When Genius Collides - Leonard Cohen's majestic "Hallelujah" and Bob Dylan

This is a song about the broken.

- L.Cohen

I wanted to push the Hallelujah deep into the secular world, into the ordinary world.

- L.Cohen

A sublime moment this! Two of the giants of modern culture collide when his Bobness performs a fine cover of Leonard Cohen's sublime "Hallelujah", one of the finest songs of recent times! See vid below at the end of this post.

Lenny and Dylan are probably the greatest two artists of the modern music era, in terms of the quality of their work and their artistic longevity. A propos nothing, both, too, are coincidentally, yet interestingly, Jewish.

The work of these two masters will live on forever.

Lenny talks in a French interview in 85 about meeting Bob in Paris and introducing him to the song;

"It's a rather joyous song . I like very much the last verse. I remember singin' it to Bob Dylan after his last concert in Paris. The morning after, I was having coffee with him and we traded lyrics. Dylan especially liked this last verse "And even though it all went wrong , I stand before the Lord of song With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah"

- Leonard Cohen (from an interview in Paroles et Musiques, 1985)

We don't know any details about where and when this Dylan boot comes from though. We think it could be from Bob's 1988 tour.

by endraum

"Hallelujah" is an expertly crafted, beautiful and complex song where Cohen's sculpted poetry juxtaposes secular and religious desire and ecstasy.

The sublime lyric sits astride a sumptuous melody regarding which, Rufus Wainwright - who often includes the song in his live repertoire and who did a decent version of the song on the Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man movie from 2006 - has commented that;

"It's an easy song to sing. The music never pummels the words. The melody is almost liturgical and conjures up religious feelings. It's purifying."

Interestingly regarding the melody, in the section where the lyrics go "the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift", the chords move as described in the lyrics as follows: F ("the fourth"), G ("the fifth"), Am ("the minor fall"), F ("the major lift").

"Hallelujah" was originally written and composed over the course of a year, and is said to have been a frustrating and difficult process for Lenny.

Cohen says he wrote at least eighty verses, discarding most of them in the process of crafting the song. Cohen is quoted as saying:

“ I filled two notebooks and I remember being in the Royalton Hotel, on the carpet in my underwear, banging my head on the floor and saying, 'I can't finish this song.' ”

Cohen first recorded the song at Quadrasonic Sound, New York in June 1984, working with producer John Lissauer. The next recording of this song by Leonard Cohen was captured live in Austin, Texas on October 31, 1988 with production by Leanne Ungar and Bob Metzger.

The original incarnation of Hallelujah was as track 5 on Lenny's Various Positions LP in 1984, which clocked in at 4:34. Here the lyric is much less secular than what it would later become.

The original recording is noted for containing a substantial amount of biblical references in the lyrics, alluding to David's harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (I Sam 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof (2 Sam 11:2).

The line "she broke your throne and she cut your hair" is obviously a reference to the source of Samson's strength from the Book of Judges chapter 16 and to how his hair was cut by Delilah. The third verse refers to "the name" (Tetragrammaton).

An extended and significantly different version of "Hallelujah" was recorded for the Cohen Live LP in 1994, the performance being from an Austin gig in October 1988. This clocked in at a substantially longer 6:54.

The lyrics are very different in this version and in fact only the final verse from the original recording is retained.

In this version, the lyrics have become far more sexual and ambiguous, while the song's structure has also been slightly reworked.

On stage in Antwerp in April 1988, Cohen describes this version as the the "secular" Hallelujah and speaks about the background to the song's metamorphosis;

You know, I wrote this song .... it seems like yesterday but I guess it was five or six years ago and it had a chorus called Hallelujah. And it was a song that had references to the Bible in it, although these references became more and more remote as the song went from beginning to the end. And finally I understood that it was not necessary to refer to the Bible anymore.

And I rewrote this song; this is the "secular" Hallelujah.

by tulzdavampslayer

In the years after his original studio album version, live performances by Cohen were almost invariably of the second version of the song.

