Leonard Cohen reportedly took five years to write the lyrics of Hallelujah, and his own explanation of the song's appeal was: "It's got a great chorus", but there is more to it than that, as outlined by Richard Godwin in the Evening Standard:
"The secret of good lyrics is less that they hang together under analysis and more that they convey a certain feeling. In Hallelujah's case it is a desire for transcendence, and despite the song's moral complexity, this is so eloquently expressed that it can be felt by anyone."
Richard Godwin, Evening Standard
standard.co.uk
godwin.thisislondon.co.uk
One of my all-time favourite songs, by one of my all-time favourite songwriters.
ReplyDeleteEarthy, sexy, yet fiercely religious: Judaism in a nutshell.
The devil definitely doesn't have all the best tunes.
ReplyDeleteThere is something very devilish- or, shall we say, religiously ambivalent- about Leonard Cohen, however.
ReplyDeleteI barely need ask what you thought of the X Factor version.