What do the hallelujah song lyrics mean

I am certain the religious references are not as literal as many people believe; Cohen was not a Christian. However, he IS interested in the Bible and he believes there is a greater power judging our actions.

It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah" The speaker used to be a "king". He was in charge and in control of himself. He knew what he wanted and how to get it.

He wooed women with loving words; by singing "Hallelujah". He knew all the right "chords" and everything. But the woman this song is about is not moved; she doesn't care for such "music", even though it is enough to move the Lord.

It is no longer written to her, but to himself. He recalls how he fell in love with her, and how in that way he was at her mercy. She broke his throne; he was no longer the "king" he once was.

She cut his hair, which is a reference to the Biblical story of Samson. All of Samson's power was in his hair. He had romantic encounters with several women, and fell in love with one of them, Delilah. She cut off all his hair and thus destroyed his strength. She drew "Hallelujah" from his lips, meaning he was in love with her when she kissed him; he loved her despite the fact that she toppled his power.

There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah" She doesn't believe he loved her. She believes he lied when he took the Name—in this case, "Love"—in vain.

He admits that he doesn't really know what love is, but it doesn't matter, because he means it. Her flag he's seen on the arch is the happiness and pride she once felt for their love, which she now believes is gone. But he claims there is nothing about love to be happy or proud about; it is painful and lonely.

But I remember when I moved in you And the holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah" They used to be closer. She would tell him all about the things she felt inside, but she doesn't do that anymore. And he remembers when they had sex; it was beautiful, and he fell more in love at every breath.

All he learned from love was how to hurt one another. She moved to hurt him first—she "outdrew" him—and so he hurt her—"shot at" her. He is not meaning to complain. He is not claiming to know more. All it is is painful love. He never meant to trick her. Now the relationship has gone all wrong, but he still loves her.

I especially like the last part of this verse. It implies that he's more or less given up on trying to move on; he's standing before the Lord now, ready to be judged, and he will no longer pretend or lie; all he has left to say now is Hallelujah—he still loves her. SwampHermit on January 10, Link. SwampHermit To a "T", spot on with your interpretation of the lyrics.

Exacting and intuitive! Not for actual literalness. To make you, the listener, realize that what most people experience is not really "love" that is the pure emotion we dream of having with a like-minded person, but rather a twisted, emotional lust that we fool ourselves into believing is love MadgikaL on December 24, General Comment The best version of this song is this version by Leonard Cohen.

You obviously understand Cohen, and are absolutely right. I am constantly astounded by the number of morons out there who think Buckley wrote the song.

Finally, and Hallelujah! Sharon51 on April 10, I'd agree that Cohen's is the best, his delivery sounds the most genuine, the most bare and honest with a subtle hint towards brokenness. I agree that his is the best version. However, I am grateful that others have made this song popular so that more people could discover Leonard Cohen through it.

It's great that people love this song, and I don't mean to "troll", but this song IS Leonard Cohen's. He wrote it. All others are covers. Nationalhipster on April 10, His delivery is. He did not write the masterpiece though DocDavidson on August 10, Song Meaning verse 1 first three lines I know this room, I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew you. Every word, holy or broken — this is the fulcrum of the song as Cohen first wrote it.

Like our forefathers, and the Bible heroes who formed the foundation of Western ethics and principles, we will be hurt, tested, and challenged. Love will break our hearts, music will offer solace that we may or may not hear, we will be faced with joy and with pain.

But Cohen is telling us, without resorting to sentimentality, not to surrender to despair or nihilism. Critics may have fixated on the gloom and doom of his lyrics, but this is his offering of hope and perseverance in the face of a cruel world. Holy or broken, there is still hallelujah. So I wanted to indicate that Hallelujah can come out of things that have nothing to do with religion. Plus, he was able to find unusual ways to talk about subjects that are not unusual.

It sways, gentle but propulsive, a barely perceptible waltz rhythm adding complexity to a singsongy lilt. He had a little help with the chords and the direction of the melody — we had worked together before and gotten comfortable doing that.

And when we started to get the voicings and the chords and the melody, then it became blessed. Jake Shimabukuro is a young, Hawaiian-born ukulele virtuoso. There are these very simple lines that are constantly happening. To go on that journey, the whole thing taken as an experience, is wonderful. Though the song potentially lent itself to a grand, anthemic treatment, and a note on the actual score indicates that the musicians were to perform the song in a gospel style, the producer wanted to hold it back.

We decided to do this modified choir that was not gospel, not children; it was just sort of a people choir. We brought everyone in — the band came and sang, my ex-wife came and sang, I sang on it. In a way we were trying to get it to be a community choir sound, very humble.

Therefore some conclude that the song is not a religious one and should not be sung in church. According to Reasons for Hope Jesus , the lyrics do not honor God. The article goes ahead to discuss why the song is not church-appropriate. There is some blasphemy in that. All the same, Cohen was not too religious. He only said he had a fondness for Christ because he was touched by His generosity and could not comprehend Him. But he considered himself to uphold the Judaism faith and said he was not interested in another religion.

It, however, left many bewildered since they could not understand why the song, which to some is a break-up song, was being sung at a political event. Although it has become like a national anthem being played at weddings, funerals, political events, and churches, that was not always the case. This is how Leonard Cohen made his way in the world of music at the age of it was and the album was called Songs of Leonard Cohen.

Before Various Positions , other records followed: Songs from a room , Songs of love and hate , Recent songs , all full of sin and redemption, sex and holiness. But Cohen, as he revealed in an interview, took his little revenge thanks to one of the songs belonging to that album: Hallelujah.

Then, exactly 10 years after the release of Various Positions , a young Jeff Buckley covered this song. It took five years for Cohen to write his most famous song.

He wrote about stanzas.