Between Lenny's two released versions of "Hallelujah", former Velvet, John Cale recorded a very notable cover version, which appeared on the great 1991 Leonard Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan and, again, on Cale's beautiful 1992 live album Fragments of a Rainy Season.

See a great "Hallelujah" performance from John Cale below from BBC TV back in '92.

Cale's version featured vocals with simple piano accompaniment. Importantly the lyrics are quite different from those on Lenny's Various Positions. In a 2001 interview with The Observer, John Cale said:

After I saw [Cohen] perform at the Beacon I asked if I could have the lyrics to "Hallelujah". When I got home one night there were fax paper rolls everywhere because Leonard had insisted on supplying all 15 verses."

John says he "went through and just picked out the cheeky verses"!

John Cale's version was far closer to the secular version of "Hallelujah" Lenny had been performing on his tours, the version Cale had heard him perform.

John Cale's fine version would later feature in the 1996 film, Basquiat, as well as, rather surreally, in the 2001 animated film, Shrek. Strangely, for the latter movie, Rufus Wainwright covered the song as well, and his version appears on the Shrek soundtrack album rather than Cale's - whose version is far better in our view!

Single released from the "I'm Your Fan" tribute album

Cale's version would prove very influential since Lenny would not for some time release his updated version of of "Hallelujah".

Although Cale's version did not reach a mass audience, it became well known among music cognoscenti. Jeff Buckley would, soon after, begin performing "Hallelujah" at his live shows, in a version heavily influenced by Cale's. We were lucky enough to catch a couple of his shows from around this time in small clubs such as Whelan's in Dublin

Buckley later recorded "Hallelujah" for his only completed studio album, 1994 's Grace in a version that would reach a much wider audience than the original Cohen song or Cale's cover, particularly so after Jeff's horribly early demise in 1997.

Buckley's version relied quite heavily on studio technology. Not wholly satisfied with any one take, Buckley recorded the song more than twenty times. Studio engineer Andy Wallace then took three of these recordings to create a single track. The result was a quite commercial sounding version which was more accessible to the music masses than Lenny's.

Buckley's is the version that inspired a thousand insipid cover versions by muzak merchants the likes of Bon Jovi (oh, the horror!) et al!! In fact there are countless morons out there who believe Buckley actually wrote the song!

Bizarrely, in March, 2008, Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah”, went to No. 1 on the iTunes chart, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, after being performed by some joker named Jason Castro on the seventh season of the vile television series American Idol. The song debuted at #1 that week on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, giving Buckley his first #1 on any Billboard chart!

As alluded to above, a slew of other cover versions of "Hallelujah" have been attempted, very variable in quality, to say the least, and most not very good!

Many such cover artists mix lyrics from both Lenny versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes such as Rufus Wainwright singing "holy dark" and Allison Crowe singing "Holy Ghost" rather than "holy dove".

"Hallelujah" is a very difficult song to cover well. Bob Dylan, typically, does a great job in the boot recording here though.

It's up there with John Cale's fine version.

No, we're not big fans of the rather saccharine Jeff Buckley version. Nor, surprisingly, the version that cnut did on America Idol this year!!

There's a nice piece about this majestic song on pagesperso-orange, with some great quotes from Lenny - in interviews or on stage - regarding the song, and also some changed lyrics live, as follows:


Warsaw 22/03/1985

Thank you very much friends. You know, since I’ve been here, many people have asked me what I have thought just about everything there is in this veil of tears. I don't know the answers to anything. I just come here to sing you these songs that have been inspired by something that I hope is deeper and bigger than myself. I have nothing to say about the way that Poland is governed. I have nothing to say about the resistance to the government. The relationship between a people and its government is an intimate thing. It is not for a stranger to comment. I know that there is an eye that watches all of us. There is a judgment that weighs everything we do. And before this great force which is greater than any government, I stand in awe and I kneel in respect. And it is to this great judgment, that I dedicate this next song: "Hallelujah".

