I was about to replie pretty much the same thing that Lizz just did.
I know very little about the Kabbalah and I'd be very curious to learn what interpretation jewish mysticism gives of the story of David and Bathsheba. Intuitively one feels that there has to be something of that nature buried deeply in the song. The first degree of interpretation seems to work too for a lot of people around the world. The fact that it is so widely covered may be due precilely to its multi-layered quality. How else could we understand the universal appeal the song seems to have.
I too feel that you are touching on something with the idea of THE WORD, bereschith בארשית
Cohen is the koan
Why else would I still be stuck here
I suspect the chord progression itself (I–vi–I–vi / IV–V–I–V / I–IV,V–vi–IV / V–V/vi–vi–vi) actually is a secret reference to something in the Torah. Surely he wouldn't actually describe the progression just to fill in some lines of the song, so the progression from fourth to fifth to minor fourth to "the major lift" back to major fourth must mean something. If only we had a Hebrew scholar handy!
One point I see the song making is that every word sung contains a spark of Creation. LC himself is remarkably careful with his words, both in his music and poetry. He treats them with a respect almost never seen these days. He's more like a medieval monk or Torah scribe, placing each word down with great care. It's one reason I've come to love his work so very much.
Last edited by Cosmoline on Tue Mar 28, 2006 9:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
One point I see the song making is that every word sung is contains a spark of Creation. LC himself is remarkably careful with his words, both in his music and poetry. He treats them with a respect almost never seen these days. He's more like a medieval monk or Torah scribe, placing each word down with great care. It's one reason I've come to love his work so very much.
Excellent synopsis, Cosmoline. I wish I had all the levels of understanding for appreciating his work in its original intent. I'm grateful for the levels I have, as I love it as much in my way.
As a little aside to this discussion, it may interest you to know that Mary Veling and her husband (who are Aussies), having spent some time in the States (Miami, Florida) have returned to live in Brisbane, working as Catholic educators in this city.
What's also nice, from my perspective, is that they made contact with me yesterday and plan to come up to our Cohen event this September, so it will be good to welcome them and engage in discussion with them both. All this connectedness is just great!
Cheers
Andrew (Darby)
'I cannot give the reasons
I only sing the tunes
The sadness of the seasons
The madness of the moons'
~ Mervyn Peake ~
I’ve read the contributions to this thread, as well as Mary Veling’s article, with great interest. There is much to say in response, but I’ll try to be as concise as I can.
First, and with the danger of stating the obvious, let me reiterate that a good poem is a one with many meanings. A poem that can be interpreted only one way is rather flat, while a poem which allows many readings is a true incarnation of the poetic spirit. LC’s poem – or song, in this case – is such an instance, and different people may find different meanings in it. Each reader may have his or her favorite interpretation - and I also have one, as I’ll state below – but this does not exclude other interpretations, as long as they have a real basis in the poem.
Second, unlike others above, I don’t think that Mary Veling wrote an analysis of the poem (or poems, actually, both “Hallelujah” and “If It Be Your Will”). She wrote a theological dissertation, based on biblical passages, on the work of other theologians, and on her own theological sensibilities. She illustrated her theological arguments with verses from LC’s poems, which in her view must contain the same spirit or message found in the theology she presents. This is certainly admirable, but I think it has much to do with her own theology, and not so much to do with LC’s sensibilities. I don’t think he wrote these poems with Catholic theology in mind, and although Christian residues are very much part of his world of imagery, and they come up quite often in his writing, they cannot be considered as guiding his work. In fact, this is a very complicated issue, and to explain my view of it would take several pages, so I’d better leave it for another occasion.
My view of the song is very close to the one expressed by johnny7moons, i.e., that Hallelujah is basically a song about love. Of course, as we know from many examples, love is often mixed with religious imagery in almost anything LC writes, and the two are intertwined. But still, love is the main theme here, as johnny demonstrated very nicely. And as Simon and others have pointed out, there may also be another level of understanding, which perhaps can be called existential. Also: the four verses in the version sung by LC have a second major theme, which is music; the additional three verses of the printed version pull the song closer to the theme of love and relationship.
