RLS, Mostly Harmless

A Discussion

Thanks to one of my mentors and Shrek for the popularization of a throroughly trimmed version of an awesome song, I keep getting bugged about Hallelujah. Zeck seems to like to prod at my underlying issues, and this song describes them to a T. First of all, let’s get this straignt (no pun intended), Rufus Wainright did not compose this song. Leonard Cohen did a long time ago. Actually, the original version is very, very weird and seems some combination of Elvis meets R&B. Check it out at Hellelujah . You’ll have to scroll down and hit, “See all 18 tracks on this disc,” between Disc 1 and Disc 2. Two of my favorite versions include covers by John Cale and Jeff Buckley. Both these versions are great, but there’s another John Cale version that blows the others away in my opinion. Search KaZaA for it. I have yet to see any version other than the original include all of the verses. That aside, on to the lyrics.

This is by no means a definitive explanation of Mr. Cohen’s lyrics. This is my opinion. My thoughts on the matter are the product of my own experiences and training in the arts and may be considerably different from those of someone else. One of the neat things about Mr. Cohen’s style of writing is how he leaves a certain vagueness while giving the reader the idea that he intends his words to mean more than what is obvious. I personally feel that many writers simply write songs and stories that are straight-forward and have absolutely no intentional hidden meanings at all; the derivation of BS so commonly found in modern literature courses. Considering the source here, however, I feel Mr. Cohen’s intentions are pretty clear.

I’ve heard there was
a secret chord
That David played
and it pleased the Lord

Literal biblical reference: David was a powerful king who wrote and played many psalms to glorify God, something God really liked. On another level, David was just that—a king. He was a stud. Now draw the line to the person singing in this song. He is a real catch, hot stuff, a person people respect, a master of his world, powerful and strong on many levels.

But you don’t really care
for music, do you?

Speaking directly to for whom the song was written, most likely a former girlfriend, the writer tells how he has resorted to writing a song about his situation. “You don’t really care for music, to do you—“the girl won’t fully understand the song, nor does she fully understand what she left.
Another angle: when you’re in love, that other person becomes you’re number one—your life. “I used to write and sing for you, and you absolutely loved it, but now you don’t care.”

It goes like this:
The fourth, the fifth
the minor fall, the major lift

On one level, this part of the verse describes how the song will be structured musically—fourths and fifths are names of musical chords. But perhaps more meaningfully, this section’s text along with the actual musical chords describes the emotions of a relationship: the rise of falling in love, the feeling of being in love, the fall and hurt of breaking up, and then, perhaps, the lift of moving on. Think of this as the song plays: happy-sounding, rising chords, a sad, minor chord, and another happy, major chord.

the baffled king
Composing Hallelujah

The baffled king, the writer, doesn’t understand how or why she could have left him or why she hasn’t come back. He ends with a cry of, “Hallelujah,” perhaps painting a picture of himself throwing his hands up into the air and looking skyward, “praise God, help me—I don’t understand!” Perhaps his “Hallelujah” shows his hands in the air in disbelief. This could be a cry of mercy to God or the girl in question.

The first verse simplified: I know what a catch I am and how awesome we are together, but you don’t fully understand this. I could try to explain it to you, but I know you still won’t get it. I don’t understand how you could leave me.
Perhaps this sounds a bit arrogant? Read on.

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

Biblical reference: King David saw a beautiful married woman, Bath Sheba, bathing on the roof of her house. He subsequently gave into temptation, killing her husband and seducing her, effectively turning his back on God. David was a powerful king brought to his knees by his own weakness—a woman. When David turned his back on God by sinning, God stripped him of his Kingdom, causing David to cry out in mercy once he realized what had happened. The hair cutting line refers to the story of Samson and Delilah, where Samson, a powerful giant, was rendered powerless by a beautiful woman as she learned his secret and cut off his long hair.
Pointing inward, the writer tells how his world was nearly complete and how he was in absolute awe as he first saw this former girl. He completed his world by perusing her and was forced to watch it all come tumbling down as she left because of his weakness for her. Again, his arms up in the air, “Hallelujah!”

The second verse simplified: “I had so much, but I wanted you, too. I got you. You became my world, and when you changed your mind, my world fell apart. Mercy!”

We’ll stick with the first two verses for now, as I do intend to leave the house today. This should be sufficient for a sizable uproar from my entire reading audience of four people.