What do you think Hallelujah means?

Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah Meaning

Album cover for Hallelujah album cover

Song Released: 1984


Covered By: Rufus Wainwright (2007), Jordan Smith (2015), Pentatonix (2016)


Hallelujah Lyrics

Lyrics removed by the request of NMPA

  1. anonymous
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    Dec 13th 2017 !⃝

    The song is about brokenness.

  2. anonymous
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    Dec 7th 2017 !⃝

    What about the part being tied to the kitchen chair, broke your throne and cut your hair?

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  3. anonymous
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    Nov 14th 2017 !⃝

    I think this is about David playing the harp for King Saul and then after he is anointed king by Samuel, it is about him and Bathsheba and Sampson and Delilah.
    I love this song it is beautiful and peaceful

    and yes, there is a God above and he loves you more than you can know. :)

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 14th 2017 !⃝

    I think this is about David and Bathsheba and Sampson and Delilah.
    I love this song it is beautiful and peaceful

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  5. anonymous
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    Oct 25th 2017 !⃝

    If there were no words, if many of the powerful vocalizations were "humming" along, the harmonic vibration of the music is powerful enough to send a chill up my spin and bring a tear to my eye.
    The Hallelujah Chorus sung powerfully in an acoustically resonant cathedral always evokes a warm chill.
    Music soothes (or arouses) the savage beast.

  6. anonymous
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    Oct 25th 2017 !⃝

    If there were no words, if many of the powerful vocalizations were "humming" along, the harmonic vibration of the music is powerful enough to send a chill up my spin and bring a tear to my eye.

  7. anonymous
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    Oct 17th 2017 !⃝

    To me the song speaks of the Christian who is in close and deeply satisfying communion and fellowship with God, but being human, makes choices that God has warned him about. As a child who test the limits of parental authority, he proves to himself (and learns the hard way) what God is warning against. As David and Samson each made their choices, their spiritual fervor for God, their power in Him, and their intimate knowledge of Him and what is happening under the heavens (on earth) was diminished in the process. Love could not be the beautiful and pure experience they so longed for— it was cold and broken because it could not reflect God’s principles and who He is. Where before they lived and moved and had their being in Christ, (moving in you) through the Holy Spirit (dove), now it was a cold and broken existence, Having learned a hard and bitter lesson, they could still go forward with God... only now their Hallelujah could not come from a place of greater purity, but from a place now tainted with evidence of their human-ness. Hence we all, in one way or another, cry out to God with our broken yet sincere Hallelujah. The melody resonates truth in our deepest heart, even if the meaning of the words might elude us.

  8. anonymous
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    Oct 15th 2017 !⃝

    I think this song is about sin and how we of place blame for our own sin elsewhere rather than take responsibilty for it and repent. When he says “she tied you to the chair” its a metaphor placing blame upon Bathsheba for His, King Davids sin. When we place blame and dont take rrsponsiblilty we lose power in our lives. When we take responsibility that power is restored.
    And in our weakness and our strength we still praise the Lord. We say Hallelujah!

  9. anonymous
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    Sep 24th 2017 !⃝

    Here are my interpretations of the four most common verses, although you can explain the other verses with the same method. The song resonates around one word, Hallelujah, and in every instance it means one thing: orgasm.

    The first verse:
    ...The minor fall, the major lift,
    the baffled king composing Hallelujah...

    The king was not sure how to find a love and be sure he brought her to delight with an orgasm, so he set himself a task to learn how to 'compose' one he could be sure would work.

    The second verse:
    ... She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
    and from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah...

    Seeing how he was bound and subject to the woman's whims, and as she seems to be playing the role of a dominatrix, she would not hesitate to reach sexual release from him. She has him helpless, and cooperative. She reaches an orgasm as he performs cunnilingus, an oral sexual act where the lips and tongue are used to bring about the desired orgasm.

    The third verse:
    …the holy dove was moving too,
    and every breath we drew was Hallelujah…

    They had a wonderful sex life at one time; they shared everything about themselves with each other. Each time they made love and reached an orgasm, it was a celebration. However, for some reason, after a while things started going badly.

