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Thu 20 Oct, 2005 02:24 pm
I love this song. I personally like the Rufus Wainwright version below. I know this is a love song but what's with the religious overtones? Is it likening love to a godly experience? Or sex? Can anyone elaborate on this beautiful song for me?
________
I heard there was a secret chord
That david played and it pleased the lord
But you don't really care for music, do you
Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Well 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 her 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've been here before
I've seen this room and 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 a cold and it's a broken hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you
But remember when i moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah
Well, maybe there's a god above
But all i've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
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
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
I too love this version, although I also like the Jeff Buckley version. Not so keen on the original.... (sorry any Leonard Cohen fans out there)
I have always taken it to be about loving and losing, and everything in between.
I don't think it relates to religion rather to faith, faith in another person, their love for you and your's for them.
The fact that it is as powerful as any religion
Dunno, thats my take on it anyhoo
(This is one of my fave songs)
Great song.
Singer/guitarists have told me it's difficult to remain subtle playing this one, to let the song do the work. Particularly in the first verse, singing and playing exactly what the lyrics describe: "Well it goes like this, the fourth the fifth" etc.
I'm a Cohen fan but I agree that Buckley made this song.
Speaking of Rufus Wainright? Have I heard him do a cover of the Beatles' "Across the Universe"? I think I have. I think it was wonderful.
those are my favorites! both buckley and wainwright. hooray, kindred spirits.
I think that he's really talking about the feeling of elation you get from anything that really fills you up like love, music, a good road trip, etc.
Some musings about the song's meanings can be found ....
here.
Bob Dylan's favorite verse was the last one ....
Quote: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
listening to it on my itunes now. I got 4 versions - Brian Webb, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, and last one I don't know who... unknown artist. sounds like tom waits, but it probably isn't...
i do have a few john cale albums, but not on my itunes. dunno, could even be waits... nah, he wouldn't do hallelujah...