To me, this song is all about how love can be so wrong, such a mistake, and yet at the same time, when all's said and done.. at the end of our life when we "stand before the Lord of Song", that it's never wrong, and it's never a mistake. C.S. Lewis wrote once that the only place where we can be safe from the dangers of love is hell.. And why would we want to be? :)
And on another level, the whole song could be seen as a prayer, as the previous writer noted. Cohen's music makes me crazy sometimes because when I'm looking at lyrics, I'm not sure whether he's talking about a human relationship or a divine one. And a friend suggested that maybe I was analyzing way too much, and that, "maybe, if it's done right, all songs are a prayer at some level or another."
I can't pretend to have an answer for that.. but the line quoted above, "There's a blaze of light in every word / It doesn't matter which you heard/ The holy or the broken Hallelujah.." pretty much says it all, for me. ;)
To me, this song is all about how love can be so wrong, such a mistake, and yet at the same time, when all's said and done.. at the end of our life when we "stand before the Lord of Song", that it's never wrong, and it's never a mistake. C.S. Lewis wrote once that the only place where we can be safe from the dangers of love is hell.. And why would we want to be? :)
And on another level, the whole song could be seen as a prayer, as the previous writer noted. Cohen's music makes me crazy sometimes because when I'm looking at lyrics, I'm not sure whether he's talking about a human relationship or a divine one. And a friend suggested that maybe I was analyzing way too much, and that, "maybe, if it's done right, all songs are a prayer at some level or another."
I can't pretend to have an answer for that.. but the line quoted above, "There's a blaze of light in every word / It doesn't matter which you heard/ The holy or the broken Hallelujah.." pretty much says it all, for me. ;)
that's beautiful: "all songs are a prayer at some level or another"
that's beautiful: "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.
I believe it. Listening to music is as close as I've ever come to a religious experience.
i agree with your interpretation...it's about the struggle of love and relationship
i agree with your interpretation...it's about the struggle of love and relationship
Just as an aside, the Cohens ( כֹּהֲנִים ) are descendants of Israelite priests assigned to the temple music, under the Aaronic priesthood.
Just as an aside, the Cohens ( כֹּהֲנִים ) are descendants of Israelite priests assigned to the temple music, under the Aaronic priesthood.