{"id":2176,"date":"2019-12-24T00:16:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T06:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=2176"},"modified":"2022-01-10T21:36:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T03:36:00","slug":"a-final-hallelujah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afriendoftheking.com\/?p=2176","title":{"rendered":"A Final Hallelujah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Of course this isn\u2019t to be my final Hallelujah, as far as I know; but my final thoughts after a week of reflection, study, and mediation on the poem and melody of Leonard Cohen entitled simply and profoundly, Hallelujah<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of note to me, the song is going round and round in my head in this Christmas season 2019. I\u2019m not sure why? But it gives me joy, peace, pause, and wonder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll share with you the best article I\u2019ve found about the song, a 2015 Newsweek<\/em> article by Zach Schonfeld. It\u2019s insightful though written primarily about the song\u2019s musical attributes and its popularity, from a secular point of view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schonfeld notes, \u201cThe album on which it appeared, the murky, mid-career Various Positions, had been rejected wholesale by Columbia Records in the U.S., and when it finally was released, “the song was still generally ignored,” as Alan Light notes in his 2012 book The Holy or The Broken.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Holy or the Broken<\/em>? That\u2019s an insightful title for a book about the song. It\u2019s also telling that the album on which it first appeared was entitled \u201cVarious Positions<\/em>\u201d isn\u2019t it? Since he\u2019s Jewish, to begin with, and the song, albeit quite short, addresses simply and profoundly the issues of God, the Bible, human sexuality, the philosophy of life and one\u2019s earth journey, admissions of struggle and failures, and yet seems to somehow point to God as the answer from start to finish. Purposely it would seem, and honestly, in a mysterious and understated way. And people definitely have \u201cvarious positions\u201d on these issues\u2014 he did apparently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Light would go on to say, \u201cJohn Cale and Jeff Buckley, then dozens and hundreds of others lifted the song out of obscurity\u201d but it is \u201csomething more mysterious that cemented its status as a modern standard, appearing on American Idol and in synagogue services in equal measure. It has become ubiquitous. Tallying versions by Cohen and plenty of others, Light estimates “Hallelujah” has been listened to hundreds of millions of times on YouTube alone.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Newsweek article goes on to list \u201c60 notable recordings of it that are readily available online and ranking them from worst to best.\u201d \ud83d\ude42 Feel free. For our purposes here I\u2019m going to list and link my two favorites at the bottom, then one in Cohen\u2019s own voice, as well as the lyrics he settled on and a few quotes that reflect on the man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Etymology of Hallelujah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t seem right to leave the song without a good look at the meaning of its famous title and course. It\u2019s a Hebrew word lifted directly from that ancient language and dropped into English, simply transliterated as \u201cpraise the LORD.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wikipedia adds, \u201cIn the Hebrew Bible hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase, not one word. The first part, hallelu, is the second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel. However, “hallelujah” means more than simply “praise Jah” or “praise Yah”, as the word hallel in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song, to boast in God.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Psalm 148:1 the Hebrew says “\u05d4\u05dc\u05dc\u05d5 \u05d9\u05d4 halelu yah”. It then says “halelu eth-YHWH” as if using “yah” and “YHWH” interchangeably. The word “Yah” appears by itself as a divine name in poetry about 49 times in the Hebrew Bible (including halelu yah), such as in Psalm 68:4\u20135 “who rides upon the skies by his name Yah” and Exodus 15:2 “Yah is my strength and song”. It also often appears at the end of Israelite theophoric names such as Isaiah “yeshayah(u), Yahweh is salvation” and Jeremiah “yirmeyah(u), Yahweh is exalted\u201d. The word hallelujah occurring in the Psalms is therefore a request for a congregation to join in praise toward God. It can be translated as “Praise Yah” or “Praise Jah, you people<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Cohen\u2019s Hebrew roots and his love for poetry, there can be no doubt the word was well understood and meaningfully used with sincere intentionality. When it\u2019s sung and heard, it seems all creation and the Creator pause with a heart smile to take note. The best is yet to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord!\u201d (Psalm 150:6)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hallelujah \u05d4\u05dc\u05dc\u05d5\u05d9\u05d4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hallelujah – Pentatonix<\/a>
Regina Spektor<\/a>
Leonard Cohen<\/a>
Hallelujah Lyrics<\/a>

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\u201cThere is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cPoetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Leonard Cohen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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