









I’ve heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don’t really care for music, do you?

It goes like this

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

– “He said, ‘I like this song you wrote called Hallelujah.’ In fact, he started doing it in concert. He said, ‘How long did that take you to write?’ And I said, ‘Oh, the best part of two years.’ He said, ‘Two years?’ Kinda shocked. And then we started talking about a song of his called I And I from Infidels. I said, ‘How long did you take to write that.’ He said, ‘Ohh, 15 minutes.’ I almost fell off my chair. Bob just laughed.”

~Leonard Cohen (quoted in Telegraph 41, p. 30)

This is one of my fav Leonard Cohen songs.

Released December 1984 Recorded June 1984 Genre Folk rock Length 4:36 Label Columbia Writer(s) Leonard Cohen Producer John Lissauer

“Hallelujah” is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions(1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a cover by John Cale, which later formed the basis for a cover by Jeff Buckley. It is the subject of the book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” (2012) by Alan Light. In a New York Times review of the book, Janet Maslin praises the book and the song, noting that “Cohen spent years struggling with his song ‘Hallelujah.’ . . . He wrote perhaps as many as 80 verses before paring the song down.” Many cover versions have been performed by many and various singers, both in recordings and in concert, with over 300 versions known. The song has been used in film and television soundtracks, and televised talent contests. It is often called one of the greatest songs of all time.



Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you

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

Other notable versions:

Leonard Cohen – album version:



Leonard Cohen – live at the Montreal Jazz Festival 2008:



John Cale:



Jeff Buckley:



Rufus Wainwright:



K.D. Lang – Live Olympic Games 2010 Opening Ceremony











Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan first performed Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ on July 8, 1988 at the Forum de

Montréal in Canada. Montréal is Cohen’s home town and it is possible that he attended the show.

Dylan’s second and final performance, on his “Interstate 88” tour, was on August 4, 1988, at the

final night of a three show residency at the Greek Theatre, Hollywood.

–

Dylan and Leonard Cohen first met sometime in the late ’60s and have remained friends ever

since, meeting whenever the opportunity arises. One such occasion was after a concert in Paris,

probably Dylan’s October 7, 1987 show at P.O.P.B. Bercy. The two songwriters spent some

considerable time talking shop, over coffee, in a café somewhere in the 14th Arrondissment of

Paris. Dylan told Cohen that he especially liked the ending to his then new song ‘Hallelujah’. “And even though it all went wrong / I’ll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on

my tongue but hallelujah!” ~Derek Barker (The Songs He didn’t write)

..And here they are in all their glory….

Baby I have been here before

I know this room, I’ve walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you.

I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch

Love is not a victory march

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Musicians:

Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)

G. E. Smith (guitar)

Kenny Aaronson (bass)

Christopher Parker (drums)

Forum de Montréal, Montréal, Canada – 8 July 1988:



There was a time when you let me know

What’s really going on below

But now you never show it to me, do you?

And remember when I moved in you

The holy dove was moving too

And every breath we drew was Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Greek Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles – 4 August 1988:



Maybe there’s a God above

But all I’ve ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

It’s not a cry you can hear at night

It’s not somebody who has seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah 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 Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah I did my best, it wasn’t much

I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch

I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah

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-Egil