The meaning of this song

#16
ShimmaPuff said:
To me, it will always mean that the OC was canceled.
Click to expand...

HAHHAHA.

the same way Hide & Seek will always remind me of when whatshisface got shot, and then the SNL spoof off of it.


but yeah, idk what the song means, but it's pretty. it always reminds me of the scene in Shrek.

but i have to say i like Kate Voegele the best by far.
 
#17
This is the best interpretation I received:

There are the biblical references to the story of King David (who supposedly was a composer of God) and his struggles with lusting over a woman and King David kills her husband and thus does the dirty deed.

Possibly this Hallelujah is a corrupted Hallelujah. It's about sacrifice and love. King David sacrificed his morals and his relation with God by killing a man to obtain love, and that is why the Hallelujah is so dark.

The first verse is very very fascinating. It begins with sarcasm. "You dont really care for music do you?" Possibly the subject in this verse is the woman that David killed for, and that the sarcasm is that the woman doesn't realize how great David's sacrifice was through breaking his relation with God by displeasing him.


After it is established that the subject doesn't care for music, the singer/narrator goes on to explain the music anyway. This establishes that King David is more interested in composing a dark Hallelujah and he is baffled by the dark love that came from his bloodshed. Like, how can something good come out of murder and adultry.

(The chorus)
Obviously this Hallelujah isn't the typical Hallelujah that would be heard at Easter. The chords roll back and forward between F major and a minor creating a darker chorus. This being because the Hallelujah is a dark and repressed praise created by death.

(second verse)
Supposedly King David commited his adulterous crime after gazing upon a woman in the moonlight on a balcony. This second verse reinforces the biblical theory that this is about King David finding love.

"She tied you to a kitchen chair"
This part of the song could refer to King David being stripped of his morals. Symbolicaly speaking, he was tied to a kitchen chair, broke your throne and cut your hair, could be referring to a King David after he commited the murder and there was no turning back. This is similar in concept to what happened to Samson.

"she broke your throne, and cut your heir." Throne and Heir are two words that would most likely be seen together as opposed to throne and hair. However, in the bible Solomon (King David's son) was hurt by his father's actions.

"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?"
This could be King David speaking to God denying that he didn't take his name in vain because he killed for love.

With that stand point, even the dark Hallelujah has a "blaze of light" like the holy Hallelujah.

The final Verse
The final verse is again King David talking to God basically admitting he was wrong, and he even standing behind the dark love is entirely wrong. However, by standing in front of the lord of song and only proclaiming his dark Hallelujah proves that it was worth it all to King David.

Many people see it as a sexual references, and that could be very much so correct. There is just a lot of small parallels in the verses of the song to the bible that make the bible theory of this song more concrete.

WOW......nothing what I thought myself, but listening to it again, I now see the parellels.
 
#19
If you look at it from a religious perspective, it refers to various women from the bible, and how they (in a nontraditional way,) overpowered and dominated the men they were with, thus making them lose their strength.
 
#22
I got these from Hallelujah's page on Songfacts.com:



The song is about love which has soured and gone stale. Cohen used a lot of religious imagery, including references to some of the more notorious women in the bible. Here's some lyrical analysis:
"You saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you" - Bathsheba, who tempted the king to kill her husband so he could have her.



"She tied you to her kitchen chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair" - Delilah, who cut off Sampson's locks that held his superhuman strength.
"But remember when I moved in you and the holy dove was moving too" - This could be a reference to the divine conception and Mary.
The lines referring to the immaculate conception can also be interpreted as having a sexual connotation: "And every breath we drew was hallelujah."



Cohen: "Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means 'Glory to the Lord.' The song explains that many kinds of Hallelujahs do exist. I say: All the perfect and broken Hallelujahs have an equal value. It's a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion."
- This one is courtesy of Roderick from Qingdao, China



The Bible makes reference to King David communing with the Lord and learning that certain types of music were more pleasing. The chords mentioned in the lyrics (that "David played and it pleased the lord) are often used in hymns.
- This one is courtesy of Mike from Perth, Australia



Buckley referred to his sensuous rendition as a homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm." He explained in a Dutch magazine OOR: "Whoever listens carefully to 'Hallelujah' will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth. The hallelujah is not a homage to a worshipped person, idol or god, but the hallelujah of the orgasm. It's an ode to life and love." Buckley also admitted to having misgivings about his sensual version and he hoped that Cohen wouldn't get to hear his version.
 
Last edited:
#23
caitlin1214 said:
Buckley referred to his sensuous rendition as a homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm." He explained in a Dutch magazine OOR: "Whoever listens carefully to 'Hallelujah' will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth. The hallelujah is not a homage to a worshipped person, idol or god, but the hallelujah of the orgasm. It's an ode to life and love." Buckley also admitted to having misgivings about his sensual version and he hoped that Cohen wouldn't get to hear his version.
Click to expand...


I can see that. I always knew the song referenced biblical characters and events, but I never took the song as religious. You can definitely tell there's plenty of sexual overtones involved.
 
#24
Charles said:
I can see that. I always knew the song referenced biblical characters and events, but I never took the song as religious. You can definitely tell there's plenty of sexual overtones involved.
Click to expand...

I am getting old cause I never saw that......I may have to step it up a bit to get back in the game.....:graucho:
 
#28
Ok....wow I have chills. I absolutely love K.D.Lang and think she's an absolute genius. Her voice is amazing. This song moves me so much. (I remember it from Shrek??) I want to download this version! As for what it means? I haven't a clue - but it's beautiful and thank you for posting it here.
 
#30
I have the Shrek sountrack - my kids love it - and that song is on it - not sure who sings it though. Always thought it was a beautiful song. KD Lang does it well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back