Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Ask and answer questions about Leonard Cohen, his work, this forum and the websites!
gazatthebop
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:49 pm

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by gazatthebop »

I'm here more as a Cale fan than Cohen. Cale has said there were 80 verses on at least one occassion. I have a line of communication to Cale's office but it would be futile to ask him for the lyrics. Cale and Cohen are friends and Cale is the last person on earth to betray (anyone, especially) someone like LC.
zaidagal
Posts: 8
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:13 pm

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by zaidagal »

Hello, person who posted as a fan of Cales! If you have a line of communication to Cale, Im wondering about you asking about the verses....not asking to betray Cohen or anything (pofcourse not!) but saying there are loads of fans desperate for these verses, and would he consider releasing them? Maybe Cole can ask Cohen , lol! What do you think?
Bristvol
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:14 pm

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by Bristvol »

I am obsessively searching for an mp3 version of Hallelujah with 7 versus. I've found a couple of beautiful YouTube versions, but nothing on iTunes. If you have a suggestion, please pass along. Thank you.
SmilingJack
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jun 29, 2015 7:07 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by SmilingJack »

Quoted from leonardcohenfiles.com: "Leonard Cohen lives in Los Angeles and Montreal. All correspondence should be addressed to his manager, Mr. Robert Kory, at rkory@rkmgment.com. " I'm guessing that the best way to find the 15 verses, or hell, maybe all of those ones he wrote in those two notebooks, would be through emailing Mr. Kory.
jmolleru
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2016 2:03 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by jmolleru »

Bristvol wrote:I am obsessively searching for an mp3 version of Hallelujah with 7 versus. I've found a couple of beautiful YouTube versions, but nothing on iTunes. If you have a suggestion, please pass along. Thank you.
You can go to "keepvid.com" and use that site to put in the youtube link. Then one of the options to download will be an mp3 only of the video. Hope that helps.
BlepoDerio
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:49 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by BlepoDerio »

It's been over a decade since the original post, if anyone has made any headway, please speak up. If no one has, this looks to be a lost cause. I wanted 80 verses :(
Topper88
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 23, 2017 7:55 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by Topper88 »

Guys, if Leonard actually did write 80 verses to one song, chances are good that the only ones worth a damn are the ones we've heard.

No one spins only gold, not even musical geniuses like Cohen.
User avatar
sparh4wk
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2018 12:52 am
Location: Mesquite Texas USA

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by sparh4wk »

I'm inclined to believe 15 pages of verses mainly because I feel if someone else received pages of faxes, then shortened it, that would explain how 2 very different stories in the Old Testament got mixed into one. Yes, I realize Leonard himself did different versions over the years. I suspect he knew fans who knew the bible would take it in stride and just enjoy this beautiful song. I believe Leonard strongly related to David and understood the "broken Hallelujah" and like David goes on to: "I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah!"

Sampson and Delilah. Sampson's uncut hair was the source of his super human strength. Delilah (a spy) "bound/tied" him with cords to a chair and exclaimed that "the Philistines are upon us!" Sampson had given her false answers before but finally he gave in to strong drink and female wiles, wasn't able to break free, she betrayed him, they blinded him then put him to work turning a millstone. (He was a strong man naturally.) His hair grew back, a fellow slave placed his hands for him and he caused a building to collapse pushing apart marble columns/pillars killing many high ranking Philistines feasting inside and himself in the process.

David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, a loyal officer/soldier/friend of the king. (Why David wasn't out leading his army I'm not clear. He was a warrior king.) That Uriah lived next to David indicated his high status. Bathsheba knew the king could see her from his balcony. They had an affair. She became pregnant. When attempts failed to make it appear that Uriah was the father of the child that his wife was expecting (2 Samuel 11:6-13), David cowardly resorted to making her a widow by sending Uriah on a suicide mission at the front lines so that he could take her as his own wife. Bathsheba never tied up David and cut his hair.

