A common man marvels at uncommon things. A wise man marvels at the commonplace. CONFUCIUS

Monday 7 December 2009

Countdown To Christmas (17): Separation

Bob Dylan: If You See Her, Say Hello

Another day. I follow another path,
Enter the leafing woodland, visit the spring
Or the rocks where the roses bloom
Or search from a look-out, but nowhere

Love are you to be seen in the light of day
And down the wind go the words of our once so
Beneficent conversation...

Your beloved face has gone beyond my sight,
The music of your life is dying away
Beyond my hearing and all the songs
That worked a miracle of peace once on

My heart, where are they now? It was long ago,
So long and the youth I was has aged nor is
Even the earth that smiled at me then
The same. Farewell. Live with that word always.

For the soul goes from me to return to you
Day after day and my eyes shed tears that they
Cannot look over to where you are
And see you clearly ever again.

Friedrich Hölderlin

2 comments:

am said...

"... she's better off with someone else
and I'm better off alone ..."

I'd not heard that version of "If You See Her, Say Hello" before, with its change of pace, alternative lyrics, and major shift of perspective away from "although our separation pierced me to the heart, she still lives inside of me, we've never been apart."

There were some great photos on that video that I'd never seen before.

Intriguing pairing with Friedrich Holderlin's poem.

The Solitary Walker said...

Great version of the song, I think.