It's all a game of this or that
Now verses then
Better off against
Worse for wear
And you're someone
Who knows someone who knows someone I once knew
And I just want to be a part of this

The road outside my house
Is paved with good intentions
Hired a construction crew
'Cause it's hell on the engine
And you are the dreamer
And we are the dream
I could write it better than you ever felt it

[Chorus:]
So hum hallelujah
Just off the key of reason
I thought I loved you
But it's just how you looked in the light
A teenage vow in a parking lot
Till tonight do us part
I sing the blues and swallow them too

My words are my faith
To hell with our good name
A remix up your guts
Your insides x-rayed
And one day we'll get nostalgic for disaster
We're a bull
Your ears are just a china shop

I love you in the same way
There's a chapel in a hospital
One foot in your bedroom
And one foot out the door
Sometimes we take chances
Sometimes we take pills
I could write it better than you ever felt it

[Chorus]

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu... (hum hallelujah)
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelu... (hum hallelujah)

A teenage vow in a parking lot
Till tonight do us part
I sing the blues
And swallow them too

So, hum hallelujah
Just off the key of reason
I thought I loved you
It's just how you looked in the light
A teenage vow in a parking lot
Till tonight do us part
A teenage love in a parking lot
Till tonight do us part
A teenage vow in a parking lot
Till tonight do us part
I sing the blues and swallow them too



Lyrics submitted by suchaxsucker, edited by lordoi

Track duration: 03:51

"Hum Hallelujah" as written by Leonard Cohen, Peter Wentz, Patrick Stump, Joseph Trohman, Andrew Hurley

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Hum Hallelujah song meanings
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186 Comments

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  • 0
    Lyric Correction:Quick correction:

    You have-

    It's all a game of this or that
    Now verses then
    Better off against worse for wear

    But, it sounds to me like he's saying-

    It's all a game of this or that
    Now versus them
    Better off against worse for wear

    "versus" makes more sense since it's followed by "better off against" Maybe I'm wrong but it's just what I've noticed.
    Flag Allthewordson January 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Pete over dosing in the parking lot of best buy - pete talked about it on an interview at perizhilton.com awhile back.
    Flag glowinthedark47on January 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Obviously, it's about someone changing :i thought i loved you but it was just how you looked in the light" as in you thought you knew them, but it was just the circumstances. and "A teenage vow in a parking lot, till tonight do us part" is about eloping, and is saying we didn't think it was much. "And you're someone Who knows someone Who knows someone I once knew" is just plain obvious
    Flag IamPrefomeron October 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Obviously, it's about someone changing :i thought i loved you but it was just how you looked in the light" as in you thought you knew them, but it was just the circumstances. and "A teenage vow in a parking lot, till tonight do us part" is about eloping, and is saying we didn't think it was much. "And you're someone Who knows someone Who knows someone I once knew" is just plain obvious. one of my favorite songs ever
    Flag IamPrefomeron October 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've always interpreted the line:

    "I love you in the same way
    there's a chapel in a hospital
    One foot in your bedroom
    And one foot out the door"

    to mean that he's facing a kind of contradiction. At a hospital you have hope that your love one will be cured but the chapel is there to pray for God to take them home. If you trust the doctors enough to be there, why do you need the chapel? Does that make sense to anyone but me?

    Flag Whit30607on July 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz has dropped the bombshell that he tried to commit suicide a few years ago.

    The bassist revealed that he was mentally out of control at the time and he was close to taking his life by taking an overdose of an anti-anxiety prescription drug called Ativan.

    He told MTV: "I got in my car. I remember I was listening to Jeff Buckley doing Leonard Cohen's ‘Hallelujah’ and sat there and took a bunch of Ativan in a Best Buy parking lot.

    “I called up my manager because I was, at that point, completely out of my head with Ativan. And I was talking to him and I was slurring my words, so he called my mom and my mom called me and she came and got me and we went to the hospital."

    Fortunately Pete recovered from the bout of depression and went on to become a multi-million selling rock star and date Ashlee Simpson.


    entertainmentwise.com
    Flag unicyangelon January 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation: I've always thought that this song was about teenagers and their relationships. Because in this era people are so focused on outward appearance, money, etc. it's hard to have a normal relationship.

    Stanza 1. She gloats about the intimacy of their relationship like it doesn't matter. She thinks it's helping her but it only makes things worse.

    2. She always knows someone to go to for a nice rant. He's starting to think he doesn't know her.

    3. The relationship started out supposedly innocent, but it led to him only wanting one thing from her, not being attracted to her personality at all. He had to back himself up with her appearance to make it work. She thinks he loves her completely, and he knows this. He knows her personality so well now that he can explain it in words.

    Stanza Refrain 1: He's thankful for their relationship despite the fact it is unreasonable and based on nothing. He thought he loved her for her mind, but it was only what she showed him before they were together that drew him in.

    Stanza Refrain 2: It sounds like they had vowed to love each other in the back of his car in a Wal-Mart parking lot or maybe Target or something. In the end they just vowed to act like they were lovers until the night ended.

    4. He knows all of the bad things about her, and they both are beginning to like the drama and pain they've inflicted on the other.

    5. They're starting to hurt each other, and the damage is getting to be a permanent affliction. They're addicted to the drama and the pain.

    Pretty much my whole interpretation. Again, only my opinion and a story I can't get out of my mind when I listen to it.



    Flag KaoriCreatoron November 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:WOW. this whole time, i thought the line was "so hum hallelujah, just don't forget a reason". but at least it makes sense! haha.
    Flag PlayFrancesPlayon July 14, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song is about Pete attempting suicide in is car. The song Hallelujah came one the radio and he stopped himself. Hense, title the Hum Hallulujah.(said by pete himslef)
    Flag xomgoxon May 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Pete said this song is the "second part" to Dark Alley
    Flag chicagosXcon May 22, 2009   Link

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