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Buckle up, I have a bee in my bonnet and I’m unleashing a too long thread about the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen and why we all need to step away from it for about 20 years. Hear my lowly local songwritery take.
We need a break because of just how great of a song it is and how much everyone has tried to make it about them. I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t the goal of every songwriter to try to get people to see themselves in the song? Mostly yes, but not like this. Some backstory:
Years ago I wrote a song about my mom, called “She.” People send me notes to say the song reminds me of their mom. I love that. I even sang it at a funeral for a woman I love who is not my mom. I’m thrilled for the song to belong to anyone who loves their mom.
By contrast, over the years I have also written very specific songs about people who have passed on. I sing their names in the songs. I’ve hoped people could imagine what it was like to be that person or love that person. I’d love that.
What I don’t love is when someone in a prominent position has been so moved by my song that they’ve asked me (this has happened three times now) to change the words and create a version about THEIR ancestor or THEIR old building. Or their dad who is having an important birthday.
They’ve offered money and suggested how much more popular they could make the song. I always say no. In every case I’ve offered to write them a brand new song. They decline. As a writer, this request to change the meaning feels like someone asking me
to allow the body of a creation of mine to be possessed by a different soul. In many cases, such a famous soul that the original soul will be forgotten. I’ve had sacred experiences writing about the original subjects and felt strongly that I’m telling a story that is helping
them live on and be remembered. I have no regrets about my decisions. That’s a tangent, but let’s get back to Hallelujah. First of all, Hallelujah has been covered a lot. There are a few beautiful versions, and a lot of really horrible ones. It deserves to be ubiquitous!
I remember hearing the Jeff Buckley version on an episode of The West Wing and being pleasantly surprised by this not so pop song being chosen and really moved by its use in a scene of shock and sadness. Perfect. Not long after that, it showed up everywhere.
I got to the point where those arpeggio notes of the intro made me tense up as I awaited the latest assault on such a good song. Par for the course, though, with a good song. And then, it somehow became a Christian song. Okay. I like Christian songs. I write Christian songs!!
I LOVE JESUS. Hallelujah isn’t a Christmas song. It isn’t a Christian song. It isn’t about Him. He has a lot of songs and at this very moment more are being written about Him which is as it should be. I love that so many things in this world point to Him but I also believe
one of the ways we best serve Him is when we listen to each other and sit with each other as we sing about humanity and imperfection and pain. Hallelujah is about being mortal and human. It’s part of what makes it so amazing. And that’s getting lost.
The song body is being possessed by other motives. Cohen’s royalty beneficiaries may disagree but I think most of us could stand to put the song in a time capsule of sorts. Let some person who isn’t born yet find it when they’re unearthing some hard drive their mom put away.
Let them hear it with fresh ears and love it for just what it is. And then when my grandkid says,”hey have you heard this?? My friend put it on (insert futuristic social media platform) and it’s amazing!” I can smile and think,
You’re back. You’ve rested and now you’re beautiful again, just the way you are.” A girl can dream. Good songs will always be covered and reinvented, it’s the circle of life I suppose. I’ll always hope a flicker of the original still burns. End rant.
One more thing, I’ll concede that not all songwriters agree with me. Case in point, Goodbye Norma Jean/Goodbye English Rose. (I wish Elton had written a new song for Di but he probably likes English Rose just fine.)