Why Broken Hallelujah? (2)

This song is, one could say, larger than life. It is the kind of song that seems as if it has always been written. Of course that is partly because its main theme, the chorus “hallelujah“, has indeed ‘always’ been written. It is the the ancient Hebrew word ” הַלְלוּיָהּ ” meaning “praise God” and is found over and over in the Psalms. It has also struck a cord because of the interplay of the music and lyrics. I don’t know how many people have done a cover version of this song, but there are a lot of them. The hyperlink on the song title will show the history of covers, and among my favorites are Jeff Buckley, Allison Crowe, Bob Dylan and of course U2. Read through the lyrics and I’ll then make some interpretive comments at the end.

Hallelujah

Leonard Cohen, first released on Various Positions (1984)

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

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the 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

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 to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah

additional verses

Baby, I’ve been here before.
I know this room, 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 some kind of victory march,
No it’s a cold and it’s a very broken Hallelujah.

There was a time you let me know
What’s really going on below,
but now you never show it to me, do you?
I remember when I moved in you,
And the holy dove was moving too,
and every breath we drew was Hallelujah.

Now maybe there’s a God above,
As for me, all I ever learned from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.
and it’s no complaint you hear tonight,
and It’s not some pilgrim who’s seen the light
it’s a cold and it’s a very lonely Hallelujah.

Why draw on this song, then, as a means to “thinking pop culture through the cross”?

First, it is not a “Christian” song. It is first of all a pop song that has grown in popularity so that it was even used in Shrek.

Yet, second, it does have a particular religious depth, drawing on Biblical references. (King David, of course, in verse one and two, who is well known both as a musical genius and a womanizer, as well as references to Samson and also in verse three to Exodus where Moses learns ‘the name’ of God.) If you don’t know these references, read the Old Testament or email me and I’ll point you in the right direction.

Third, however, it is not ‘just’ a biblical song, but one that draws from those roots to speak about both the power of the Holy and the brokenness of human life. The song begins with David but moves progressively out of the Bible into the challenges of daily life. The last verse of the original version and all of the additional versus point to the challenge of living. A deep humility about human goodness comes through: “I did my best, it wasn’t much.” Perhaps this is easier to say in Canada but for the eternally optimistic “Your Best Life Now” America, such sentiment is dismissed as misguided and a downer, at best, and at worst unfaithful. I actually am going to make the case that it is spot on, at worst, and perhaps exactly what being faith means. In this life, all we are capable of is a broken hallelujah. We’re only even able to raise a broken hallelujah because of what God has done for us. Knowing that keeps us from trying to please God with our shiny “holy hallelujahs” and allows us to be honest about ourselves, our need for God’s mercy, and our call to join in the God’s mission of mercy in the midst of a broken world.

Next, I’m going to show what songs look like when we try to put on a holy hallelujah. But in closing, try setting these side by side and see what you think. They are not saying the same thing, I know. Still, the resonance between them is what I’m after in using the phrase ‘broken hallelujah.’

“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 lips but Hallelujah.” Cohen, verse 4

“Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity God put us right. A pure gift. God got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where we were intended to be all along. And God did this through Jesus Christ.” Romans 3.22-24