Lyric Analysis: Hallelujah

A few years ago my kids came home from Shrek humming this song.  I was familiar with a version of it recorded by Jeff Buckley, but really only recalled some words from the first verse - something about a chord structure that pleased the Lord - and of course the chorus of Hallelujah.  One day I caught a video of Jon Bon Jovi performing the song and saying that of all the songs he'd ever heard, it was this one that he wished he had written (pretty strong considering all of the songs he has written).  A little research and I found out the song was originally written by Leonard Cohen in 1984.  I also found a number of different sets of lyrics.  Bon Jovi's version wasn't quite Buckley's.  Buckley's wasn't quite Cohen's.  In fact, Cohen's sometimes wasn't Cohen's as he is said to have written more than eighty verses and interchanged them over the years.  But, no matter the lyrics, those words from the first verse and chorus of Hallelujahs always seem to affect me when I hear them.  So, I did some poking around.

Cohen has said that he wrote the song during a time of deep spiritual searching in his life.  His first verse and second alluded to Biblical stories of David and Samson and spoke of the fact that people are imperfect and wavering in their affections.  That much sounds like very good theology and art.  Here are Cohen's lyrics from the original recording.

Of the numerous other verses (and those that were included in Cohen's original recording of the song), there seems to be a progression of confusion.  Consider lines like: "You say I took the name in vain, I'm not sure I even know the name, and even if I did what's it to you?"

Finally there's a last verse that concludes: "And even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah!"

Buckley used other verses (presumably also of Cohen's eighty) which seemed to speak much more of a romantic relationship.  For his part, Buckley once said that the song he sang was about the "hallelujah of an orgasm".  Gee, thanks Jeff!  I don't think that's what Cohen had intended.  Buckley's version ends with a verse not included in Cohen's original recording (but again, presumably one of the many Cohen penned) that begins: "Well maybe there's a God above but all I've ever learned from love was how to shoot someone who outdrew you".  Pretty depressing.

Having said all that, the song itself almost sounds liturgical to me - with clearer lyrics, this song could have become a standard in praise and worship.  I've even seen an artist friend of mine, Tara Leigh Cobble, utilize parts of the song in that way.

What do you suppose Cohen was getting at with the original?  What do you suppose he was saying?  I'm guessing you've heard the song - what do you think when you hear it?  What lyrics are you familiar with?  Chime in.

By the way, for conversation sake and because I have a feeling some, especially the ladies, who regularly read my blog might appreciate it, I've embedded Jon Bon Jovi's version here.   

Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon,Leonard Cohen,Jon Bon Jovi,Hallelujah

Comments

[Bucklberry]

The lyrics about David and "I saw her bathing on the roof" are taken from Christianity, King David, the psalm writer, fell in love with his best friends wife Bethsheba, so sent him off to war to the farthest reaches of his empire hoping he wouldn't come back. David and Bethsheba got married and inevitably got divorced, it's not just a 20th/21st century phenomenon!

So in essence, it's about betrayal, love and the loss of love. And people say Leonard Cohens music is dour...

[Francis O'Brien]

This is my interpretation of this beautiful song:

**Many times Cohen says hallelujah in many different contexts; this is the core of the song and will be explained at the end of the analysis.

For the first part:

Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

This relates to the story of King David who was had an intimate relation with god and was also a great harp player (secret cord/pleased the lord). The hallelujah at the end of this verse is a happy and spiritual one.

Second part:
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

In this part Cohen relates to the story of David and Bathsheba when David was walking on the roofs he saw her bathing and seduced her ending up committing adultery and lost a lot of influence and weakened his link with god (broken throne). Then we move to the story of Samson who gets his hair cut and loses all his powers, once again, a broken throne. In this verse, the hallelujah is a very sad and desperate one.
Third Part:
Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
In this part Cohen talks about the ambivalence of love and its effect on your faith. It can be glorious like a flag on a marble arch or it can be cold and broken. And when in heart break you may lose or strengthen your faith, in this case it is strengthened because he still praises the lord in the end. In this case, the hallelujah is (obviously) cold and broken.

Fourth Part:
There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
This is an obvious reference to sexuality and that even through an act as disgraceful as sex you can still praise the lord. In this verse the hallelujah can be interpreted as an “orgasmic” one.

