Hallelujah

Ryan Adams

I've been a desperate man
I've been sheltered by a lonely dream
There's a stranger here
Looking back above the bathroom sink
Every night I throw you out

Leave you stranded on the boulevard
You know that I use you up
I used you like I used a mop

Well the band's singing hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You're all gone. Yeah, you're all gone.

If I could have a simple love
How would it feel and what would it mean?
I'd only trade you away
For Mary Magdalene

Oh, it wouldn't make me insane
And it would make me the king
And I wouldn't have to wait
Wait around for the real thing

Well the band's singing hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
You're all gone. Yeah, you're all gone.

Hallelujah
You're all gone. Oh yeah, yeah, hey.


Lyrics submitted by Shadee01

Hallelujah Lyrics as written by Ryan Adams

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Hallelujah song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +1
    General CommentI think I read that this has something to do with Ryan being artistically imprisoned while he was with Whiskeytown, even though the song was written after they broke up.
    kattalassoon September 30, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIn 2002, Ryan said "That's from a session I called '48 Hours' which was recorded straight after I'd finished 'Gold'. I called Ethan Johns (producer) and said I'd got more songs I needed to record. I thought I had a whole other record. 'Hallelujah' was written when I was living in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. I was looking for a way to express a bunch of crap I'd been dealing with and 'Hallelujah' was the happy accident that came out. I finished the lyrics seconds before I recorded it. It's vague but to the point."
    scratcherno1on January 07, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Commentcheck the superb live rendition on this page: archive.org/details/…
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    it's a shame that there are so many mistakes in the transcription here. it kinda hides the fact that the lyrics are absolutely tremendous.
    angelsflyon March 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment...bathroom scene...

    ...I used you up,
    I used you like I used 'em all


    ...trade you in
    For a Mary Magdalene


    It wouldn't make me a saint
    It wouldn't make me a king
    But then I wouldn't have to wait
    Wait around for the real thing

    With the band playing...
    Jibbalaon June 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis is my favorite ryan song and that's saying a lot . I just realized tonight that it is about waking up one morning with someone and realizing you don't really have feelings for them. It's about yearning for that person who really makes you feel alive and in love. The hallelujah chorus line is a tribute to that feeling you get from someone you are utterly smitten by. This song also has undertones of honest realization of ones delusions in terms of what he or she can realistically gain from a certain situation in life, then realizing that letting go is the first step in moving on.
    Thedude400on July 19, 2014   Link
  • -1
    General CommentI'm pretty sure this song is about letting go.
    Bullblacknovaon December 20, 2010   Link

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