I’m cutting everything short in order to respond to your question, Simon, posted to me elsewhere, about the interpretation of the story of David and Bathsheba according to the Kabbalah. I looked it up and was myself a little surprised by what I found. It turns out that Bathsheba is no Lilith, and her image comes out as rather positive.
Let us return for a moment to the biblical story. The main purpose of the books of Samuel is to establish the legitimacy of the House of David as the perpetual royal family of Israel. Although written probably much later than David’s own time, it was composed in the circle of his heirs. Still, the writer is not afraid to depict David as an adulterer and a murderer. This is truly amazing, unprecedented and rarely repeated (try to think of a modern authorized biography of a leader that would put him in such light). Later generations found it too hard to stomach, and the rabbis of Talmudic time did their best to clear David and demonstrate that he actually committed no sin. This is sophistry, but perhaps it also influenced the image of Bathsheba, making her a more positive figure too. We should also bear in mind that she was the mother of Solomon, and through him of the whole line of the House of David, including the future messiah the Jews are still waiting for (and, according to the Gospels, Jesus himself, or at least is earthly father). So Bathsheba could not have been depicted as a vile seductress, as the tendency might have been among those rabbis eager to absolve David.
For those familiar with basic Kabbalistic ideas I may add that in later Kabbalah, Bathsheba is identified with Malkhut (“Kingdom”) the tenth of the ten Sefirot emanated from Ein-Sof (“the Infinite”), the Sefirah with which David himself is also identified. As such, Bathsheba is included within the positive sphere of the Godhead, and not among the forces of evil (“the Other Side”) [I would have liked to recommend some useful Internet sites for those unfamiliar with the subject, but I wasn’t happy with any of those I found. Still, you may look up and find something useful]. However, she is not a major figure by any means, and is mentioned only very few times in basic Kabbalistic literature.
And finally, with great trepidation I bring up the idea of starting a new thread, focusing on The Book of Mercy. The idea is to hold a kind of virtual seminar, similar to what was done here about Hallelujah, starting with the first section of the book. Anyone who is interested will offer Jewish, Christian, Buddhist or other interpretations. Once we’ve done that, we’ll move on to the next section, and so on. It may take us a year or two to go through the book, if we can keep it up. How does that sound? Any takers?
Not being Jewish or having any experience with Kabbalah, and little exposure to Buddhism or the more academic aspects of Christianity, I would appreciate very much if you and others would do this very thing. I have the book itself and would love being able to read it from the perspectives here that will be enlightening for me. I appreciate your willingness for a lengthy timeframe such as two years. I really appreciate that! I hope you and some others educated in these matters will commit and follow through. If you'll just begin, I think and hope that a few others will follow. Quality vs. quantity will be most important in this endeavour.
Thanks DBCohen. Sorry if I gave the impression to imply that Bathsheba is a Lilith figure. From the little I know of her I’d say she is rather on the Eve side of the feminine. Your post reminded me that what I know of her might largely be fiction. As I have metioned above, Torgny Lindgren’s novel ‘Bathsheba’ has left such a great impression on me.
Simon wrote:But at the core it seems to be a very legitimate attempt to throw some light on what may be LC’s main concern, that is balance. (in my interpretation)
My impressionist perception of the song is that, under its jewish wrapping, it is buddhist in it’s attempt to express the essential of the human condition. The holy Hallelujah is the birth of desire (Bathsheba), love, passion, eros, libido, harmony, fusion or the life instinct itself. The broken Hallelujah is the end of desire, hate, rupture, disharmony, chaos, thanatos, the death instinct itself. The idea is not so much that «love is stronger than death» (MV) as much as the struggle to become aware of the dynamics of the cosmos. In this awareness is balance.
