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

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, 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 you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you'd let me know
What's real and going on below
But now you never show it to me do you?
And remember when I moved in you?
The holy dark was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there's a God above
And all I ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It's not a cry you can hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and its a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah


Lyrics submitted by tjordaan

Hallelujah Lyrics as written by Leonard Cohen

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover) song meanings
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    General Comment

    For me this song is about the complexity of love, about how something so wonderful can make you feel so horrible. Cohen's uses the bible as a way of saying that love is an imaculate and wonderful thing. Something that is worth singing praise to, but to contradict that, the parts of the bible he chooses show the pain love can cause. It shows how when you are in love you have to confront feelings of insecurity and inferiority that haunt you. And as painful as that is, you deal with it because it's far more painful to be without the person you love.

    ArcherAveon March 04, 2003   Link

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