Hallelujah lyrics-what do you think they mean?

marathon64

"Hallelujah"
Leonard Cohen

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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in 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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time when 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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

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

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah

MissFit0101

I LOVE this song... one of my favorites!

magj0y

In Hebrew it's actually two words, Praise Yahweh Halleluja sounds WAY better.

Mr_Bad_Example

It's a song about losing love and not regretting the loss, but basking in the memory.

Also, Jeff Buckley's version is probably the best in my ever so humble opinion.

BelleHeart

Love hurts.

stefanieceleste0530

Great song! Although my favorite version is by Jon Bon Jovi. I get goosebumps every time!!

MindyBlack

These are some of the most amazing lyrics I have ever heard. There are dozens of versions of this song and I love nearly all of them. It is hauntingly beautiful.
I think it is a sad love song. Shows how love can be a sorrowful longing thing.
I laugh when people think this is a religious song. I recently saw it on a Christian website with an 11 year old boy singing it. I wonder if they listen to the lyrics other than "Hallelujah" And talking about David.
But that's just me. Maybe I am way off.

murdie

bump

happypath101

I could go on and on and there is plenty of analysis by people more "in the know" than I am. But, I'll just mention that my favourite bit of genious here is that the chord progression on the "It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth" IS the fourth and then the fifth. And, then we move into a minor chord for the "minor fall" and a major lift. Literally.


If that isn't the perfect poetry, I don't know what is!

(And I strongly suspect Mr. Cohen considers himself a flawed, but geniune lover of God and music - just like King David.)

grum84

OMG. Not religious at all, so maybe I miss the true meaning or something. But absolutely one of my favorite songs. Currently set as my ring tone. And I believe it is looking back at lost love.

boy03727

I like how the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift- describes the chord changes in that part of the song. Its kind of musical shorthand for musicians. "Nashville number system"

marathon64

Yes I love this song too-it's been pulling at my heart strings all day. Achingly beautiful is a good description

LishaCole

This is my favourite song. I sing it in the shower everyday (for years, I've actually gotten pretty good, haha). Leonard Cohen is an amazing song writer, he actually once mentioned it took him two years to write this, and he went through 80 verses. I think it is about the many facets of love, or many types of "hallelujah". Awe, rejoice, obsession, love, lust, hurt.

zewolf77

It's a song about losing love and not regretting the loss, but basking in the memory.

Also, Jeff Buckley's version is probably the best in my ever so humble opinion.

This. And yes... what others have said. Love is confusing. Relationships cause us to run the gamut of emotions... Leonard was simply able to put it into song.

LishaCole

My favourite renditions are Rufus Wainwright (live) and K.D. Lang at the Vancouver 2010 olympics.

TropicalFlowerz

It's a song about losing love and not regretting the loss, but basking in the memory.

Also, Jeff Buckley's version is probably the best in my ever so humble opinion.

I too agree....w/ the gist of the song being of losing luv,but the actual words are refering to King David,being an accomplished harp player,song writer,feel in luv w/ Bathsheba while watching her bath from his roof top,he later had her husband killed by putting him on the front lines of war ,to have her for himself.After which he was never the same..(God punished them).the cutting of the hair is symbolic of losing ones strength(biblical/hebrew times),and Hallelujah is Praise Yahweh in Hebrew,or in English Praise Jehovah.

hollyNhollywood

It's a song about losing love and not regretting the loss, but basking in the memory.

Also, Jeff Buckley's version is probably the best in my ever so humble opinion.

Yeah, I love Leonard Cohen, but this is totally a Jeff Buckley song for me.
While reading the lyrics, I can hear his beautiful voice in my head.
.... I might have to go listen to his Grace album now

rachelbethany

I think it's inspired by the Biblical story of King David taking one of his best soldier's wives, Bathseba, and killing the soldier, and the situation that followed.

Sp1nGoddess

I don't know but it's a powerful piece... gives me chills.

juliecat1

I like how the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift- describes the chord changes in that part of the song. Its kind of musical shorthand for musicians. "Nashville number system"

Exactly this!
Love Jeff buckleys version the most of all but it's one of my favorite songs ever

Steve_Runs

I don't know but it's a powerful piece... gives me chills.

totally agree!

wild_wild_life

I got chills reading that -- I've never seen the lyrics written out before. I think it is about the fine and often arbitrary line between the sacred and the profane.

t8tersalad

Lisa Lavie, you can find her on YouTube, she does an AMAZING job on this song. Love it

CatherineHaak

It's a beautiful song. I've loved his music for years, but I don't understand the intellectual meaning. for me, it's more about getting the emotional meaning than the literal one, and I think Leonard deliberately makes the lyrics mysterious. the song to me is about lost love, sorrow, pain, anger, cynicism.

mommared53

That is such a beautiful song. I always thought the part where it says "she cut your hair" was a reference to Samson but I can see where it could mean losing your strength. I can see where the whole song is actually about David. Anyway, it's one of my favorite songs. Just beautiful.

Firephoenix013

Love that song!

BootCampC

i agree

BootCampC

It's a song about losing love and not regretting the loss, but basking in the memory.

Also, Jeff Buckley's version is probably the best in my ever so humble opinion.

i agree
who has loved and lost and never got it back

angel823

I dont think its necessarily a religious song, but a collaboration of different struggles people go through.

Thats why, in my opinion, so many people like, and can relate to it.

He stated his struggles, but also recognizes them, and " hallelujah" meaning he moves on. All in one song!

His greatest asset is the way he uses different metaphors to mask different situations.

All the biblical contexts are metaphors. David

I think he uses the metaphors to broaden his appeal not only to the secular world but also to the religious.

Very smart man I say.

roohill

Jeff Buckley's version adds a very chilling and almost haunting aspect to the lyrics. I still get chills and lost in this song. Love it. I get the feeling that its a collaboration of someone's thoughts who has loved and lost. Describing all those "Hallelujah moments" Personal revelations. Maybe this love is their religion.

happypath101

This is my favourite song. I sing it in the shower everyday (for years, I've actually gotten pretty good, haha). Leonard Cohen is an amazing song writer, he actually once mentioned it took him two years to write this, and he went through 80 verses. I think it is about the many facets of love, or many types of "hallelujah". Awe, rejoice, obsession, love, lust, hurt.

Great insight! That makes sense. I'll look at that song a new way now. Thanks!