it's not that simple
In my secret life
I bite my lip
I buy what I'm told
From the latest hit
To the wisdom of old
But I'm always alone
And my heart is like ice
And it's crowded and cold
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
In my secret life
Lyrics submitted by killingjuliet
In My Secret Life Lyrics as written by Sharon Robinson Leonard Cohen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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I love this song - it has less overt politics than some of his others, but he goes to the very heart of apathy and hypocricy here, I think.
Every verse contrasts his reality with his "secret life" - where she hasn't left, where he knows wrong from right, where its not that simple and he's "die for the truth" - but the reality is the opposite. And none of that means anything if he never acts on it.
"marching past the borders of my secret life" seems to suggest hes finally going to make a change...
i simply love this song. leonard cohen is one of the most amazing artists i ever had the pleasure to listen to. no matter whether you listen to his first cd or to "ten new songs" which came out more than 30 years later - his music is extremely touching, his voice always moves me inside...
and i guess many people know someone they would still love to make love to in their secret life... sigh
Life is flawed, according to this song, and we struggle through it with our teeth clenched. One of life’s deficiencies is moral bankruptcy. The “I” in this song can’t afford to be pure and genuine, life has coaxed deceit out of him. But deep inside he longs to be a better man. This longing is a continual source of pain, because it contrasts so sharply with his actual condition.
Dit lied gaat over de onvolkomenheid van het leven, waar je je doorheen worstelt met je kiezen op elkaar. Tot die onvolkomenheid hoort ook de morele ontluistering. De “ik” in dit lied kan zich niet permitteren om zuiver en oprecht te zijn, het leven heeft hem allerlei groot en klein bedrog afgetroggeld. Maar ondertussen is diep in hem een verlangende plek overgebleven, en die plek weet nog goed hoe het was om wèl samen te vallen met het goede en ware. Voortdurend doet die plek pijn, vanwege het verschrikkelijke contrast tussen wat je eigenlijk wilt en wat je kunt opbrengen.
The final lines say an awful lot:
I bite my lip. I buy what I'm told: From the latest hit, To the wisdom of old. But I'm always alone. And my heart is like ice. And it's crowded and cold In My Secret Life.
So both reality and his secret life are cold...
I saw Leonard Cohen in London a couple of years ago as my aunt had a spare ticket. Obviously I'd heard some of his songs before but the show was entrancing. I couldn't believe I hadn't explored his music properly before. This song really got me, and I find myself singing it in the back of my mind when I'm smiling at some inane colleague of mine that I'd rather kick in the eye (to borrow a line from The Smiths), the days when an ex-girlfriend from a decade ago won't get out of my head. How many of us feel like this but can never speak it? At least we have songs like these as a sort of consolation.
I love the way this man sings this song. Incredible!
He's still got it. 'I cheat and I lie, I do what I have to do, to get by' The way he sings that line - absolutely amazing. Fantastic weatherbeaten vocals.
This song isnt as overtly political as some others but I think the the fact he only touches on a political note puts emphasis on how weary and resigned to preaching he is.
It's almost a final, futile cry of agony over our developing culture of disconnect and skewed values. "im always alone.. / ..it's crowded and cold" is almost prophetic when considering the age of social networking.
I think this song goes hand in hand with Waiting for the Miracle because ithey both depict old, valued relationships and reflect upon the naivety of ideality; the departure of which, he arguably presents and the 'human problem'.
I appreciate your remarks for the song which are expressive and read the meanings hidden lines. To add you I would point out ‘Nobody cares if the people Live or die. And the dealer wants you thinking<br /> That it's either black or white.’This is what corpotocracy has invented for public “Goyim”. But bit of resistance whispers in next line ‘Thank G-d it's not that simple, In My Secret Life.’ <br /> Brian W. foster also tried the song and his official video is meaningful too that may be seen at youtube.com/watch<br /> Further Chris Rea also depicted the pain of modern life in his song “She Closed Her Eyes”, please hear the music if could spare some moments out of hot pursuit of survival.<br />
You know it's funny you put how you said he kinda said our world now would be all cold cause of social networking, chaotic, without human interaction, yet, i think of it the opposite, cause of my life experience, we go to the norm, live what we have, live with the ones we have and for me that's crowded and cold, cause i don't feel for those persons, while near and there, physically and part of a society, they're not what i need nor want, so i cheat and lie, i go by, by lying and doing what i must, like he said, but what i wish is to be part of another place, a community made close by social networking, by phone, by anything, a part of something, a love to someone, a voice to something. This song is amazing and now, we can give it even more meaning cause time goes by and new things surface and new meanings are being created. For me, in my secret life, a social network, makes it possible to do the unthinkable yet what i want but by the standards it's wrong and crazy, just like what i am doing there, so in my secret life, i get to be who i really am, which is what i am in my real life. Gosh this song is amazing, in the end, I guess we are back to whom we really are, so our secret life is who we are.