Fifth Part:
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
This is a reference to one of the ten commandments and through this Cohen is trying to make the listener understand that religion and faith is not etched in stone and that every one should interpret the holy texts and religion in his own way and that there is no “Right Way” to believe. This is an uncertain hallelujah, meaning that he is not sure what to believe but he believes anyway.
Sixth Part:
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
In this part, he has found what to believe in and realizes his past errors but he is ready to face the lord because he now has complete faith. This hallelujah is one of total faith and love for “the lord”.

Hallelujahs:
The song revolves around the word Hallelujah, which is a Hebrew word which means praise Yah/Jah or the Lord. And through the song, he says that all Hallelujahs are of equal value no matter the circumstance or the cause of the act. Weather it is in complete blissful faith or is from broken desperation, all ways and goals to prise the lord mean the same and are all equal.

[Tips]

I think the song is about crises of faith in the face of losses. Either loss of love, death, betrayal etc.. Almost everyone seems to translate the fourth verse as purely sexual but I think it is primarily a conversation with the Lord about his presumed abandonment of the author with intentional double meanings to parallel the theme of loss of love and crisis of faith. "Below" in this verse easily translates to "vagina" but it seems a bit base to be the primary meaning in this song. I prefer to think the author is first referring to how he can no longer make any sense of the Lord's earthly intentions.

[David]

Leonard Cohen on Jesus

“I don’t really have a ‘take on the state of Christianity.’ But when I read your
question, this answer came to mind: As I understand it, into the heart of every
Christian, Christ comes, and Christ goes. When, by his Grace, the landscape of the
heart becomes vast and deep and limitless, then Christ makes His abode in that
graceful heart, and His Will prevails. The experience is recognized as Peace. In the
absence of this experience much activity arises, divisions of every sort. Outside of
the organizational enterprise, which some applaud and some mistrust, stands the
figure of Jesus, nailed to a human predicament, summoning the heart to comprehend
its own suffering by dissolving itself in a radical confession of hospitality.”

Faith and Theology: On Leonard Cohen
http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2007/11/on-leonard-cohen.html

Cross and glory in Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”
John H Saturday 20th December, AD 2008
http://www.confessingevangelical.com/?p=1777

"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light get in." --Leonard Cohen

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/What+Leonard+Cohen+teach+about+love/3893273/story.html

What Leonard Cohen can teach us about love

Despite his early reputation as a ladies' man, the Montreal poet and songwriter is
clearly drawing on some powerful material

By Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, November 27, 2010

[Dylan]

Bucklberry... just stop. I know this is an old section, but I could NOT leave such bad information go without refute.

It is not from Christianity, it is from Judaism. It is in the OLD Testament. Cohen was Jewish.

And he didn't send his "best" friend to the "farthest reaches" of the empire. The Kingdom of Israel was very small. He sent the man to the front of the battle formation, where he would most likely die.

I'm done.

[mary]

nice interpretation of the song - bulkberry :) true... in fact, i've witness it to one of my friends..

[Hope]

I think this song was written as a conversation he is having with Satan--key words are, "but you don't really care for music--do you?" He uses examples of what Satan has done to steal our joy-but he comes to know God, and in the end he stands before the Lord with a broken hallelujah.

[Rob Forsyth]

I think that Hallelujah is a series of different songs along the same stream. The original 1984 version is the most to my liking but all of it's versions are very powerful. Of the more than 50 (not 15) verses some are Holy and some are broken. This is intentional. One of Leanord Cohen's most endearing (if sometimes perplexing) traits is the tendancy to leave questions open for view ... pulling out the entrails of his thought process even if he is not entirely sure how we should read the omen they provide. Hallelujah reflects the ambivalence and uncertainty that any honest person knows exists around faith (of any kind). To me the song is in this regard a post modern deconstruction(in a good way).
I woke up a few days back humming this song. but as I started singing it I realized that it is very protean. It twists under your tongue to add more verses which can easily be Holy or Satanic or broken at turns. In this regard it is really a very potent form of midrash on the praise of G'd or anything we treat as a god. The broken points us to the desire to be whole and to have a whole love which only comes with Hallelujah which is a light pointing forward from whatever belief or unbelief we are in.

As the tune began to unfold I started to sing

" I woke up this morning humming this song
You know the words you can sing along
Or at least join in on the HalleluJah

A little song that Leanord wrote
Probably his most famous quote
The poet sing err ... writing Hallelujah
Chorus 4X

Well K.D. sang it best for sure
When we'd held our breaths for Crosby's score
And we all shouted ... HalleluJah

But I think it is more than this
More than tears of joy
Or a salty kiss
It's a longing for our Abba HalleluJah

Chorus 4X