Many scholars believe Bathsheba had a venereal disease. Where it came from is unclear, possibly Uriah (who may have declined to sleep with her till he could get a cure) or Bathsheba was unfaithful herself before David. David struggled with his conscience as well as the disease. The baby was born sick and died days later. It appears both David and Bathsheba believed it was God's judgement for the sins of adultery and murder and seem to have remained faithfully married till she preceded him in death. Last you hear of elderly King David is some young women were sent in by his son and heir Solomon to his deathbed to “comfort” him (platonically) and share body heat. Solomon was the second child of David and Bathsheba. Solomon became known as the wisest man who ever lived then became one of the biggest womanizers! (300 wives and concubines.)
HarryPotty
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:20 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by HarryPotty »

after forgetting that most of these posts are older than me, I am pretty sure of this: there are only 7 easily available verses.
RealBigSwede
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue May 14, 2019 4:54 pm

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by RealBigSwede »

User avatar
MarieM
Posts: 910
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2002 1:36 am
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by MarieM »

FYI. On September 21, 2018, Leonard's birthday, this post was made on Leonard's official Facebook page. All posts are approved by Leonard's management:
Today Leonard would have been 84 years old. His legacy lives on in his music, his poetry and in our memories. The Fisher Library at the University of Toronto contains nearly 100 boxes of material that document his life. There were more boxes in Leonard's possession that are just now being opened. Yes, those 80 verses to the song "Hallelujah" have been found and so much more. We look forward to learning more about the story of Leonard's life.
Marie
Speaking Cohen
JohnnyAlaska
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:13 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by JohnnyAlaska »

OK, so I just registered for this board. I have been wanting to know what all the different verses for Hallelujahhave been for a long time. I contacted the Fisher Library at the University of Toronto. While I doubt I can get a librarian to photograph or transcribe the pages for me, the boxes of Cohen's materials can be requested and viewed in-person. I do not know if you would need to be a citizen of Canada or a student at the U of Toronto, but you would definitely need to go in-person to view it.

The materials can be requested to be viewed in-person through this link: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-form

Information on the collection can be viewed here: https://discoverarchives.library.utoron ... pers-00122
JohnnyAlaska
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2020 5:13 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by JohnnyAlaska »

I contacted the Fisher Library at the University of Toronto. They have Cohen's papers. I have been curious about the numerous potential verses for Hallelujah for quite a while. They can be viewed in-person. I don't know if you would need to be a Canadian citizen or a student at the U of Toronto, but you would definitely need to be in the library itself to view them. I live in Texas, so I certainly could not just make a day trip of it.

If someone lives in Toronto and is curious/generous, you can request to view them in-person through this link: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-form

Information on the papers can be viewed here: https://discoverarchives.library.utoron ... pers-00122
BarelybreathinBeauty
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2022 5:39 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by BarelybreathinBeauty »

:o I too went searching for some other verses and stumbled across this amazing thread! I’m a huge Mr. Cohen fan, and Hallelujah is probably my favorite song ever. I just wanted to thank all who’s posted over the years. It was lovely finding all you folks that are as inspired and blown away by, not only the astounding vocal talents, but also by the most phenomenal lyrical skill of The Late Great Mr. Leonard Cohen.
I really appreciated and throughly enjoyed the YouTube video posted of the school choir signing verses I had also never heard. Thank you so very much for sharing it.
Now I’ve read that his own personal files are available to be viewed in The University of Canada Library in Toronto!! Now it is official, my next vacation will be to Toronto Canada to view them. I’ve always been fascinated and drawn to Toronto. I have wanted to visit there for many years anyway. So I think now is definitely the time. I will start planning the trip tomorrow. I am not sure when it will be but should be within the year.
If I am allowed to take photos, I will make them available to you all here, as I might not even know about this if it was not for your kind efforts to share this great news. Hopefully I will have a follow up to this message soon. Best Regards to you all, and I am so happy to have met such a great group of likeminded, kindred souls.
Post Reply

Return to “Comments & Questions”