Hallelujah meaning

[alphaeus1]

With all the interest in Leonard's Hallelujah of late; I was wondering if anyone could explain the words more?
I get the start of the song with KING David and Bathsheba, but only understand small parts after that.
Any clarification would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

[vashti]

Samson and Delilah, but I don't know about the kitchen chair.

[UrPal]

I believe it's an ordinary domestic object. The kitchen chair that is.

On one level, that verse is a sordid tale of S&M whilst on the other its an extended metaphor about the sense of captivity and control that can accompany domestic bliss.

The thing that's great about leonard's songs is that the words can be understood in different ways by different people and even the different people you become as you move through life or your mood changes from one day to the next.

And art can also be enjoyed and "understood" without reasoning or analysis on an emotional/illogical level.

Leonard has described his songwriting process as being like cutting a gem - i.e. it's meant to glisten and shine from different angles and give pleasure to the owner and viewer without being constanty studied.

Is a diamond ring required to explain itself? Does it have greater value if you know the hows, whys and wherefores of the jeweller's cut? Or is it diminished?

[John Etherington]

This question came up before in an October 6th thread this year. Here's my original response again:

I'll take a shot at this, even though I'm tired and don't have any relevant books to hand. The first part of "Hallelujah" relates to the story of David and Bathsheba in the Old Testament. It begins with David playing music that pleased the Lord. It continues with David who, whilst walking on the roof, saw Bathsheba (then the wife of Uriah) bathing. He desired her and managed to seduce her, thus commiting adultery. From this liason they had a son. I believe that an attempt was then made to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba, so that the son could be passed of as his, However, since he was in the army, he was not able to do so. Hence it was arranged that he was abandoned to the enemy. With Uriah gone, David was free to marry Bathsheba. However his actions displeased the Lord (I think the Bible uses those very words), and soon after the baby died of an illness. Eventually, Bathsheba gave birth to Solomon who succeeded David to the throne. The line about Bathsheba cutting David's hair is I believe poetically drawn from the sory of Samson and Delilah, since it was Samson who lost his strength when he let Delilah cut his hair.

As with the song "I Can't Forget" (which was originally about the exodus of the Jews from Egypt) an initially more mythic concept is then brought into the reality of Leonard's own life, and in the case of "Hallelujah" this concerns a relationship that has broken down. What was once a triumphant victory flag flying from the marble arch, becomes a "cold and broken Hallelujah". When the lovers were united in passion, the Spirit moved amongst them, but this presence is no longer felt. Nonetheless, Leonard honours the relationship for what it once was, and instead of cursing God, continues to praise him. Elsewhere, Leonard has alluded to the fact that the only resolution is ultimately to embrace all suffering and failure, and eventually embrace death itself.

I hope this helps... All good things, John E

[Irene Teresa]

what i get from this song is nothing to do with any of that nor what some people think the song means ( more recent fans of the song via other artists) yet this historial view of the symbology is interesting.

I dont find LC songs a matter for intellectual discussion on meaning - which to me, takes away from the depth of the souls recognition of the ' meaning ' - to explain what it means to me id have to write another song equally as good which isnt possible..

just my view btw xx

[John Etherington]

Hi Irene Teresa,

Discussion of the meaning of Leonard's songs will inevitably take place, and I feel I have a reasonably good grasp of the meaning of much of his work. However, I totally agree that the most important thing is your own soul's perception of the songs.

All good things, John E

[alphaeus1]

On further looking at the lyrics and their meaning; it would seem that he start of with the Biblical David story, and when he gets further into the song he talks about love in general, but also meaning it's the same as in Davids time: in over words: a mess.
Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

This could be David if he was here today, looking back at a past relationship.

[Babybooma]

Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, a fairly comprehensive coverage of this incredibly beautiful song can be found on the BBC's website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7787355.stm
It highlights that several versions have been released (apparently, LC wrote some 80 verses over a 5-year period...)

Cohen's versions - one Biblical and another secular - take us through a huge range of emotional places, with the different hallelujahs expressing despair, sexual ecstasy and religious devotion.

[hydriot]

The BBC write-up is interesting and even-handed, though the final paragraph is misinformed: sadly, Leonard won't be getting any royalties from Hallelujah (but then again, it wouldn't have been chosen by Simon Cowell as the winner's anthem if its royalties weren't going to go straight back to his friends in Sony).

