Sunday, November 10, 2013

Song Lyric Wisdom: Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Now 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 ya?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

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
ya 
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Maybe I've been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew
ya
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and its a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show it to me, do
ya 
And remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Maybe there's a god above
All I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew
ya 
And it's not a cry you can hear at night
Not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken 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 all this way to fool ya.
Yeah even though it all went wrong
I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah....

Leonard Cohen, Various Positions, June 1984
John Lissauer, Producer

Published by Lyrics © EMI Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Note: There are more than 80 verses to this song, these are what we hear the most.