Leonard Cohen & Hallelujah

 

Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you dont really care for music, do you?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor falls, the major lifts
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 her
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

 And David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”  And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

                              I Samuel 21-23 NRSVue

We have a neighbour on the street behind us who enjoys warbling away in her backyard in the summer, usually singing along to tunes she's playing too loud. Fortunately her voice is quite good, unlike the woman at the gym who howls off-key with her earbuds in -- there must be a special level of hell for those people. Our neigbour's favourite this year is Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and she tucks into it with gusto. Hallelujah is a fascinating, enigmatic song which tells the biblical story of King David and Bathsheba - sort of -- before the lyrics meander on the other things. 

What is the "secret chord" (also the title of a novel about the life of David by Geraldine Brooks)? Does it refer to the musical comfort the young David brought to the troubled King Saul? What was Cohen, a practicing Buddhist for many years drawing upon from his Jewish upbringing in Montreal? Cohen also included Christian imagery in songs. 

Nearly forty years after if was written there is a documentary about this song which one writer suggests has become an anthem, the way Bridge Over Troubled Water was a generation earlier. 

There is also an interesting take on Cohen by Adrienne Clarkson, journalist and Governor General, in a documentary from the late 80s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgwQPydLSIw

I am more inclined to Cohen's fascinating late song You Want it Darker which seems to anticipate his death. The recording includes the wonderful choir from the synagogue of his early years. 

If you are the dealer, I'm out of the game
If you are the healer, it means im broken and lame
If thine is the glory, then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame

Magnified, sanctified
Be the holy name
Vilified, crucified
In the human frame
A million candles burning
For the help that never came
You want it darker

Hineni, hineni
I'm ready, my Lord...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0nmHymgM7Y

In parting, I figure the best covers of Hallelujah are by KD Lang, one of which she sang at a tribute concert after Cohen's death. There are so many others, though, including a Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton version on Saturday Night Live -- go figure. Of course he sang it himself in concert. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/leonard-cohen-hallelujah-live-1988-1365116/

                                                                     Cohen and Marianne