Friday Sessions #83: ‘To call for hands of above, to lean on’ – ‘Heartbeats’ The Knife

If you’ve learnt a few English phrases in the past from classic songs, you will probably know “Lean on me, when you’re not strong. And I’ll be your friend……….” In fact, Bill Withers won a Grammy Award for best R&B song with these lyrics in 1988 with the track ‘Lean on me.’ It doesn’t matter if you love or hate the song, key words will still probably get stuck in your memory. (Otherwise known as ‘ear worms’.)

Todays focus lyric: ‘To call for hands of above, to lean on‘

So, what does ‘lean on’ actually mean? What other contexts might you find this phrasal verb? Check below for some examples:

“Be careful not to lean on the table, it’s broken.” (Don’t put your weight on something)

“Thank you for all your help.” > “It’s my pleasure, you can lean on me anytime.” (To give support)

“The client is leaning on the company shareholders to support his next move.” (Putting pressure to convince)

Lyrics:

One night to be confused
One night to speed up truth
We had a promise made
Four hands and then away

Both under influence
We had divine sense
To know what to say
Mind is a razor blade

To call for hands of above, to lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough for me, no

One night of magic rush
The start, a simple touch
One night to push and scream
And then relief

Ten days of perfect tunes
The colours red and blue
We had a promise made
We were in love

To call for hands of above, to lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough for me, oh

To call for hands of above, to lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough for me

And you
You knew the hand of the devil
And you
Kept us awake with wolves’ teeth
Sharing different heartbeats in one night

To call for hands of above, to lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough for me

To call for hands of above, to lean on
Wouldn’t be good enough for me