In LC’s own words from BL :
«What is a saint? A saint is someone who has acheived a remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think it has something to do with the energy of love. Contact with this energy results in the excercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago. I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the univers in order. It is a kind of balance that is his glory». (BL /1 :40):
It is mostly in the concept of quest for balance that I find the song may be of Kabbalistic inspirition, thus my reference to the mystic unicyclist. In interviews, LC often speaks of balance as one of his main concerns. Balance which is not limited to the double plate scale idea, but balance including all directions, like a sphere. Do you think that LC's preception of balance may come from his grand father and the Kabbalah?
The star of David (Magen David) is also based on the six basic directions.
Wikipedia wrote:Kabbalistically, the Star/Shield of David symbolizes the six directions of space plus the center, under the influence of the description of space found in the Sefer Yetsira: Up, Down, East, West, South, North, and Center. Congruently, under the influence of the Zohar, it represents the Six Sefirot of the Male (Zeir Anpin) united with the Seventh Sefirot of the Female (Nekuva).
Don't get the impression that I know what I'm taking about here. I don't.
Cohen is the koan
Why else would I still be stuck here
Researching for the Book of Mercy thread I fell on something that should fit here. It is from an interview that LC gave to Michael Benazon in 1985. It was published in Matrix.
MB- Would you agree that James Joyce’s Portrait was an important influence on your prose writing?
LC- There was one passage from a story that was decisive. I read that passage over and over again.
MB- Which one was that?
LC- It was the end of a story about the singer. The paragraph begins « Snow was general over all of Ireland. »
MB- That’s « The Dead » from Dubliners.
LC- « The Dead. » That paragraph. It’s not the work of an author, but maybe five lines. It’s those five lines that will get me reluctantly to explore the rest of the guy’s work. But that paragraph I’ve never forgotten. There’s that paragraph « Snow was general all over Ireland . » It described the snow. It’s Montreal. It’s our snow, our black iron gates in Montreal. It was perfect and the other one was – I believe it was from the Portrait. He sees this women with seaweed on her thigh. That passage, and snow general all over Ireland, and David seeing Bathsheba on the roof. There are three or four scenes like that that destroyed my life. (laughter). I couldn’t escape those visions. …
From: Benazon, Michael. Leonard Cohen of Montreal: Interview. Matrix. n.23 (Fall, 1986): 43-55.
So Tom, it seems LC and you share the same devastating visions.
Cohen is the koan
Why else would I still be stuck here
Just to add a little more confusion (a.k.a. levels of meaning *g*), here are a few rather biblical ramblings of mine, regarding the first two stancas of "Hallelujah":
Now I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
-- We start out with David's youth, when he played before Saul, the "baffled king". Saul was stricken with mental illness, and in the bible, David really played to relieve Saul. The secret chord could well be an allusion to the Kabbala, or perhaps David really played for TWO Lords here: on the surface, he was pleasing the elderly king, but on a more subtle layer, he was already overthrowing his throne and preparing for his own time of power. David's playing really was one important factor in his coming to power -- he needed Saul's appreciation first.
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
-- If we assume that the baffled king is Saul in his old age, but the one composing the Hallelujah is David (the great songwriter of the Psalms), then we have the whole issue of vanity here: The young hero is on the start of his path to glory, while the old king is already on his downward way to dementia -- and already, we know that David will be baffled and lonely himself, one day. History repeats itself, over and over - a very buddhist scheme, really.
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
-- I find it interesting that this whole seduction scenario involves no action from David here: His willpower is completely bypassed. He sees Bathsheba, he is full of need and desire, and the next thing we know, she ties him and brakes his throne. (Which is actually the case in a very subtle form: Bathsheba used her emotional power over David to support Salomon's rise to the throne. In a way, she dominated the kingdom when David was old and weak.)
This is so totally off the classic "patriarchistic" reading of the bible, where men take action and women don't even get the chance to react. It is striking that the young Bathsheba, in the biblical narration, isn't even asked whether she wants to have an illicit affair with David. Whereas the old Bathsheba, the Queen Mother of Salomon, is a proficient dealer in power and a rather dangerous enemy to have.
