Hallelujah

Album: Various Positions (1984)
Charted: 36 59
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  • (one, two, three)

    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, now 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 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

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    Now maybe, maybe there's a god above
    As for me, all I ever learned from love
    Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
    But it's not a cry that you hear tonight
    No, it's not some pilgrim who claims to have seen the light
    It's cold and it's a very broken hallelujah, hallelujah

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    Neil Larsen on the Hammond-22

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    Baby, I've been here before
    I know this room, and I've walked this floor
    You see, I used to live alone before I knew you
    And I've seen your flag on a marble arch
    But listen love, love is not some kind of victory march
    No, it's a cold like I said, very lonely hallelujah

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    There was time you let me know
    What's really going on below
    Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?
    I remember when I moved in you
    And the, the holy dove was moving too, yes
    And every single breath that we drew was hallelujah

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    I did my best, it wasn't much
    I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch
    I've told the truth, I did not come
    All the way to Glastonbury to fool you
    And even though it all went wrong
    I'll stand right here, before the lord of song
    With nothing, nothing on my tongue but hallelujah

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah, hallelujah

    Hallelujah, hallelujah
    Hallelujah (oh), hallelujah

    Thanks so much friends Writer/s: Leonard Cohen
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 5

  • Wordpower from CaliforniaHallelujah is indeed about King David and Sampson and powerful men of faith who undo themselves by giving in to lust. King David is one of the most conflicted characters in the Old Testament, a talented harpist who really was less concerned about music than himself and power, and whose affair with Bathsheba, whom he first espies bathing on a roof in the song as in the Bible, was disastrous for him. He is the "baffled king," a powerful and idolized individual but also flawed, and torn between spiritual devotion and human struggles. If you look at this song and think it has nothing to do with religion you shouldn't be commenting. Likewise the image of Sampson being tied to a chair --a kitchen chair in the song, being a place where a woman traditionally is in control, at least back when this was written. This again repeats the biblical imagery of lust -- therefore the "hallelujahs," at once spiritual, life affirming, tragic, and suggesting sexual release. This is a song about individuals torn between spiritual devotion and human desires, as was Cohen himself, a very spiritual man who was Jewish. The Old Testament, unlike the Christian bible, is chock full of sexual imagery, celebrating the relationship between earthly and divine love, which can be confusing.
  • Mike Williams from Albeautiful song
  • Justafan from LouisianaI think Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen has nothing to do with religion. It's about a fiery relationship where he watches a young woman and dreams to be with her. When they are finally together, they both have so much passion. It talks about she tied him to a kitchen chair. Breaking his thrown and pulling his hair was his 'exploding'. Just listen again, you will understand. Sounds like the relationship was forbidden, but the chemistry was more than he could take.
  • Lee from CanadaLeonard Cohen check biblical references? What a hoot! King David had the affair with Bathsheba and Delilah cut Samson’s hair.
  • Pibblemom from UsaShould have checked the biblical references. He confused David and Sampson.
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