It's knowing that ...

[LewisJian]

Gentle On My Mind​

It's knowin' that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleepin' bag
Rolled up and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowin' I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
Or the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you in the back roads
By the rivers of my memory
That keeps you ever gentle on my mind

Is it right to see "It's knowing that your door is always open ..." as " Since I know that your door is always open ...?" If not, what does it mean? Thanks in advance.

 

[Barque]

Is it right to see "It's knowing that your door is always open ..." as " Since I know that your door is always open ...?"

Yes. I believe the singer's saying "I know you'll always be there for me" or "I know you'll always be ready to help me".

(Please tell us the source. I know you did in another thread, but I think you need to say it in every one.)

 

[LewisJian]

Thanks, Barque, for your quick reply. Is "it's knowing that..." used by many people and very common now?

 

[Barque]

The specific words "It's knowing that ..." don't sound very likely to be used in normal conversation.

Song lyrics often use structures that aren't common in speech, and they often say things indirectly.

In speech people are more direct and they'd say "I know that ..."

 

[jutfrank]

The song uses cleft sentences. Let me simplify the first example and give a couple of paraphrases:

It's knowing that your door is open that makes me leave my sleeping bag behind your couch.
=
Knowing that your door is open makes me leave my sleeping bag behind your couch.
=
The thing that makes me leave my sleeping bag behind your couch is knowing that your door is open.

 

[LewisJian]

Thanks, jutfrank, for the crystal clear explanation.

 

[emsr2d2]

@LewisJian You must provide the source and writer of anything you quote on the forum. Please make sure the relevant information is in post #1, with the quoted words.