Hallelujah (the song)

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I recall having to sing this Israeli Eurovision song called Hallelujah in hebrew school in the 80s. The English translation lyrics are a few comments down on the Youtube page - all super positive. It is very catchy (it will now be stuck in my head all day), and the unintentional comedy of the late 70s video is off the charts...

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

That was another highly inappropriate one. Hilary lost the election...lets sing about sex!

Is it inappropriate? Sure. What percentage of the audience recognized that? Or at the 9/11 memorial?

People like how it makes them feel.

[Phredd3]

Perhaps the most misused, misunderstood song of the last 25 years. Baffling.

The Pentatonix included it on their Christmas Special, and now my kids think it is a Christmas song. And this pretty much describes perfectly how I feel about that.

I haven't read this whole thread, so my apologies if this territory has been covered.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

The Pentatonix included it on their Christmas Special, and now my kids think it is a Christmas song. And this pretty much describes perfectly how I feel about that.

I haven't read this whole thread, so my apologies if this territory has been covered.

It's covered.

Again, it's a beautiful song. People like how it makes them feel.

And maybe 2% of people pay attention to lyrics beyond the chorus to most songs.

[Rich]

"Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips was the official state Song of Oklahoma for a number of years

I kid you not.

“ Do you realize
That happiness makes you cry?
Do you realize
That everyone you know someday will die?”

———

“Every Breath You Take,” a song about an obsessive/possessive stalker-type guy, is somehow played at weddings as a love song.

Reminds me of my 6th grade graduation ceremony when the class performed "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas

[DukieInKansas]

Reminds me of my 6th grade graduation ceremony when the class performed "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas

That was the senior class song when I graduated high school. It was actually the second choice - the school didn't allow Cat Scratch Fever as our class song.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

That was the senior class song when I graduated high school. It was actually the second choice - the school didn't allow Cat Scratch Fever as our class song.

Welp, ours was "I Believe I Can Fly," which, well, didn't age well to say the least.

[Phredd3]

It's covered.

Perhaps at least the link to a rant was cathartic for some.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Perhaps at least the link to a rant was cathartic for some.

No disagreement here. I love the song - and many other Leonard Cohen songs - but wouldn't include them in a church service.

[DukieInKansas]

No disagreement here. I love the song - and many other Leonard Cohen songs - but wouldn't include them in a church service.

One of the boy scouts sang it on Scout Sunday. New rule after that - music needed to be approved by the church staff ahead of time.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

One of the boy scouts sang it on Scout Sunday. New rule after that - music needed to be approved by the church staff ahead of time.

Yowza.

[bundabergdevil]

One of the boy scouts sang it on Scout Sunday. New rule after that - music needed to be approved by the church staff ahead of time.

Sounds like they weren't prepared.

[rsvman]

Welp, ours was "I Believe I Can Fly," which, well, didn't age well to say the least.

Still a good song, imo.

[DU82]

That was another highly inappropriate one. Hilary lost the election...lets sing about sex!

I thought this performance was the Saturday after Cohen had died, so it was more a tribute to him than to Hilary. (He died 11/7/16, so the dates check out.) I think McKinnon happened to be made up as Hilary, and performed it as the opening.

I've heard the song performed with different lyrics for Easter and Christmas, so some people have listened to the words, and have changed them.

I also think some of the stanzas are better than others as a tribute, although not all recognize this either.

(Recognizing the actual words, I've listened to various performances as comfort, thinking about a relative that was killed four years ago.)

[freshmanjs]

I thought this performance was the Saturday after Cohen had died, so it was more a tribute to him than to Hilary. (He died 11/7/16, so the dates check out.) I think McKinnon happened to be made up as Hilary, and performed it as the opening.

She didn’t “happen to be made up as Hillary”. She dressed as Hillary for the performance. She ended the performance by saying “I’m not giving up and neither should you”

Also, I don’t think it was a tribute to Hillary. It was a lamentation of the election result.

Certainly Cohen’s death was a factor, but I don’t agree that it was more about him than the election.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

She didn’t “happen to be made up as Hillary”. She dressed as Hillary for the performance. She ended the performance by saying “I’m not giving up and neither should you”

Also, I don’t think it was a tribute to Hillary. It was a lamentation of the election result.

