|  | Friday 02 August 2002
| hey kids, the discussion about what this song means is starting to pick up a little bit of steam. Why not join in on all the fun? |
originally written on 23 May 2002
So, did you catch The West Wing last night?
In case you did, and were awestruck by the song played when Mark Harmon was shot, join the club. That was Jeff Buckley's incredible cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" . The album is called "Grace", released in 1994. It is an excellent, excellent record. Go pick up a copy.
Big time kudos to the folks at The West Wing for bringing some incredible music out of the archives.
| 2 November 2004: The third season of The West Wing is now out on DVD - so if one hasn't had a chance to enjoy this episode of The West Wing yet, now one can. |
Good job folks. Thanks.
Here's a page with the tablature for Buckley's cover of the song. I haven't tried it yet, but there is mention of using a capo on the fifth fret, which I'm pretty sure is correct.
(other chords, lyrics and interpretation below)
26 may 2002
Well now, this is interesting. For the second time this week I've heard "Hallelujah" in an unexpected place, this time the movie Shrek. This version is by Rufus Wainwright, son of Loudon John Cale, former member of the Velvet Underground. It's a nice version, but doesn't affect my heart quite the way that Buckley's does.
Interesting the way the universe just kind of . . . happens.
31 May 2002
This is getting ridiculous, almost messed up verging on unsettling.
movie: Basquiat
artist: John Cale
song: Hallelujah
That this song is so often used isn't a big surprise, I just can't help but wonder about catching it so much recently. I mean, really now.
This version is quite similar to Wainwrights, also piano driven, but a bit more enjoyable.
Still, there is something about Buckley's slightly echoed, incredibly haunting guitar along with that vulnerable voice of his which resonates so with me.
can't help but wonder what's next.
1 June 2002
Hmmmm . . . just watched the closing credits to Shrek again, and the credits list the performer of "Hallelujah" as John Cale. The soundtrack listings at cdnow list Rufus Wainwright and the snippet on cdnow does sound different from what was used in the movie, so I'm guessing the soundtrack uses a version not used in the movie. It's happened before. I still like the John Cale version better than the Rufus Wainwright version - but, well, you probably know how I feel about Jeff Buckley's version by now.
A bigger list of folks who have covered this song from the Covers Project site. This is probably not a complete list, but it's a cool list, as far as lists go.
WARNING - If you don't want to read an intepretation which paints this song's meaning in a less than lovey-dovey or (Goddess forbid) pious light, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
You've been warned. Enter here at your own peril.
8 March 2004
Since this page is, by far, the most read (or at least accessed) page here on hidebound, I've thought for awhile that I should a) mention that it is the most accessed and b) maybe write a little bit more about this song. Some time ago I started keeping track of something called referral pages, that is, the pages from which one navigates to a page here on hidebound. This includes search sites and whatever the query was which brought one here.
The first thing I noticed is how many folks come to this page trying to identify who performed "Hallelujah" as it was played on The West Wing. Cool, that's partly why I wrote this - I can remember it taking me a couple of hours to figure it out. I used to be pretty good about knowing who did what song, but either there's too much stuff in my head to keep track of it all or I'm getting forgetful in my advanced years. Pretty sure it's the latter.
Lately, however, I've noticed a lot of "what is the meaning of" kinds of queries. And while I'm not exactly the brightest bulb in the box, I thought I'd give a go - this should at least give one some ideas, even if along the lines of what the song is not about. Kind of a Cat in the Hat thing.
So, the first thing to mention is that I think there may as many different lyrical versions of this song as there are versions of this song. Different people use different verses, me included (what, you didn't know I had a version? Prolly for the best - for now . . . ). And though I'm crazy ga-ga over Jeff Buckley's version, he omits my favourite verse, the last one below.
Next, keep in mind that this is a Leonard Cohen song. IMO, Cohen's songs are basically very simple (and beautiful in their simplicity), both lyrically and musically, but he adds little bits, mostly lyrically, which give the songs an air of impenetrability (I dunno, it passed my spellcheck, so it must be a word, right?). When all else fails I fall back on one of my main credos - "Keep it simple, stupid". So I do. And to me, in it's simplicity, this is song is essentially a bitter, bitter love song. I mean BITTER. I adore this song.
IMO, The singer is saying to the lover who jilted him/her that "you will never love another like me, and if you ever think you do, you are merely deluding yourself." And yet, in the end, S/He is a disciple of the idea that it is better to have loved and lost, rather than blah blah blah . . .
That on the surface it may appear to be a kind of hymn only makes the song that much darker - and one wonders whether the singer thinks of himself as a kind of God (a Hindu Love God, perhaps?)
So here's the lyrics (I hope Mr. Cohen doesn't mind too much) - the third verse, the one in [ ] is the verse I omit when attempting to perform this song*
(13 July 2004: a bunch of people are coming here looking for chords, so I've included what I play for the first verse which then just repeats)
C Am
I've heard there was a secret chord
C Am
that David played, and it pleased the Lord
F G C G
But you don't really care for music, do you?
C
It goes like this
F G
the fourth, the fifth
Am F
The minor fall, the major lift
G E Am
The baffled king composing hallelujah
F Am F Am C G C
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your faith was strong, but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
[You say I took the Name in vain
I don't even know the Name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah]
Baby I've 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
But love is not some victory march
It's a cold and broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
But I remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Now maybe there's a God above
But all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It's not a complaint that you hear tonight
It's not someone who's seen the light
It's a cold and lonely Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come here to fool you
And even though it went all wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Halleluljah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
<whew>
The one word to recall throughout this song is irony. There is a lot of irony in this thing.
So, verse 1:
I've heard there was a secret chord
that David played, and it pleased the Lord
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
I was hot shit, but you didn't realize it and confused about that, all that was left for me to do was write a song about it and I start by talking about the structure of the song itself.
Verse 2:
Your faith was strong, but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
As if I'm writing this song about something else, I try to make it sound like you didn't rip my friggin' heart out and make me feel as weak as Sampson after his haircut
Verse 3:
You say I took the Name in vain
I don't even know the Name
But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
You think I didn't know what Love is, but so what? I did love you, and you just took this easy lame-ass way out.
Verse 4:
Baby I've 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
But love is not some victory march
It's a cold and broken Hallelujah
While I thought I was in love before, I never really was until I loved you. Love Stinks.
Verse 5:
There was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?
But I remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
In the beginning, you showed me your feelings, but you stopped. I do remember the sex - it was fantastic, for both of us. I rocked your world.
Verse 6:
Now maybe there's a God above
But all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It's not a complaint that you hear tonight
It's not someone who's seen the light
It's a cold and lonely Hallelujah
Love 'em and leave 'em. First. Love Stinks.
Verse 7:
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come here to fool you
And even though it went all wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Halleluljah
Maybe I didn't know what Love is, but I did love you, with all my heart, and even though you ripped my friggin' heart out, if I had it to do all over again I would. Gladly.
(but that's just my opinion - I could be, probably am, entirely wrong)
* So I've actually tried to perform this song in front of people, once. It was a couple of years ago, it was my birthday and I figured, "what the hell". I did a slightly truncated version, verses 1, 3, 4 and 7. Partly because I just didn't know all the lyrics by the time I did it, and partly because I didn't want my Ex, who threw me the party in the first place (it's an interesting friendship) to read anything into it more than I love playing this song.
Can you imagine verse 5 in this situation? Omigoddess, what a disaster that could have been.
Hey there cool cats, I've started a discussion thread about "Hallelujah" in the forums.
88418 folks have read this page
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