Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

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Zoider
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Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:10 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by Zoider »

RealBigSwede wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 5:09 pm I find this https://youtu.be/Bmx--WjeN7o
https://youtu.be/Bmx--WjeN7o
Total other verses
The lyrics for the verses from this video are posted in the comments.
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LolaLo
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Joined: Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:56 pm

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by LolaLo »

Two notebooks were written, lines scribbled and crossed out, until in the end Leonard had 15 sheets with 80 verses on them. Of these, he had to choose a few to write down. The choice turned out to be very difficult, and subsequently Cohen himself performed his own song repeatedly in different variations during the 1988 and 1993 tours. Only the last verse has never changed - it is in it, according to the author, that sums up all the reflections about life and love.
About the true meaning of the song one can argue and speculate for a long time, but it is better to refer to the words of the author himself. On this subject, Leonard Cohen himself said in an interview: "Hallelujah is the Hebrew word for "praise to God" or "to praise the Lord. The song tells us that there are many different kinds of Hallelujahs. It's a praise not only of the Almighty, but also just an appreciation of life, not in a religious way, but in words and emotion." Cohen admitted that he wanted to show in his song - Hallelujah can manifest itself in things completely unrelated to religion. Some may find it difficult to understand and perceive - that's normal, because everyone has his own view of "Hallelujah".
Jclarke
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Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2023 1:45 am

Re: Fifteen 'Hallelujah' verses?

Post by Jclarke »

My wife & I watched a Lenard Cohen “documentary” last night, and Mr. Cohen explained to “Ratso” that he’d written 150 verses for Hallelujah. There was never a real “order” to them short of going by the dates on his notebooks. Or to use what Mr. Cale performed. And he did say 150 verses.

It was quite a stun to find out that the US didn’t get the first recording because of some Columbia exec.

All in all the Doc was very informative, and we were quite surprised to learn Mr. Cohen worked on Hallelujah for about 7-years before recording it (didn’t a biblical figure have to work 7-years for his wife? Who ended not being his wife?).

Mr. Cohen was a spiritual man, he spent 6-years on a Mt. Baldy Zen retreat before he decided he needed to “get back down the hill”.
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