    The fourth verse:
    …I’ll stand before the Lord of song,
    with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah…

    Not a difficult verse at all. He’ll be positioned in front of the “Lord“ of song, the only thing on his mind and tongue is an orgasm waiting to happen, as this is a common position for fellatio. The “Lord” is not God, so don’t be outraged.

    In an interview Leonard Cohen said there were many Hallelujahs, as sex has countless situations and forms. Here we see but a few.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. anonymous
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    Sep 1st 2017 !⃝

    It inspired a poem of my own, if I may share.
    Broken Hallelujah

    I was writing a love story
    When I listened to a lie
    That all I’ve known are broken loves
    So I let my story die
    Attacked I was with unbelief
    Did I really know His name?
    And with every ugly thing I’ve done
    To bring upon me shame

    I came to doubt my own esteem
    And what I knew of love.
    But then God led me to a song
    That struck a chord in me
    By one of His own chosen people
    Who spoke deeply into me
    A broken hallelujah
    Set my spirit free

    I listened to it over and over
    Every singer and arrangement
    And how people lit up when they sang it
    It left me in amazement
    Amazing Grace came to me
    King David in an old covenant understood
    The grace of a forgiving God
    Can draw a song out of man

    Now I feel I can go on
    In my sanctified imagination
    And finish my love story
    I don’t have to be perfect
    Or know love perfectly
    Just let the blaze that lights in every word
    Draw the broken hallelujah out of me

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    Copyright August 31, 2017
    Judy Pendell

  11. anonymous
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    Aug 30th 2017 !⃝

    Incredible faith that a person can be broken and still praise the Lord. I believe that the Jewish people survive because of the broken hallelujah!

  12. anonymous
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    Aug 23rd 2017 !⃝

    I honestly think the most beautiful part of this song isn't found in its interpretation. Instead, we're treated to the words of a poet whose words speak to us, and we find different meanings and interpretations. This piece speaks on literal, religious, sexual, and social levels simultaneously. And while Cohen owns the iconic version, I'd recommend listening to k.d. lang too. Amazing.

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 23rd 2017 !⃝

    I'm curious about an unnoted verse here, below-
    You say I took the name in vain
    I don't even know the name
    But if I did, well really, what's it to you?
    There's a blaze of light
    In every word
    It doesn't matter which you heard
    The holy or the broken Hallelujah

    Here the singer seems to be noting his lover is criticizing him trivially about his use of Hallelujah, which suggests an active role for the lover regards the writing of the song.

    And some Cohen sites don't list some of the Jeff Buckley version verses so does anyone know if Cohen did write these?

    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
    I've seen your flag on the marble arch
    But love is not a victory march
    It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

    There was a time when you let me know
    What's really going on below
    But now you never show that to me do ya
    But remember when I moved in you
    And the holy dove was moving too
    And every breath we drew was hallelujah

    Well, maybe there's a god above
    But all I've ever learned from love
    Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
    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

    I'm curious as these verses definitely move the song in a different direction, to a more failed romance mood whereas without then the song seems a more general musing.

  14. anonymous
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    Aug 5th 2017 !⃝

    I think the first line was about David and the rest was about Samson and other life staff

  15. anonymous
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    Jul 23rd 2017 !⃝

    As beautiful and layered as this song is I have an issue with artists approaching this as "Christian" music or adding to "Christmas" concerts, simply due to the word, Hallelujah. While their may be religious figures referenced throughout, I don't believe Mr. Cohen's intent was to retell the stories of David, Sampson, or imply this was God singing to them. This is a pretty obvious reflection on a love affair that is coming to and end, at least it is obvious to me and therefore a huge reason I find it unsettling and pandering when artists sing it out of context on holiday specials or at times of tragedy. Makes you wonder if they've ever listened to it or read the words at all? I recall hearing an interview years ago with Donna Fargo. She talked about recording, ONE TOKE OVER THE LINE. She said she and her producer recorded it because of the words, "Sweet Jesus". They assumed it was a "Christian" song and recorded it. She explained how shocked and embarrassed she was to learn what this song was about.




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