Jeff Buckley: Hallelujah Meaning

Song Released: 2007

Hallelujah Lyrics

Well I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this :
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jan 27th 2013 !⃝

   Taken from the description of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
   
   Verse 1:
   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
   
   David loves music, but his love does not. He does not understand this (is baffled) and tries to explain (the cords are matched by the actual song), thus composing the Hallelujah.
   I believe this is about unmatched intrests in a relationship.
   
   Verse 2:
   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
   
   The man (David) falls in love, but the relation is not a healty one. It ends up with him submitting and losing his powers. It is a distructive relationship and the Hallelujah is one of dispair.
   
   Verse 3:
   Maybe there's a God above
   But all I've ever learned from love
   Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
   And it's not a cry that you hear at night
   It's not somebody who's seen the light
   It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
   
   Maybe the most "black" verse, reflecting on the bitterness of love. When you hear a Hallelujah it's probably not because of joy (seeing the light), but because someone is hurting.
   
   Verse 4:
   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
   
   The relationship still exists, but it's hollow. It is like it was when he was alone. He has seen the glorious side of love (the flag on the marble arch), but the love is not lasting and his hart is broken, therefore the Hallelujah is cold and broken.
   
   Verse 5:
   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
   
   He remembers when things were good, how their lovemaking made him feel like they were really together, and their Hallelujahs were those of joy and ecstasy.
   
   Verse 6:
   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
   
   The conclusion of the song: Here LC turns from looking back to looking forward.
   We try, but often fail in love. We start with the best intentions and though it can go wrong, we need to try. In the end it is worth it. This Hallelujah is optimistic, because it shows that the hardships have not defeated him.
   
   This last verse is not included in most covers, but for me the last verse makes the song complete. It takes it full circle, bringing back the biblical relationship between the subject and a (the) Lord. It also gives the song a hyperbolic ending, which I prefer.
2. anonymous

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   Jan 5th 2023 !⃝

   Verse 1:
   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 ya?
   It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
   The minor fall, the major lift
   The baffled king composing Hallelujah
   
   A person(David) fell in love with someone(lines 1&2) who doesn't or cannot reciprocate his feelings and though they would like to love David they don't feel it(line 3). So David tries to find ways to show/convince this person how to love him(lines 4&5) but still, the person can't or doesn't love him.(line 6)The baffled king(the person) wishes they loved David and composes the wish/prayer(Hallelujah) to love David in the hopes that they would be happy with David. Hallelujah is desperate and pitiful coming from the person.
   
   Verse 2:
   Your faith was strong but you needed proof
   You saw her bathing on the roof
   Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
   She tied you to a kitchen chair
   She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
   And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah
   
   Though the person does not reciprocate David's feelings and has disregarded him, David is enraptured by this person, and though he can feel that his intent to have this person love him is failing he tries to convince himself that they can learn to love him and continues to blindly hope(lines 1-3). Though the more David clings on to this person and tries to make it work, the more they feel trapped and suppressed and end up hurting David with themselves(lines 4&5). they allow David to finally recognize he can't force feelings and that he's caused more suffering than love("from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah"). Hallelujah is desperate, brokenhearted, and guilty coming from David.
   
   Verse 3:
   Baby I've 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
   But love is not a victory march
   It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
   
   Afraid of what's to come and all the confrontation and pain they will and already have caused each other, they Remain in a broken relationship and continue to make each other unhappy. David feels more alone in this relationship than he did when he was alone and he returns to the depressive and lonely state he was in before this person(lines 1-3). The person declares love as a status(the flag) and not a feeling and they uphold a hallow relationship because of that fear of the end. But David and this person share no love. They have no love to celebrate(their love is no victory march, they have no flag to present) Their relationship is distant and broken. Hallelujah is a cry for help, a prayer for release.
   
   Verse 4:
   There was a time when you'd let me know
   What's really going on below
   But now you never show it to me, do ya?
   I remember when I moved in you
   And the holy dark was moving too
   And every breath we drew was, Hallelujah
   
   David remembers the time before all this coldness and pressure, before the relationship perhaps, when the person was comfortable around David and shared with him but since David tried to force love any connection that was between them is gone. Despite his good intentions, when he tried to force love into their connection only bad things came from it(“the holy dark was moving too”). Hallelujah was peace and happieness.
   
   Verse 5:
   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 ya?
   There's a blaze of light in every word
   It doesn't matter which you heard
   The holy or the broken Hallelujah
   
   I feel that this part hes talking to himself/conscious)) David is aware and guilty of the position he put himself and the person into. He scolds himself “Why did I force her in vain to recipricate my feelings(“you say i took the name in vain”)” He tries to ease himself with denial of his actions (“but i dont even know the name”) and tries to dissmiss the guilt that haunts him(“if i did… whats it to ya?”). (“Theres a blaze of light in every word”) This means theres an intention behind every action. He attempts to reasure himself and ease his conscious by insisting that he didn’t realize how harmful his actions were when he forced love onto the person and he tries to tell himself it doesn’t matter if he thought he could make the person happier or if he just wanted to make himself happier(good or bad intentions - holy or broken) He just wishes he hadnt hurt them. Hallelujah was his wish that the person would be happy with him and in love(holy) or that at least he would be happy(broken). David is at an eternal beetle with himself because of the immense guilt he feels and now sees in light what a terrible thing hes done.
   
   Verse 6:
   I did my best, but it wasnt much
   I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
   I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool ya
   And even though it all went wrong
   I'll stand before the Lord of Song
   With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
   
   Finally free from the relation ship after admitting to himself his wrong doing, he can reflect and released from his guilt. (“I couldnt feel so I tried to touch”) He was alone and lonely so he had trapped the person in a relationship in hopes of achieving love. Hes admitted his mistake to himself and no longer has to live in denial and guilt(line 3) And though he caused himself and someone else pain and suffering in his vain attempt for love he can present himself to himself and his maker(god) with a clear conscious. Hallelujah is the release from his guilt and pain.
   
   Verse 7:
   Well maybe there's a God above
   But all I’ve ever learned from love
   Was how to shoot someone who outdrew you
   Yeah but it's not a cry that you hear at night
   It's not somebody who has seen the light
   It's cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
   
   David's only understanding of love had been to stick with someone and learn to love them and if you can't love them you can drag them down and be unhappy together. But he now has learned; Love is not suffering and pain and it's not the gates of heaven it's complicated and messy and unbalanced.
3. anonymous

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   Dec 29th 2017 !⃝

   I'm not sure there is much religion in this song. David and Bathsheba and Samson and Delilah were stories of obsession and eventual ruin, if I remember correctly.
   My sense of the song as a whole is that the most passionate love is destructive and yet divine. It elevates you but at the same time it consumes everything you are.
   I could be wrong.
4. stephenmelinger

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   Sep 20th 2013 !⃝

   The song means whatever the writer wants it to. I suspect many of the lyrics were chosen because the words rhyme and not because they have a special meaning. For example, "outdrew ya" to rhyme with the title. Invoking God doesn't elevate the song or give it seriousness. Even in "God Bless America" it isn't necessary. When each presidential news conference ends with "and may God bless America" it doesn't sound sincere.

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