Interview (magazine "Guitare et Claviers" 1985)

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, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion.

Interview (Magazine "Paroles et Musiques" 1985)

Here there is an ironic and warm “feeling.” I wanted to get into this tradition of the composers who said “Hallelujah,” but with no precisely religious point of view. And then I realize there is a “Hallelujah” more general that we speak to the world, to life… It's a rather joyous song. I like very much the last verse. I remember singin' it to Bob Dylan after his last concert in Paris. The morning after, I was having coffee with him and we traded lyrics. Dylan especially liked this last verse, "And even though it all went wrong, I stand before the Lord of song with nothing on my lips but Hallelujah."

About the second verse, "Your faith was strong but you needed proof":

According to the Judaic tradition, David asked for ordeal. But the Rabbies said we should be reluctant to do so because ordeal there will sure be!

"David playing psalterion", Reichenau Movement, Tenth century

Interview (Magazine "Actuel" January 1985)

LC - I intended to say "Hallelujah". There is a religious Hallelujah, but there are many other ones. When one looks at the world and his proper life, there's only one thing to say, it's Hallelujah. That's the way it is....
Mag - It means "Thank You" ?

LC - The literal translation is "Pray God". It's not exactly some gratitude but the affirmation there is a will that we can't control. What can we do in front of it ?

Mag - A good will or a bad one ?

LC - An impenetrable one.

Mag - Mysterious ?

LC - Saying "Mysterious" is again making a description. This will is obvious from time to time, hidden at other times

Montreux 09/07/1985

This is a song about the broken.

München 12/04/1988

Verse Variation

Forgive me Lord if you're up there above, but all I ever learned from love ...

Antwerp 17/04/1988

You know, I wrote this song a couple of ... it seems like yesterday but I guess it was five or six years ago and it had a chorus called Hallelujah. And it was a song that had references to the Bible in it, although these references became more and more remote as the song went from beginning to the end. And finally I understood that it was not necessary to refer to the Bible anymore.

And I rewrote this song; this is the "secular" Hallelujah.

Nürnberg 10/05/1988 and Roskilde July 2, 1988

Modified verses

But it's not a cry that you hear tonight And it's not some gleeful laughter from somebody who says he has seen the light ...

alternate version (Roskilde July 2nd, 1988)

It's not some gleeful christian who has seen the light, it's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah ...

Interview, Reijkavik, Iceland June 1988

Yeah another song came on top of that. So I'd already recorded that one. And I wanted to push the Hallelujah deep into the secular world, into the ordinary world. The Hallelujah, the David's Hallelujah was still a religious song. So I wanted to indicate that Hallelujah can come out of things that have nothing to do with religion.

Gothenburg 02/05/93

In solemn testimony of that unbroken faith, which binds a generation one to another, I hereby bestow upon you the ancient priestly benediction "May the Lord bless you and keep you, May the Lord shine His Light upon you, May the Lord be gracious unto you, and grant you the blessings of Peace".

Paris 13/05/93

verse variation

....Well I've seen your walls on the marble arch, but Love is not a victory march ...

Helsinki 1993

verse variation

....Well I've seen your fortress on the marble arch, but Love is not a victory march ...

by hakanphotography





Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah



Now 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

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and 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

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

(Original version from the Various Positions LP)

painting by L Cohen




Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah


Baby, I've been here before.
I know this room, I've walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.

Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,
As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn't much.
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.



(Extended version from the Cohen Live LP)

Bob Dylan performs Leonard Cohen's majestic "Hallelujah"

From: thcarmine



John Cale performs Leonard Cohen's majestic "Hallelujah"

From the BBC TV show Later, back in 1992.




From: thecatkeaton

The maestro performs his own majestic "Hallelujah"!
(original Various Positions version)

From German TV? A very, let's say, interesting set! Very eighties! Lenny looks quite bemused by it anyway!!

from Duncster

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