The song then moves in a more biblical direction, referencing Judith and Holofernes (coloured by details from the stories of Salome and Ruth) in the line "Whose head is this she's dancing with on the threshing-floor?
In her 2012 work, Cohen biographer Sylvie Simmons writes of the song: "Its sensual melody is paired with dark accusatory lyrics that are biblical in tone.
"[3] She called the stern sense of loss Cohen voiced, in the song, "a touch disproportionate", given his long history of finding lovers who were already in relationships with other men.
Cohen explained that he wrote the song partly about the break-up of his own long-term relationship with the Los Angeles graphic artist Suzanne Elrod in 1978.
[1] When he performed it live in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 24 November 1980, he introduced it with the words: "This is a little song that I wrote for my wife after she ran away.