Leonard Cohen´s mysterious praise
As my title suggests, Leonard Cohen´s gracious masterpiece, "Hallelujah", has lots of vague interpretations. The basic idea Cohen wanted to tell us in his poem is probably the superiority of spiritual values over material ones.
It is quite obvious from the poem that the writer himself is struggling as well with his innermost feelings. Probably he is desperately in love with a woman, who can not appreciate his devotion towards her.
The third line of the first verse suggests, as if the writer himself adresses his lover ("But you don´t really care for music, do you?") . The experience of bittersweet relationships is shown by biblical references. Leonard Cohen mentions the story of David and Batseba as well as Samsom and Delilah.
David plays the harp that pleases the Lord. His seducer is a married woman, Batseba, who he fells in love with. Because of her pregnancy they get into trouble which causes further difficulties and eventually end with the husband´s, Utiah´s death. It seems as if they can be happy at last.
However, God intervenes to show David that he can not escape from his faith so easily. He gets his own punishment for betraying God. The second verse refers to the liasion of Samson and Delilah. Samson is betrayed by the woman who cuts his hair, the source of his power.
We see these stories from the point of view of men who were eager to give up everything for the beloved woman. At the end, however, they are all disappointed as they realize that the praise of God is more precious than the lust for women.
The third verse is probably the most depressed one. The writer seems to allude again to his own love affair. The lines may suggest that the writer has already experienced this kind of feeling and situation. He feels as lonely in his relationship as he felt before he met the woman.
The fourth verse is an obvious reference to a sexual act. In the past physical affection between them was really strong. Now the desire seems to have disappeared. At that times the woman used to share all her feelings with him but now she does not even approach him sexually.
The writer remembers accurately their sexual act which suggests an other kind of "Hallelujah". On one hand, it can be shocking to connect the Lord with sexual excitement. On the other hand, however, the interpretation shows that even through lovemaking you can still praise God.
To experience this kind of "orgasmic" Hallelujahyou need to love and respect your partner so much as you love and fear God.
Later on we find a some kind of disbelief and hesitation with the initial line of the 5. verse ("Maybe there´s a God above"). The only thing he learnt about love is how to get revenge on somebody who has hurt you previously.
In spite of all he does not want to complaint. He simply states a "cold and lonely Hallelujah".
The next verse is a biblical reference again. It refers to one of the Ten Commandments as he talks about taking the Name in vain. This verse engrosses to some extent the main idea of the poem, the subjectivity of praising God.
The last verse summarizes the former ones. Cohen realizes the mistakes he made but he is ready to face the Lord. Maybe it is the most peaceful and pleasing Hallelujah. The end of the poem is optimistic as the writer believes the difficulties didn´t defeat him. All the hardships make him realize the real meaning of life which can be found in belief.
The other interpretation of the poem as a whole is a little bit different. It puts emphasis on the strength of love to a woman. The whole poem can be understood as the description of an everlasting struggle in a romantic liaison.
The whole poem has a some kind of magic atmosphere mixed with bittersweetness, irony, melancholy and peace.
The lovely thing about this poem is, however, that no one has succeeded so far in stating accurately what certain lines really mean. Beyond biblical and sexual references all of us interprete Cohen´s thoughts in different ways.
It is a poem which specifically needs a great deal of phantasy. Despite the subjectivity though all the "Hallelujahs" are equal.
DE
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