Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah Meaning
Song Released: 1984
Covered By: Rufus Wainwright (2007), Jordan Smith (2015), Pentatonix (2016)
Hallelujah Lyrics
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I think one thing we can all agree it's about love whether or not its returned or whether or not its an entirely biblical storyline.
Jeff Buckley described it as the hallelujah of the orgasm which I wouldn't personally agree with but the song does have elements of that longing and desire for another much like David and Bathsheba perhaps. I've always thought about "you" as being the woman and overall she "doesn't care for music", understand that "love is not a victory march" or never share whats "going on below" anymore. That maybe she doesn't understand love or appreciate how much he loves her because she's "broken his throne" too many times before and just isn't bothered for his affections (A recurring Cohen theme). He seems to later claim that love showed him nothing whether or not it has just been a painful experience.
One verse which isn't used by Wainwright or Buckley is Cohens final which serves as a celebration for his undeniable intent to love despite the pain because its worth it for that breathed hallelujah, right? -
I heard that there is 80 verses to this song. I, and I suspect most other people, have only ever heard a few of these verses so it would be very difficult to decipher the meaning of the song. Having listened to the song many times and knowing a little about Leonard Cohen I would think that it is about his own self doubt. One verse that points to this more than any other is the verse that begins; I did my best it was'nt much.
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im sorry, i am only young and really confused, when i first listened to this song, i didnt think of religion or poliatics, i thought of love, i dont really think i understand symbolism.
could someone please simply break down
Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah
because i love this verse but have no clue what it meens
thanks -
As a Christian I will be the first to stand up and say this song has nothing at all to do with religion. What better source of literary metaphor is there than the bible? Using literary references adds a depth that the time of a typical song does not allow.
But what truly amazes me about this song is that the most loved versions, the remakes, leave out a critical verse. This omission changes the song from an upbeat, optimistic, and positive experience to one that's depressing and represents a defeat.
In the LC version, the last verse...
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 previous verses describe what went wrong in the past. This verses moves the narrator forward. He's saying that the relationship did not go well but, in the end, he learned from it and will sing those praises. He clearly does not regret the relationship, just its end.
Most of the covers just talk of the past and of the failed relationship. They fail to discuss the good that can come from a failed relationship. They make it look like the narrator regrets and hates the experience since the entire song is written so negatively. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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There was something that drew me to this song and I could never figure out why until now. Initially I didn’t know who wrote the “Shrek” song and really didn’t care, I just knew there was something about the lyrics and the easy melody that drew me to listen. After a few hours of Google I discovered not only the artist but that there are many verses.
I found LC’s video on YouTube and noticed that he didn’t A) sing the same verses and B) sing them in the same order as the “Shrek” or cover songs I had heard. This is when it hit me as to why I was drawn to this song. I knew that I couldn’t interpret or get inside the head of LC but I do know what the song means to me. Therefore, I wanted to share my personal interpretation of this song titled Hallelujah that will forever be a mile stone in my life.
Interpretation: This song is about two things, One - our struggle with sin and Two - our love relationship with God.
Verse 1) Baby I’ve been here before… If you are human you probably found yourself falling into the same old traps at one time or another, i.e. I know this room I’ve walked this floor…some of the traps were before you knew God, i.e. I use to live alone before I knew you.. Next, I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch.. If God had a flag what would it look like and why would it be on marble and an arch? Then flag would look like a dove, the marble is stone which the commandments were written on and the arch is the church. When your relationship is broken with your creator your hallelujahs will always be cold and broken.
Verse 2) now I’ve heard there was a secret chord…I ask this, what is a chord? It’s a feeling or emotion. What feeling or emotion would please the Lord? Answer...Praise. You don’t really care for music ….God doesn’t want a sounding brass, He wants praise. So what does a composer who has a broken or nonexistent relationship with God produce? Baffled hallelujah!
Verse 3) your faith was strong but you needed proof... I have to steal an anonymous interpretation of this line that is “absolute faith is in despite of proof”. The balance of the verse is where we are tempted, we fall, embarrassed of our situation and lose favor with God. I.e. broke your throne, cut your hair, and drew the hallelujah.
Verse 4) there was a time you let me know… When you lose favor with God the guiding Spirit becomes dull and cloudy in your life. From time to time God will nudge you and you will remember when He moved in your daily life...I.e. remember when I moved in you and the Holy Dove was moving too and every breath we drew was Hallelujah. Remember?
