Student: PLATON MARIA

MA Programme: British Culture and Civilisation in the Context of Globalisation

Leonard Cohen and His Many Hallelujahs

Haunting our imagination and sparking interest ever since its 1984 release, with its
imminent peaks and valleys, Hallelujah is one of Leonard Cohen’s masterpieces, a testament to
his emotional and artistic tenderness and, at the same time, harshness and further evidence of his
finesse in both literature and music.
The Canadian artist’s career was a cultural mélange, with literature and music being his main
areas of interest. As such, aside from being a reputed singer and songwriter, he was also a
versatile poet and novelist, and Hallelujah is proof of his mastery in honing words on music and
the other way around.
Before anything else, it must be pointed out that Hallelujah is a heavily covered song by names
including Jeff Buckley and John Cale, aside from the myriads of interpretations performed by
numerous artists, in an either Christian or secular note. Cohen himself came up with tens of
drafts for this poem-song. He performed variations of Hallelujah, which once again stands proof
of his appetite for a perfect piece of art.
Underlying a musical structure that easily reminds us of gospel, Hallelujah is abundant in
biblical references, which has led many to interpret the song as a conversation with God over
Cohen’s now-lost faith.
The song starts by alluding to biblical characters David and Bathsheba, and it already sets the
mood: solemn, sacred and intimate. It manages to do so by referring to both David’s relation
with God and by recounting an erotic episode the former experienced, which develops into a
personal and deeply emotional setting.
It is the perfect décor to speak of David’s divine “secret chord” he uses to communicate with
God, just as Cohen himself did throughout his life, which, however, triggers no response, no
emotion from his interlocutor: “But you don't really care for music, do ya?” We assume this
interlocutor is the former lover. It is the precise moment we are communicated the theme the
song-poem revolves around: the disappointment in the object of love, which triggers Cohen to
change his ways and adopt a new approach to his religious beliefs as well.
The beloved one was God’s incarnation on earth, the very proof of his existence, and the nature
of the earthly love is both tempting and dangerous (“Your faith was strong but you needed
proof / You saw her bathing on the roof / Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya”). Several
descriptive lines ensue, and the eroticism of the scene is palpable throughout the song and
intertwined with the religious dialog as if to prove that love – any kind of love – is sacred, or at
least it is supposed to be. Cohen is, however, confronted with a case of failed love, which
distresses him to such an extent that it even manages to determine a dramatic shift is his belief
system.

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Student: PLATON MARIA
MA Programme: British Culture and Civilisation in the Context of Globalisation
The origins of his adoration are both of a divine and a telluric nature, but the latter is prone to
deterioration. “There was a time you let me know / What's really going on below / But now you
never show it to me, do you?” – Cohen reminisces of the time when he communicated with his
beloved one, when he could get to the essence of things, as opposed to the desacralized present
when only the surface is still accessible to him. Having seen the infinite possibilities of love, he
is now appalled by the limited offer of the present.
The “hallelujah” is supposed to be the expression of rare awe one can experience in their life, but
now that Cohen sees his love having gone adrift, the uniqueness is lost. The hallelujah is no
longer unique, it is devalued, and it appears that an individual might actually experience more
than one hallelujah in their life. This is when the distinction between earthly love and the one
sparked by divinity becomes apparent. Cohen is shaken by this realization and is tempted to
distrust divinity itself.
Aside from that, words are transient, and what Cohen feels is that even his hallelujah becomes
flimsy. It’s true, that does not happen by his own volition, and the debasement of his hallelujah is
unavoidable and causes him to become slightly cynical.
“Maybe there’s a God above / But all I’ve ever learned from love / Was how to shoot at someone
who outdrew ya” – Cohen is questioning the existence of God because his manifestation on earth
has failed him. Since his connection with the woman – which was in the end the expression of a
divine feeling – has withered, he can only assume that the divine element simply does not exist,
otherwise it couldn’t disappear just like that.
“Love is not a victory march / It’s a cold and very broken Hallelujah” – when love is trivialized,
despite its divine origins, the hallelujah becomes nothing but blabber – or so pretends a wounded
Cohen who seems to no longer be willing to invest in love at all, regardless of its nature.
“And even though it all went wrong / I’ll stand before the lord of song,” he says, suggesting that
he takes responsibility for his failed love, and that, even though he might have lost his trust in
divinity, he is up for judgement, but he wants to be judged only by the God he remembers from
the beginning of his love, not the one that has forgotten him.
It is the “lord of song” that is his last resort, and he knows that is where he will find redemption.
Words might become flimsy, and even hallelujahs might prove deceptive, but music is the
ultimate expression of love. Hallelujahs might be mankind’s language, but music is divinity’s
means of articulation.
Hallelujah’s simple melody and low-key lines whispered in Cohen’s unique style alternate with
moments of emotional turmoil and are complemented by the backing vocalists. Hallelujah is
methodically injected in every chorus – this is, in fact, a one-word chorus – to the effect that the
word sticks in your mind.

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Student: PLATON MARIA
MA Programme: British Culture and Civilisation in the Context of Globalisation
In the end, the experience of listening to Cohen’s Hallelujah proves to be a personal
experience that touches upon the subjects of ruined love, abandoned hope, and distrust in
divinity. Cohen questions language itself, which he no longer considers an efficient means of
communication, and if he has any faith left, he puts it all in the very song David used to get
through God. Perhaps that was a time when Cohen was, more than ever, a singer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Student: PLATON MARIA
MA Programme: British Culture and Civilisation in the Context of Globalisation

1. Leonard Cohen - Halllelujah  (https://youtu.be/YrLk4vdY28Q)

2. Leibovitz, Liel , A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of
Leonard Cohen. W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 2014
3. Wolfe Watson, Beatrice, The Strange Case of Leonard Cohen: ‘There is a crack in
everything. That’s how the light gets in.’(https://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/bwolfe.pdf)