Famous Blue Raincoat

The harmonic structure is defined by the interplay between A minor and its relative major, C. While the verse is grounded in a dark, minor-key narrative involving the 'blue raincoat' and 'Clinton Street,' the chorus moves to the brighter C major, mirroring the shift in the letter's tone from reporting events to more abstract reflections. The use of E7 (the major V in A minor) provides a sharp, classical tension that resolves back to the tonic, while the subtonic G major in the outro lends the song a distinct 1960s/70s folk-revival character.

The song is written in the form of a letter, utilizing amphibrachs in many of its lines. It describes a love triangle involving the narrator, a woman named Jane, and a man addressed as 'my brother, my killer.' The lyrics depict the narrator's complicated feelings toward this third person, who is said to have 'planned to go clear' and once returned with a lock of Jane's hair.

This standout track from Songs of Love and Hate is written as a literal letter, blending personal confession with imagery of Scientology and New York's Clinton Street. Its sparse acoustic arrangement and lyrical depth defined the folk-noir aesthetic of Leonard Cohen's early 1970s output.