The Leonard Cohen Lyric About a Love on Its Last Legs

Many people write love songs that take place when the bliss of a relationship is at its peak. And many more write love-gone-wrong songs from the perspective of someone ruing the departure of someone special from their lives. Leonard Cohen’s “Tonight Will Be Fine” comes at the topic from a slightly different view. It depicts someone savoring the final bits of a love affair, fully cognizant that it’s going to expire at any minute.

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“Fine” and Dandy

Leonard Cohen wowed critics with his 1967 debut album Songs Of Leonard Cohen. Not long after Bob Dylan had electrified the singer-songwriter genre, Cohen took it back again to words and music largely unadorned. That was his intent, anyway. He came out of his debut album feeling that producer John Simon had added too many frills to his songs.

Determined not to have that happen again, Cohen went looking for a new collaborator. He started work on his sophomore album, Songs From A Room, with David Crosby of all people. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for those sessions. Predictably, this pairing didn’t last, and Cohen looked elsewhere.

He turned to Bob Johnston, who had produced Dylan for several of his landmark albums in the mid-60s. Johnston brought Cohen to his haunts in Nashville and connected them with top session players of that era. Those players kept songs like “Tonight Will Be Fine” nice and simple, allowing Cohen’s mesmerizing words and droning vocals to make maximum impact.

“Tonight Will Be Fine” took pride of place as the final song on the record. It’s an excellent example of how Cohen could run the emotional gamut in his songs. The narrator anticipates the end of the relationship in which he’s currently embroiled. And he spends his moments alternately sorrowful at what’s about to happen and grateful that he has a few more moments to cherish.

Exploring the Lyrics of “Tonight Will Be Fine” by Leonard Cohen

Perhaps because the future is too painful to contemplate, Leonard Cohen’s narrator begins the song in retrospection. “Sometimes I find I get to thinking of the past,” he sings. “We swore to each other that our love would always last.” After those two somewhat pedestrian lines, he finds novel ways to explain how their paths have diverged. “You kept right on loving, I went on a fast,” he sings. “Now I am too thin and your love is too vast.”

In the second verse, he reflects on his otherwise solitary existence. His barren life is only interrupted by the woman’s presence. “There’s only one bed and there’s only one prayer,” he admits. “I listen all night for your step on the stair.”

The third verse finds him taking mental pictures during their intimate times. “She’s the soft naked lady love meant her to be,” he sings, suggesting their time together outside those moments has become less benign. “If I’ve got to remember, that’s a fine memory,” he says, foreshadowing their separation.

The chorus proves how a single phrase can swerve the entire meaning of a song section. That phrase is “for a while,” which qualifies the title statement and suggests that their happiness is all too temporary. With “Tonight Will Be Fine”, Leonard Cohen takes whatever he can from the precious relationship time that he knows will soon elapse.

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