Verse 5) I did my best it wasn’t much…This is my favorite verse because when I heard LC sing it for the first time the WOW effect or God moment happened and I saw the song as a whole. How many times do we try to do our best without God? Our best will never be much. I couldn’t feel so I learned to touch…When we can’t feel the Spirit moving or we don’t have a relationship with God, we use our flesh sense in place of spiritual insight from God. I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you…A personal confession to God because we can’t fool Him. Even though it all went wrong I’ll stand before the Lord of song with nothing on my lips but Hallelujah…This is such a true statement. Things we do in the flesh will always go wrong. Romans 14:11- It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me and every tongue will confess to God.'”
So.. This is how God has changed my life through what once was known to me as “The Shrek Song”. -
"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"
I see that everyone says this is not a religious song other than the illustrations of David and Bathsheba. But I think this verse is David singing to God. God loved David and spoke with him "down below" from the heavens above. This of course fits better when artists replace "Holy Dove" with "Holy Ghost"
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
"I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch" may refer back to verse 2 when "you needed proof". The song then ends up full circle with David singing Hallelujah to the Lord.
Indeed it is a song about the heartache of love but who would know this struggle more than God?
~Ryan Stormo <>< -
Most of the interpretations I have heard refer to biblical stories and of course it is impossible to ignore the analogies with King David and Bathsheba. However,I think these can obscure the meaning of the song and I would rather go beyond them. Analyzing a poem line by line sometimes misses the core of meaning which may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself.What after all was Kubla Khan, Coleridges poem about? It came out of a drug-induced reverie and the words are impossible to interpret literally.
What I see in the poem is a man who finds it hard to reconcile his own singular personal quest for truth as a spiritual seeker and as a creative artist with earthly love.He is "overthrown" by the beauty of the woman bathing on the roof and intoxicated with desire for her yet with that comes compromise.Being tied to a kitchen chair suggests being bound to domesticity and having his hair cut recalls Samson whose strength was lost when Delilah cut his hair.He feels he has sacrificed his power for ephemeral sexual desire,emotional needs and freedom from the burden of loneliness.
And inevitably the hallelujah, the ecstasy fades and withit bitterness and disillusionment since his lover has no feeling for creativity as evidenced by her lack of interest in music,his explanation of which seems to fall on deaf ears.
At the same time,the sexual magnetism, "down below" has diminished or even gone in the way that the energy of many relationships weaken into dead habit.
So there is a sense he has been left with nothing, doubting a god above and likening earthly love to a gunfight.It is as if he has betrayed his deepest yearnings and is only left with a cold and broken hallelujah, an empty exhortation, a state of inner desolation.
Yet the tone of the song is so bittersweet, so beautiful and sad that there might be a suggestion that he has reconciled those feelings and accepted the limits of the relationship,knowing that even sharing a life with someone cannot assuage his inner loneliness.
Hallelujah is a beautiful,ironic and melancholy masterpiece. -
The line 'the forth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift' the music fits this line.
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I personally like the YouTube version of Hallelujah that Leonard Cohen sings. When I first heard Cohen singing this song I was mesmerized by its depth and beauty. The line about being tied to a kitchen chair, etc., blew me away because of its openness and honesty. It makes me think of a truth that's newly exposed, something raw and unpolished. I think that is how love is: it can be overpowering, harsh and cruel and still be beautiful.
A lot of people have commented on the cutting of hair. It does refer to Samson and Delilah; it also has a psychological meaning, symbolizing Samson's emasculation (his loss of power and strength) at Delilah's hands. In the second verse of this song the imagery is of one person's total submission.
As for the biblical King David: the name David means "beloved" in Hebrew. David was beloved by many; he also loved many men and women in return. I've heard biblical scholars say that David's love songs were meant for God. I don't know. I've never experienced God in that way. I like to think his songs were meant for his wives and lovers. -
For all you Buckley fans who haven't heard L.C's version listen to it. L.C. is a critically acclaimed writer, and a poet turned songwriter who is compared to the likes of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon for his imagery in his song writing. The line She broke your throne and cut your hair is him submitting to her. Samson had his hair cut by a woman and lost his strentgh. She broke not only his throne but the man himself he is submitting to the woman cause how he feels about her (or how she makes him feel). Now I not so sure if the song is about love like everyonje says it is... More like lust if you ask me. Where in this song is the woman loving him back, and i believe this is why he loses his strength and submits to her. Also, I believe this is why he uses religious refrences.