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
-- Out of the exciting, romantic love affair came the all-to-domestic marriage. After his affair with Bathsheba, David's household seemed to dwindle into a horror mansion of brother raping sister, brother killing brother, and David himself declining more and more. At least that's the way I see it: David, the archetypal Warrior King, the Youthful Hero, was unable to deal with the intricate intrigues and subtleties of the court of a dynastic kingdom. There even is a certain atmosphere of boredom around that whole Bathsheba affair, really -- the king taking a walk in the afternoon, while his forces are off to war -- it all has a sense of decadence to it.
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
-- As has been mentioned, Bathsheba didn't cut David's hair. Delilah cut Samson's hair, robbing him of his superhuman powers: The story of one person cutting down another's power goes on and on, from the time of the Judges (Samson and Delilah) to the time of the Kings (David and Bathsheba) to the time of the Second Temple (Judith and Holofernes) etc. etc.
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
-- Did she draw it like a vampire draws blood? Did she steal it like a thief? Did Bathsheba live off David's Hallelujahs?
Geez-oh-pete, Ragazzo... this isn't just fascinating, it's exciting!!
I love what you did with this within a single line:
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
His present and his future simultaneously. Brilliant. Your suggestion of the Buddhist principles, as well, makes it more credible. I think of karma, too.
As I read your analysis, the first thing that struck me [not being Biblically aware and knowing all that you said, regarding David's rise to power, via his music and playing for Saul for his approval and endorsement]... anyway, when I read your words about David playing for Saul, in his dementia and how he was pleased with it, I read "... and it pleased the Lord" from the perspective of it pleased the Lord to see David bringing one of the most direct kind of happinesses there is to Saul. Other than human touch, and the warmth and comfort it brings to one's being, music is directly accessible to a person with dementia. It bypasses all of the mental and goes straight to the heart and soul. It can bring comfort where there is fear. So, in the sense that [paraphrased] " . . . as you do unto the lowliest, you do also unto me." Not that Saul was the lowliest, but in his compromised state, he might be considered that; as his ability to govern, or to be even individually capable of governing his own activities, was quickly waning.
I wanted to just insert that, as it occurred to me then and there, as I read.
You're, of course, right on the generally patriarchal themes in the Bible, and I like how you've demonstrated women as having power here. Interesting questions you ask at the end, too .
I hope some of the more scholarly here respond to your posting. I enjoyed your analysis immensely.
Thanks for the flowers, Lizzy. My hungry ego is always open to flattery and bribes!
To be precise, I might have abused the term "dementia" in a rather confusing way - pardon my bad english. Saul's disorder must have been one that involves seizures ("he was struck by god's spirit"), probably mood swings, bipolar disorder, or anxiety attacks.
Also, my analysis has a rather annoying shortcoming - it can't make any use of the last two stanzas. They seem to me like a totally different song, I just can't see any connection to the biblical themes of the first part. I hope that some greater spirit will take up on this and give us more insights!
Edited to add: Reading your interesting observations about David's music and how it talked directly to Saul's agonized soul (pardon the pun), I find that there is something of a seed of destruction in the first few lines. The romantic "secret chord" is somehow in opposition to the very down-to-earth approach to writing music, as it is presented in "it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth..."
It is really one beast of a poem. Beautiful at the surface, intriguingly secretive, and you can never get rid of the feeling that you're still missing something - and that this something might be utterly awful and ugly on a very deep level.
ragazzo_vienne wrote:She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
-- As has been mentioned, Bathsheba didn't cut David's hair. Delilah cut Samson's hair, robbing him of his superhuman powers
Hi Ragazzo
I like the originality of your thinking. I would be curious what you would make of Samson's story if you were to read it considering the woman's point of view, first his unnamed wife, then Delilah. If one were to not take sides between the Jews and their neighbours but just read it wondering what is causing all the bloodshed and how to end it. There is also a little riddle in the story that may have more meaning than how Samson originally intended it. It goes like this "Out of the eater came something to eat, out of the bitter came something sweet"
those are fascinating questions. I haven't studied Samson & Delilah in depth - if I find the time, I'll be glad to read it again, and if I can make any sense of it, I'll post about it here.
