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, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to ya?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
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
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
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, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well really, what's it to ya?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
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
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
however. I definitely want to go on a road trip with you and your friend!!
I have been trying to interpret this song for years and this is the most amazing explanation..
Cheers and xoxox!!
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you) then show you how it should be done(She broke your throne, and she cut your hair and from your lips she drew the hallelujah).
Then throughout the the song he's referencing "hallelujah" to something sad and broken (hence the reason you feel a little sad when you listen to the song AND lyrics). He sees this sadness and he is seeing it's wrong to have this mindset of being closed minded. It doesn't matter if you use words that might offend because "They just don't like it" and if anything it should be a way to shed light on great and true no matter what the word ( But if I did, well really, what's it to you? There's a blaze of light In every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken hallelujah)
The last verse touches on how he thinks it's sad that he could be a good and honest person and STILL people are telling him he's wrong and and he isn't "A man of faith" but he doesn't care because when he faces his faith and where his heart is in the end, he will still feel like he is as "holy" as any other person
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 you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the lord of song
With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah
and last but not least The first verse. I chose this last because this is what set the scene and emotion that makes the foundation of this song, which makes it the strongest part. He is saying that he has something to say to people in the only way he knows through song. And he believes it is a strong message but, he let's the audience know that they might not care for it.
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 you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah
I think the only reason he pulled the bible into it was to set his audience to those who relate themselves to the bible BUT, I think this song is FAR from religious in fact I think he was making a statement AGAINST the church, if anything.
"It had references to the Bible in it, although these references became more and more remote as the song went from the beginning to the end. Finally I understood that it was not necessary to refer to the Bible anymore. And I rewrote this song; this is the 'secular' 'Hallelujah.' "
So, while I defintely don't mean to discount your relationship to the song, your interpretation just doesn't match what he has said and the other parts of the verse.
Read more:
rollingstone.com/music/news/…
"all songs are a prayer at some level or another"
I believe it.
Listening to music is as close as I've ever come to a religious experience.
Well, it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift
(“the minor fall, the major lift” may not refer to musical structure at all #)
The baffled king composing Hallelujah (playing harp to bring the rains to his parched land)
the broken harp/ anguished heart does not sing of it’s own accord,
in the broken harp descends the lord and it sings (lord is my shepherd psalm 23) “hallelujah” (praise be the lord) and it rains (god’s mercy/ blessings)
# king David fell when he coveted another man’s wife (Bathsheba) and committed a cardinal sin “thou shall not kill” (sent Uliah to his death) had a minor fall (god never abandon’s his disciples) and major lift (deliverance) when he left himself in god’s hand.
and again
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
(David marries Bathsheba but the victory march is hollow, philistines capture samson and blind him, all metaphorical, Delilah has her wish but her victory rings hollow. the victory march is always bereft of god (human touch) and it’s broken (without reference to god ) and so praise be the lord for god is with down trodden not the victorious )
Delilah takes away Samson’s strength (cuts his hair (individuality as in lion’s mane ) and ties him to domesticity, kitchen chair) and the blinded Samson sings hallelujah, by now his hair a metaphor for his individuality has grown back and he destroys the pantheon to philistine god by shaking it’s foundational pillars - living by man made rules instead of god’s rules.
I'd heard there was a secret chord (when you let go and ask lord for deliverance)
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well, it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well, 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 the kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well baby, I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya
And I've seen your flag on the marble arch
And love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well, maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Songwriters: Leonard Cohen
one little comment: verse #1; you interpret the music reference in the way how a man 'playes' a woman like a musical instrument.(that is a nice one). but i take it more literally: music can make a person feel divine, it can be a source of great joy(a secret chord, and one can play it and it will please the lord). however, i've met lots of people( and women have more reserves in this then man (in very general)) who can't or won't open there hearts for that. they treat music like a sound, a noise(can be pleasant, but almost never touching/moving). and if you try to explain it they miss the point. (but you don't care for music, do you?)
what do you think about that?
I mean, there's so much to think about "3 wise men" (James Blunt), so what can one say about this piece of art?
The general tone is dark, that's clear. Lot's of problems, lot's of guilt.
I don't know know that much about Leonard Cohen (RIP) but I see him as as a man who sees life as an ever ongoing struggle to find out what's right and what's wrong. With no clear answers, lots of decisions, which both are right and wrong at the same time. And it's only YOU who'll have to make a decision and live with it.
Love and sex are (if given freedom of choice and leaving war and starvation outside) the major decisions we'll make in our live.
So I think Leonard is talking about these things a lot and that you'll find yourself inescapably guilty if you'll given in to your lust. And also if you don't.
It's about making decision and live with them.