As I sat sadly by her side
At the window, through the glass
She stroked a kitten in her lap
And we watched the world as it fell past
Softly she spoke these words to me And with brand new eyes, open wide
We pressed our faces to the glass
As I sat sadly by her side
She said, «Father, mother, sister, brother,
Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece,
Soldier, sailor, physician, labourer,
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest
Earth and moon and sun and stars
Planets and comets with tails blazing
All are there forever falling
Falling lovely and amazing»
Then she smiled and turned to me And waited for me to reply
Her hair was falling down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side
As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our different faces to the glass
«That may be very well», I said
«But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbours
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see»
With trembling hand I turned toward her
And pushed the hair out of her eyes
The kitten jumped back to her lap
As I sat sadly by her side
Then she drew the curtains down
And said, «When will you ever learn
That what happens there beyond the glass
Is simply none of your concern?
God has given you but one heart
You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers
And God does not care for your benevolence
Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others
Nor does he care for you to sit
At windows in judgement of the world He created
While sorrows pile up around you
Ugly, useless and over-inflated"
At which she turned her head away
Great tears leaping from her eyes
I could not wipe the smile from my face
As I sat sadly by her side
this particular song makes you understand how music can be such a powerfull force in the life of a person... Nick cave is himself, indeed, an amazing force...
I do think that this is his masterpiece, with its incredible lyrics and stunning melody. the song is both saddening and relieving at the same time.
full of anger, disapointment, expectation, love, resentment, compassion, sorrow while questioning religion, humanity, existance whatsoever.
full of issues, that's my Nick.
This is a philosophical discussion between two intimate people. Cave questions the womans view on the world by pointing out the flaws in human nature and the woman responds by telling him not to be so negative, and not to take it all upon himself. In my view both points are right and I think both parties are in part convinced by each other, which is why there is a reversal at the end. Cave is smiling and the woman is crying: they both see the others point of view!
Thats my opinion anyway
Further more, he convinced her by making her see him as fallen, by making her feel pity for him, by making her cry for him. She then realized, that he cries for other people not because he hates the world, but because he loves people. It's the futile love and compassion for people "beyond the glass" what makes him bitter and unhappy. So he sadly smiles, because at the end she finally understands him and shares his curse (curse of love and compassion).
My personal theories of course… :)
My opinion is she 's crying because her eyes have opened to the ugliness of the world and she does not want to admit it to herself, and he is smiling in bittersweet victory over idealism.
I see a lot of various interpretations of the ending of this song, so here's my interpretation (which reflects personal experience in discussions with a family member). I believe that the woman cries because she cares about the man and she suffers seeing him despising everything and just falling back in passive nihilism, suffering from his own existence and maybe most of all she suffers from the belief that he doesn't care about her, as he seems to suggest (each is just concerned with his immediate needs). The man is smiling smugly because he feels he's won the discussion, without realising that hurting the other is not a win, that he's just a selfish asshole, that uses his philosophical view of the world as a justification for not caring about the wellbeing of those who care about him.