Most of the interpretations I have heard refer to biblical stories and of course it is impossible to ignore the analogies with King David and Bathsheba. However,I think these can obscure the meaning of the song and I would rather go beyond them. Analyzing a poem line by line sometimes misses the core of meaning which may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself.What after all was Kubla Khan, Coleridges poem about? It came out of a drug-induced reverie and the words are impossible to interpret literally.
What I see in the poem is a man who finds it hard to reconcile his own singular personal quest for truth as a spiritual seeker and as a creative artist with earthly love.He is "overthrown" by the beauty of the woman bathing on the roof and intoxicated with desire for her yet with that comes compromise.Being tied to a kitchen chair suggests being bound to domesticity and having his hair cut recalls Samson whose strength was lost when Delilah cut his hair.He feels he has sacrificed his power for ephemeral sexual desire,emotional needs and freedom from the burden of loneliness.
And inevitably the hallelujah, the ecstasy fades and withit bitterness and disillusionment since his lover has no feeling for creativity as evidenced by her lack of interest in music,his explanation of which seems to fall on deaf ears.
At the same time,the sexual magnetism, "down below" has diminished or even gone in the way that the energy of many relationships weaken into dead habit.
So there is a sense he has been left with nothing, doubting a god above and likening earthly love to a gunfight.It is as if he has betrayed his deepest yearnings and is only left with a cold and broken hallelujah, an empty exhortation, a state of inner desolation.
Yet the tone of the song is so bittersweet, so beautiful and sad that there might be a suggestion that he has reconciled those feelings and accepted the limits of the relationship,knowing that even sharing a life with someone cannot assuage his inner loneliness.
Hallelujah is a beautiful,ironic and melancholy masterpiece.
@TheStef112 When I 1st read your " may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself" I thought oh great, here's another one who thinks he knows better than anyone else, even the one who created it. I chuckled in realizing how arrogant it is for judging someone because they were being judgemental. lol That being said, I'm glad I kept reading. I recognize your interpretation as one I agree with. The truth in which it holds is solid for all experiences of our humanness. Although we may come to know our...
@TheStef112 When I 1st read your " may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself" I thought oh great, here's another one who thinks he knows better than anyone else, even the one who created it. I chuckled in realizing how arrogant it is for judging someone because they were being judgemental. lol That being said, I'm glad I kept reading. I recognize your interpretation as one I agree with. The truth in which it holds is solid for all experiences of our humanness. Although we may come to know our I AM, we will always have our human ego to contend with.
@TheStef112 hi ! you have got the biblical references and the crux of the song right. except you did not focus on the two magical verses
@TheStef112 hi ! you have got the biblical references and the crux of the song right. except you did not focus on the two magical verses
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
@TheStef112 I like this interpretation a lot. I definitely agree with you about how analyzing songs/poetry line by line can make you lose the meaning of the song/poem in its entirety. If you only read one chapter of a book, you only get a tiny piece of the whole story. I think it's the same way with songs and poetry. It gives a sliver of information, but without the context of the complete idea, it doesn't make much sense. I also agree with your view on the song being a beautiful, ironic, and melancholy masterpiece. That description is pretty perfect....
@TheStef112 I like this interpretation a lot. I definitely agree with you about how analyzing songs/poetry line by line can make you lose the meaning of the song/poem in its entirety. If you only read one chapter of a book, you only get a tiny piece of the whole story. I think it's the same way with songs and poetry. It gives a sliver of information, but without the context of the complete idea, it doesn't make much sense. I also agree with your view on the song being a beautiful, ironic, and melancholy masterpiece. That description is pretty perfect.
Most of the interpretations I have heard refer to biblical stories and of course it is impossible to ignore the analogies with King David and Bathsheba. However,I think these can obscure the meaning of the song and I would rather go beyond them. Analyzing a poem line by line sometimes misses the core of meaning which may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself.What after all was Kubla Khan, Coleridges poem about? It came out of a drug-induced reverie and the words are impossible to interpret literally.
What I see in the poem is a man who finds it hard to reconcile his own singular personal quest for truth as a spiritual seeker and as a creative artist with earthly love.He is "overthrown" by the beauty of the woman bathing on the roof and intoxicated with desire for her yet with that comes compromise.Being tied to a kitchen chair suggests being bound to domesticity and having his hair cut recalls Samson whose strength was lost when Delilah cut his hair.He feels he has sacrificed his power for ephemeral sexual desire,emotional needs and freedom from the burden of loneliness.
And inevitably the hallelujah, the ecstasy fades and withit bitterness and disillusionment since his lover has no feeling for creativity as evidenced by her lack of interest in music,his explanation of which seems to fall on deaf ears.
At the same time,the sexual magnetism, "down below" has diminished or even gone in the way that the energy of many relationships weaken into dead habit.
So there is a sense he has been left with nothing, doubting a god above and likening earthly love to a gunfight.It is as if he has betrayed his deepest yearnings and is only left with a cold and broken hallelujah, an empty exhortation, a state of inner desolation.
Yet the tone of the song is so bittersweet, so beautiful and sad that there might be a suggestion that he has reconciled those feelings and accepted the limits of the relationship,knowing that even sharing a life with someone cannot assuage his inner loneliness.
Hallelujah is a beautiful,ironic and melancholy masterpiece.
i like it. there is a lot of sense in your words.
i like it. there is a lot of sense in your words.
@TheStef112 When I 1st read your " may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself" I thought oh great, here's another one who thinks he knows better than anyone else, even the one who created it. I chuckled in realizing how arrogant it is for judging someone because they were being judgemental. lol That being said, I'm glad I kept reading. I recognize your interpretation as one I agree with. The truth in which it holds is solid for all experiences of our humanness. Although we may come to know our...
@TheStef112 When I 1st read your " may actually be not fully realized by the poet himself" I thought oh great, here's another one who thinks he knows better than anyone else, even the one who created it. I chuckled in realizing how arrogant it is for judging someone because they were being judgemental. lol That being said, I'm glad I kept reading. I recognize your interpretation as one I agree with. The truth in which it holds is solid for all experiences of our humanness. Although we may come to know our I AM, we will always have our human ego to contend with.
@TheStef112 Thanks for this great interpretation!
@TheStef112 Thanks for this great interpretation!
@TheStef112 hi ! you have got the biblical references and the crux of the song right. except you did not focus on the two magical verses
@TheStef112 hi ! you have got the biblical references and the crux of the song right. except you did not focus on the two magical verses
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
@TheStef112 I like this interpretation a lot. I definitely agree with you about how analyzing songs/poetry line by line can make you lose the meaning of the song/poem in its entirety. If you only read one chapter of a book, you only get a tiny piece of the whole story. I think it's the same way with songs and poetry. It gives a sliver of information, but without the context of the complete idea, it doesn't make much sense. I also agree with your view on the song being a beautiful, ironic, and melancholy masterpiece. That description is pretty perfect....
@TheStef112 I like this interpretation a lot. I definitely agree with you about how analyzing songs/poetry line by line can make you lose the meaning of the song/poem in its entirety. If you only read one chapter of a book, you only get a tiny piece of the whole story. I think it's the same way with songs and poetry. It gives a sliver of information, but without the context of the complete idea, it doesn't make much sense. I also agree with your view on the song being a beautiful, ironic, and melancholy masterpiece. That description is pretty perfect.