How interesting that the journalist quotes the 'shoot at' line correctly, when in fact Alexandra Burke, like all the other covers, drops the 'at' entirely, giving the line a completely false meaning ... Leonard never suggested you can hope to actually hit someone who outdraws you. The true sentiment of that line is heroic failure.

[mnkyface]

How interesting that the journalist quotes the 'shoot at' line correctly, when in fact Alexandra Burke, like all the other covers, drops the 'at' entirely, giving the line a completely false meaning ... Leonard never suggested you can hope to actually hit someone who outdraws you. The true sentiment of that line is heroic failure.

Wow. I never noticed this word being dropped in the cover versions. It really does change the meaning entirely! Lame.

[alanconnor]

The BBC write-up is interesting and even-handed, though the final paragraph is misinformed

That's a shame to hear - and not just because the idea of LC reaping the rewards made for a nice final paragraph. Is there any more information you can point at, Hydriot, so that I can clarify if necessary? (Yes, I'm afraid I was looking at the referrer pages to my piece.)

[hydriot]

Hi Alan,

How very pleasant to have a response from the author of the article itself ... and nice to know that you visit the forum!

You correctly mentioned the £5m (specifically, $8.4m) that Leonard lost, embezzled by his erstwhile manager Kelley Lynch while he was in the monastery. Those funds were the proceeds of the sale of his back catalogue to Sony (which was a bad idea in the first place -- Leonard recently mentioned that he had no idea how substantial was the income that his back catalogue was producing at the time of the sale). Leonard gave up future royalties on all songs published before Ten New Songs.

There is some debate in the forum as to precisely what was sold to Sony (as there are different types of right) but it is cerrtainly true that Leonard will not get any meaningful royalty from the recent success of Hallelujah. (But on the other hand, I wouldn't entirely believe the figure of £250,000 quoted in this article: http://news.stv.tv/entertainment/66344- ... allelujah/ .)

But then again ... I doubt Simon Cowell, whose label SyCo is a part of Sony, would have chosen Hallelujah as the victor's first single anyway if royalties weren't going to go straight back to Sony, keeping a nice little earner 'in the family' as it were. And artisticly Leonard has certainly gained a great deal from the exposure, with more people discovering his work thanks to Alexandra Burke.

If you want to learn more of the court case and the sale of the back catalogue, it was discussed in the forum about 18 months ago. You should be able to find the thread by searching 'Kelley Lynch'.

After this August 2005 article http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ ... RTM0012813 was written, Leonard made peace with Greenberg, and then went on to win a court case against Kelley Lynch ... but, of course, there has been no sign of the money.

[John Etherington]

Well done, Hydriot for taking the trouble to point out the cooule of blips in Alan's article. Just for the record Alexandra sings "how to shoot somebody who outdrew you". Agreed it's a good article, but the only quote that slightly irks me is:

"Cohen's versions - one Biblical and another secular - take us through a huge range of emotional places, with the different hallelujahs expressing despair, sexual ecstasy and religious devotion."

Loosely, this is true, but things are never quite that clear cut with Leonard...you can't just put "Biblical" (or religious/spiritual)and "secular" into neat compartments. Come to think of it, this splitting is the at the root of much of what is wrong with the world.

When Leonard originally talked about David and Samson, you can bet that (albeit on an unconscious level) there was some sort of personal identification going on. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this has happened before. Just to refresh, "I Can't Forget" was originaly called "Out of Egypt", and was about the Jews leaving Egypt. Leonard then thought...hang on! What am I really trying to say? Then came up with "I stumbled out of bed, got ready for the struggle..."etc. I suspect this was also the case with "Hallelujah". Most importantly though, both of Leonard's versions of "Hallelujah" end with the same line - "and even though it all went wrong, I'll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but "Hallelujah".

All good things, John E

[danceme1000times]

Samson and Delilah, but I don't know about the kitchen chair.

I know about the kitchen chair!!! Lol

[danceme1000times]

I totally agree with UrPal.... Cohen was seeped in the Bible...and when one writes ...on a true level.....all kinds of things pop out of ones head and heart ....for my part they dont always make sense ....but they somehow seem relevant to what one is writing at the time...so I guess trying to analyse too much is a waste of time and it DOES spoil the poetry like UrPal said I dont think it makes the poem any better.....and sometimes we hate to be disillusioned!