From The Elvis Costello Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
|
Andersen:
O, I implore you to sing this melody before you go
If I may be so bold
It may be very many years until we meet again
So I shall teach you this, my most pitiful refrain
“She has forgotten me completely
My grief, my grief she does not see
So, take these scissors and this paper
And cut out any likeness that you have of me”
Andersen hallucinates that Lind is present
Lind:
He has forgotten me, completely
My grief, my grief he does not see
Would he even raise a hand to greet me?
My grief, my grief and my grief, my grief he does not see
It only took the briefest of absence
To shatter my belief
And as wretched as I am
Maybe it is better that you don’t remember me
And if time may bring forgiveness
There will be a day when understanding can return
Andersen:
O, no that’s not it at all you’ve changed the air and the meaning
Though your voice is so endearing and so tender, you have confused the gender
Lind:
Gentle Brother, just as the French say “vous” for “you” and “tu” for sentimental lovers
There is a word that truly must be heard from him and from no other
“He has forgotten me, completely
My grief, my grief he does not see
Would he even raise a hand to greet me?
My grief, my grief and my grief, my grief he does not see
It only took the briefest of absence
To shatter my belief
And as wretched as I am
Maybe it is better that you don’t remember me
And if time may bring forgiveness
There will be a day when understanding can return”
|
“part of a dream in which Andersen imagines Lind performing his "secret songs" – which stand for the tales that she inspired in real life.” — Journals 2008
|
|