Certainly Cohen’s death was a factor, but I don’t agree that it was more about him than the election.

That particular performance probably introduced lots of younger people to the song. Cohen released the song in 1984. Jeff Buckley covered it in 1994. It was in Shrek in 2001 (another super odd choice). So, it had been out of the zeitgeist for 15 years when it popped up on SNL.

Another interesting take on the song, this immediately after Cohen's death and the SNL performance.

[freshmanjs]

That particular performance probably introduced lots of younger people to the song. Cohen released the song in 1984. Jeff Buckley covered it in 1994. It was in Shrek in 2001 (another super odd choice). So, it had been out of the zeitgeist for 15 years when it popped up on SNL.

Another interesting take on the song, this immediately after Cohen's death and the SNL performance.

Perhaps I should be ashamed to admit that I was first exposed to the song when Bon Jovi was singing it a lot during the 2008-09 timeframe. I'm a Jersey guy...what can I say?

[dudog84]

That was another highly inappropriate one. Hilary lost the election...lets sing about sex!

The song is not about sex. In a 7-plus-minute song with 7 stanzas, there is one line that might be considered explicitly sexual (and which Kate did not sing, she chose 3 stanzas which were the furthest from that line). And even that line has a deeper double meaning.

I'm not sure anyone who is not a musician (or other artist) who has sacrificed for their art really gets what he was writing about. The great thing about the song, as with all great art, is that it can relate (though not specifically) to everyone if they bother to actually engage with it.

Hallelujah is one of the few songs to have an entire book written about it. Bono said something to the effect of it being the most perfect song ever written. While I have many favorites (for many moods and reasons), it is hard to argue with him.

[OldPhiKap]

That was another highly inappropriate one. Hilary lost the election...lets sing about sex!

IIRC she sang it the week Cohen died, no? I always linked it with that but my memory of the details is foggy.

But agree with the original point that her performance of it was strikingly good.

[House P]

I saw that H.E.R. sang the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah on the 9/11 memorial special. Do people really not know what the song is about? It's so completely off point and inappropriate for an occasion like that. I guess people think it's somehow religious or it fits because of the somber tone? Why would you sing a song about adultery, sex, lack of faith in God, and messed up relationships to commemorate 9/11 victims? Perhaps the most misused, misunderstood song of the last 25 years. Baffling.

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do you?

And I remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove she was moving too
And every single breath we drew was Hallelujah

If fairness to H.E.R. the version performed at the 9/11 ceremony didn't include the verse above.

And that is not entirely inappropriate as the song has a long history of verses being added/omitted by Cohen and others.* Depending on which verses are included, the song's theme of yearning for the divine in the face of loss/despair/struggle isn't entirely inappropriate for a 9/11 memorial. Sure, Cohen's original appears to be mostly about the end of a romantic relationship (in which the protagonist shares significant culpability), but some of the "broken Hallelujahs" stuff is fairly universal.

Consider some of the verses H.E.R. did include.

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 ya?
There a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter what you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah

and

Baby, I've been here before
I know this room. I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya
Any I've seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Add in emotional vocals and a stirring musical arrangement and I can see why it gets performed at memorial services -- even if the full lyrics are a bit "off topic". The lyrics aren't perfect for the occasion, but it doesn't seem as inappropriate to me as playing "Born in the USA" at a political campaign rally or playing REM's "The One I Love" at a wedding.

Now attempting to turn Hallelujah into a Christmas song -- especially if the lyrics are "updated" to include stuff Cohen never wrote -- is another story altogether!





*The song has an interesting history as it was relatively obscure until John Cale recorded as a part of a 1991 cover album. Cale's version is significantly different from Cohen's original version from 1984. Apparently, before recording the cover, Cale reached out to Cohen for a copy of the lyrics. Cohen sent Cale 80 different verses he had written for the song. Cale eventually settled on 5 verses for the cover (2 from the 1985 original and 3 "new" verses). Jeff Buckley ended up covering Cale's version and the rest is history.

Apparently, the University of Toronto has Cohen's archives, including all 80 verses he wrote for Hallelujah. So, maybe one day these will be released and the song can be arranged to be even more versatile. I can just imagine the following fast food commercial.

They say there was a secret sauce
That David made and it pleased the boss
But you don't really care for burgers, do ya?