‘Hallelujah’ is a song written by Canadian singer and poet Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a new version recorded by John Cale in 1991. Cale's version inspired a 1994 recording by Jeff Buckley that in 2004 was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Cohen is reputed to have written around 80 to as many as 150 draft verses for ‘Hallelujah’, a claim substantiated by his notebooks containing manifold revisions and additions, and by contemporary interviews.
Leonard Cohen recalls singing this song to Bob Dylan the morning after Dylan's concert in Paris on July 1, 1984. Cohen says they sat down at a café and traded lyrics, and that Dylan especially liked the last verse of the song (Cohen often tells the story of comparing songwriting technique with Dylan at this meetup: while ‘Hallelujah’ took him years to write, Dylan told Cohen that he wrote "I and I" in 15 minutes). Dylan would later perform the song, singing it at two shows in 1988.
Jeff Buckley, an American singer-songwriter, heard the song in the early '90s and began performing it at his shows in and around New York City. He included it on his 1994 debut album Grace, but the song didn't gain widespread attention until after Buckley's death in 1997, which sparked renewed interest in his work. Many artists took note of ‘Hallelujah’ and recorded their own versions of the song. Many of these covers found their way into movies and TV shows, popularizing the song across a wide audience.
The song is about a love that has soured and gone stale. Cohen used a lot of religious imagery, including references to some of the more notorious women in the bible (all of whom are popular figures in songs). The cover by Jeff Buckley, is more sorrowful and was described by Buckley as "a hallelujah to the orgasm". He explained in a Dutch magazine OOR: "Whoever listens carefully to 'Hallelujah' will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth. The hallelujah is not a homage to a worshiped person, idol or god, but the hallelujah of the orgasm. It's an ode to life and love." Buckley also admitted to having misgivings about his sensual version and he hoped that Cohen wouldn't get to hear his version.
Label – Columbia
Songwriter – Leonard Cohen
Producer – Andy Wallace
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing "Hallelujah"
[Chorus]
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Verse 2]
Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
And she tied you to her kitchen chair
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
[Chorus]
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Verse 3]
Well, baby, I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
[Chorus]
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Verse 4]
Well, there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me, do ya?
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
[Chorus]
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
[Instrumental]
[Verse 5]
Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
[Chorus]
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah