Hallelujah
Cover of Leonard Cohen
Unreleased
Cover of Leonard Cohen
Unreleased
| Lyrics: (sigh) I heard there was a secret chord That David played and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do you Well it goes like this : The fourth, the fifth, The minor fall and the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah... Well 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 her kitchen chair She broke your throne and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Hallelujah... 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 you 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 Hallelujah... Well 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 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 Hallelujah... | Notes: Jeff covers the John Cale version that appeared on the tribute album 'I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'. Cales version used some alternate verses to the ones Leonard commonly performs. '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.' -- Jeff Buckley (OOR (Dutch magazine)) 'It's a hymn to being alive. It's a hymn to love lost. To love. Even the pain of existence, which ties you to being human, should receive an amen - or a hallelujah.' -- Jeff Buckley (Interview, Schwann Spectrum, 1994) 'It's not the bottle. It's not the pills. It's not the face of strangers who will offer you their lines and hot needles. It's not the time you were together in their place. So perfect. Like a second home. And it's not from the Bible. It's not from angels. Not from preachers who are chased and understanding of nothing that is human in this world. It's for people who are lovers. It's for people who have been lovers. You are at last somewhere. Until then it's hallelujah.' -- Jeff Buckley (Scala, Ludwigsburg, Germany, 1995-07-13) 'Yeah. But, the reason I did Hallelujah was because of the song and not because of Leonard [Cohen]. But ah, I can't help but admire him, can you? You can't help but admire him, he's amazing.' -- Jeff Buckley (Interview, MTV, 120 Minutes) 'The two women who ran the arts series at St. Ann’s, artistic director Susan Feldman and program director Janine Nichols, became very close to Buckley. “On the deepest level, Jeff was like a little brother to me,” said Nichols, who preceded Willner in the SNL job and now performs as a jazz singer. “Susan and I took him under our wing, to the extent that he would allow it. At the very beginning, Jeff was the most unboundaried person I ever met—he trusted everyone. It was pure luck that we were trustworthy people, and off he went into the world.” At one point, Nichols and her family went out of town for a few days, and Buckley stayed at their apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to take care of their cat. While he was there, he pulled the I’m Your Fan record from her shelves, and apparently, for the first time, heard a song called “Hallelujah.” Nichols also lent Buckley the Fender Telecaster guitar that became his signature instrument; on the credits to his Live at Sin-é EP, he thanked “Janine Nichols for her guitar, and Susan Feldman for everything.” Looking back, she said, “I’m kind of knocked out by this influence I had on his musical life, with absolutely no intent to do so.”' -- Alan Light, Relix website, 14 November, 2016 |