She is like a god to him, even though she may love him she is not his equal she is more powerful than him. Sorry for any misspellings am quite drunk now, but do think this is what the song is about -
Listening to Buckley's version of this song, I definitely feel that it is a heartfelt account, from a mans point of view, of a failed relationship with a woman. It seems to be a relationship that started out good and was amazing during its 'honeymoon period', but has now wilted and failed both on a physical and a psychological level, much to the dismay and confusion of the man.
I think he (well Cohen as they were originally his lyrics) cleverly uses biblycal references(David, Samson etc.). to get his feelings across and 'prove' his point about Love.
I think he feels bitter as he has not found what he was looking for and maybe expecting in Love. He has found Love to be something harsh which has in fact entrapped and 'broken' him. He feels all he has learnt from Love is the 'one-upmanship' of how to hurt someone back who's hurt him first ('how to shoot someone who out drew ya'). He shows signs of a saddening, twisted almost sarcastic tone in his lyrics too (particularly how they are sung by Buckley).
He now seems to have a tainted view of Love and women and has possibly reluctantly turned to religion (instead of Love) to now be his 'guiding light' in life (hence his cry of 'hallelujah' being 'cold' and 'broken').
This may sound like complete rubbish to you, but they are the feelings which are stirred within me when I hear this song. -
This song demonstrates how complicated and yet simple love really is. I think its told from the perspective of a man who ultimately feels betrayed by love because it leaves him broken and cold, while the ideals of love are nothing of the sort. This argument of love can also be compared to God in the way that so many people have such strong faith in God, and then when their lives take a turn for the absolute worst they end up losing their belief in the lord altogether. I personally think Jeff Buckley's version is one of the most quietly beautiful songs Ive ever heard but of course Leonard Cohen must be credited with the genius of the words. There are defintely several biblical references however I dont think that the song is really about the story of David but rather David's story is used to help clarify what the narrator is going through.
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Well, if you know who Leonard Cohen is, it is obvious that this is the song about his only true religion - the love for women. Some time he sings about the love to a particular woman (Janis Joplin in Chelsea Hotel, or his Norwegian lover in So long, Marianne) or to the WOMAN (in Hallelujah or I'm Your Man), and in a few songs he is singing about his own vision of communism (First We Take Manhattan, than We Take Berlin or Partisan), but his first and the greatest muse was always the Woman. He loves to add biblical (Passing Through, Hallelujah, Song of Isaac, Suzanne) or history (Joan of Arc) pictures in his songs, but they are always in the function of making an atmosphere for a song. As Anjani Thomas, who sings back vocals for him in his last albums, said, Leonard Cohen doesn’t like to say everything in the first verse. He believes that story has to unfold itself easy and slow to the end of the song (and in many cases after the end). So, the main problem with this interpretation is that it interprets first verses and ignores last ones, which are in Cohen’s songs completely wrong. So, to see the idea of the song you have to ignore biblical pictures at the beginning of the song, and interpret verses that talk of his feelings:
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.
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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 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
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
By the way, When Rufus Wainwright sings this song it's something completely different. His interpretation is sweet, it's easy (not in Cohen's sense, but easy to listen and sing with), but there is no Cohen atmosphere, nor his experience in it. Rufus' boyish voice completes this impression. It's like when boy sings man's song. It's like if my son make love to my wife (who is, bay the way, not his mother :)). -
I think the main reason LC shifts focus from talking to the beloved to addressing a biblical character in the second verse is because he is working backward from the rhyme, i.e., "overthrew ya." He might have said "My faith was strong but I needed proof, I saw you bathing on the roof," but then how to work in the rhyme? "My lurking in the moonlight overthrew ya"? But the shift works fine. He is (rhetorically) addressing the biblical character as an oblique communication to the beloved (and the listener) on the true nature of love, kind of like the telling of the King David music story in the previous verse. I never really noticed the shift until reading these posts, it seems so natural in the song.
To tell the truth though I have only ever heard the Tim Buckley cover -- I need to go out and get some of the actual recordings by LC. I have read different versions of the lyrics, however, and I think one of the earliest versions definitely discourages interpreting it as a religious (or especially Evangelical/Fundamentalist) tract when he says (to paraphrase) "it's not some Christian who's 'seen the light' ..." He draws on the rich Jewish tradition he was raised in for imagery to use in discussing love, but the religious elements themselves are incidental.
This site is SO cool. Now to look up some of my other favorite songs!
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