Hallelujah is an expression; it’s what we say when we worship or rejoice.
Throughout the lyrics, you can see the songwriter trying to define to you what hallelujah even means exactly, such as: “And it’s not a cry you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah” Thus, he isn’t talking about faith.
Next, it’s important to note that this song has evolution; the character in the music evolves throughout the piece.
First stanza- “the minor fall and the major lift, the baffled King composing hallelujah” the story of King David, whose life itself was a composition. Baffled means perplexed; life is never predictable.
“But you don’t really care for music, do you?” points to the idea that the songwriter is not referring to the Lord, but to someone else.
Second stanza- Notice that he says “THE hallelujah” and not just hallelujah. The lyrics here refer to moments of weakness for great kings in the bible.
Third stanza- “You know I used to live alone before I knew ya” the songwriter is no longer alone in his pain, because there is someone else, “you,” who has been in the same situation and place in life as he has.
Third stanza- A relationship that has staled.
Fourth stanza- “shoot somebody who outdrew ya.” Outdrawing a person means pulling out your gun from your holster before the other person could get to it in order to shoot them. In this case, he is saying that all he ever learned from love was how to get rid of them before they could shoot you down.
Fifth stanza- Once again, “And it’s not a cry you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.” He is talking about betrayal from loved ones, which is a cold and broken “hallelujah.” You can even take that literally. So this song is about betrayal.
Hallelujah is an expression; it’s what we say when we worship or rejoice. Throughout the lyrics, you can see the songwriter trying to define to you what hallelujah even means exactly, such as: “And it’s not a cry you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah” Thus, he isn’t talking about faith. Next, it’s important to note that this song has evolution; the character in the music evolves throughout the piece. First stanza- “the minor fall and the major lift, the baffled King composing hallelujah” the story of King David, whose life itself was a composition. Baffled means perplexed; life is never predictable. “But you don’t really care for music, do you?” points to the idea that the songwriter is not referring to the Lord, but to someone else. Second stanza- Notice that he says “THE hallelujah” and not just hallelujah. The lyrics here refer to moments of weakness for great kings in the bible. Third stanza- “You know I used to live alone before I knew ya” the songwriter is no longer alone in his pain, because there is someone else, “you,” who has been in the same situation and place in life as he has. Third stanza- A relationship that has staled. Fourth stanza- “shoot somebody who outdrew ya.” Outdrawing a person means pulling out your gun from your holster before the other person could get to it in order to shoot them. In this case, he is saying that all he ever learned from love was how to get rid of them before they could shoot you down. Fifth stanza- Once again, “And it’s not a cry you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.” He is talking about betrayal from loved ones, which is a cold and broken “hallelujah.” You can even take that literally. So this song is about betrayal.