February 14, 2018, Ash Wednesday
Hallelujah
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord that David played that pleased the Lord.
But you don’t really care for music, do ya?
It goes like this…the 4th, the 5th, the minor fall, the major lift…
The baffled king composing hallelujah.
Chorus: Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Your faith was strong, but you needed proof.
You saw her bathing on the roof; her beauty in 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! (Chorus)
Maybe there’s a God above, but all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone outdrew ya.
It’s not a cry you can hear at night; it’s not somebody who’s seen the light.
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah! (Chorus)
I did my best; it wasn’t much. I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch.
I’ve told the truth. I didn’t come to fool ya.
And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah! (Chorus)
Text and music: Leonard Cohen
These are the original words to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Because the music is so enchanting, so ethereal, so inspiring, many others have also written words to the incredible music—in fact it’s estimated that there are over 100 versions of the song. Cohen’s full version had 15 versions—cut from his original of 80 verses. So, what do these words, this tune, mean that so many, including Cohen, are inspired to write and to think and to inspire others?
Cohen explained, “Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means, ‘Glory to the Lord.’ The song explains that many kinds of Hallelujahs do exist. I say, ‘All the perfect and the broken Hallelujahs have an equal value’.” He explained that the whole of experience is divine, both the triumphs and the destitution. He felt that as long as we are facing love and loss with our hearts and minds open to the infinite possibility of the moment, we are participating in the divine. When asked why the song is so popular, he said, “It’s got a good chorus.”
So, those are Cohen’s edited thoughts on his complex song. In the end, we each hear this song, this music in our own way. We apply meaning; we apply emotion. And isn’t that the way it is with all songs?
Each song/hymn in this devotional booklet means something special to each one who wrote the devotion. Our hope is that with each writer sharing his/her meanings and emotions your faith is sparked in ways that open you to questions, to affirmations, to growth in your faith during this precious season of Lent. Hallelujah!
Anita Dorf
[Lenten Index | Tomorrow]