Laura Nyro’s “Eli’s Comin’” seems to narrate an impending heartbreak. This song is about a woman forewarned of Eli, a man who’s set to bring sorrow to her heart. It’s not about a specific person, but Eli is depicted as a universal heartbreaker. The repetitive warning to “hide your heart” emphasizes the imminent emotional turmoil. It seems Laura Nyro wrote this song to depict the inevitability of heartbreak, the urgency of self-protection, and the relentless pursuit of love.
Curious about Eli and the heart he’s chasing? Let’s unmask the emotions and the enigma encircling Laura Nyro’s “Eli’s Comin’”!
“Eli’s Comin’” Lyrics Meaning
The song “Eli’s Comin’” opens with a repetitive, almost urgent warning, “Eli’s comin’, Eli’s comin’, Whoa you better hide your heart, Your lovin heart.” The echoing repetition stresses the importance of shielding one’s emotions, hinting at a looming heartbreak symbolized by Eli.
The lines, “Eli’s a comin and the cards say, Broken heart,” reiterate the coming sorrow, referring to a presumed foretelling, a glimpse into the future of a broken heart. The predictive cards and the repeated advice to “Hide your heart girl,” emphasize a feeling of inevitable heartache, setting a tone of distress and urgency throughout the song.
The song’s chorus, “You better, better hide your heart,” seems to underscore the unavoidable pain Eli is bound to cause, reinforcing the warning and accentuating the significance of self-guarding in the face of impending emotional turmoil.
“I walked to Apollo and the bay, And everywhere I go, Eli’s a comin’,” these lines depict a seemingly futile attempt to escape from Eli’s pursuit. The allusion to specific locations implies a sense of journey and evasion, only to be continuously haunted by Eli’s imminent arrival, “And he’s comin’ to get me mama, I’m down on my knees.” This portrays a sense of surrender and helplessness in the face of unavoidable distress.
The plea, “Cry but he’s never gonna follow,” may signify a cry for help or an expression of anguish, but the assertion that Eli is never going to follow illustrates the inexorable nature of Eli’s pursuit and the subsequent heartbreak.
The Story Behind “Eli’s Comin’”
When Laura Nyro penned “Eli’s Comin’” she was likely exploring the concept of love, loss, and the unrelenting pursuit of the heart. Nyro’s crafting of Eli as the harbinger of heartbreak seems to reflect a universal experience of love’s aches and the undying endeavor to shield oneself from it.
The song’s repetitive and urgent warnings and the depiction of the relentless chase echo Nyro’s reflections on the unavoidable aspects of love and sorrow, perhaps hinting at her own emotional states and experiences at the time of writing. The inevitability of heartbreak and the constant advisories to hide one’s heart may represent Nyro’s contemplations on vulnerability, emotional protection, and the ubiquitous nature of love’s pains.
Nyro’s choice to create a piece centered around the foreseeing of emotional pain and the efforts to guard against it serves to illustrate the pervasive struggles within human relationships and the unceasing dance between love and loss. “Eli’s Comin’” is a timeless representation of the human emotional landscape, a melodic exploration of the heart’s pursuits and the intertwined sorrows.