I think this is one of the greatest songs ever written. I'm learning how to play it on my electric guitar and while I was learning it, my guitar teacher told me the meaning of the song and some other fun facts to know. It's beautiful.
Hallelujah or Alleluia means "Praise the Lord". It goes all the way back to Biblical times in the book of Psalms.
Jeff Buckley, the guy who sings this version, drown in 1997 swimming in the Mississippi River.
(Not the smartest place to go for a swim)
The original version is kind of cheesy, by Leonard Cohen. Jeff Buckley's version is much better. It's a song about King David, and his love for Bathsheba. King David was a very talented musician and played the harp, or harpsichord, something like that, for King Saul, and also pleased God. (This is before Davis was King). It's actually a very sad story because Bathsheba didn't feel the same way about David. She was already a married to Uriah, and pregnant. David played music for her but she didn't see the sacrifice David was making by betraying the Lord and going after her instead. King David let temptation get the best of him, betrayed God and ordered Uriah to be killed in war and the whole thing sort of backfired on him. "It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah" I think by that, he means love is cold and hard but love is love- still Hallelujah through it all.
i heard there was a secret chord
that david played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah
hallelujah...
well your faith was strong but you needed proof
you saw her bathing on the roof
her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
she tied you to her kitchen chair
she broke your throne and she cut your hair
and from your lips she drew the hallelujah
hallelujah...
baby i've been here before
i've seen this room and 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 a victory march
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah
hallelujah...
well there was a time when you let me know
what's really going on below
but now you never show that to me do you
but remember when i moved in you
and the holy dove was moving too
and every breath we drew was hallelujah
well, maybe there's a god above
but all i've ever learned from love
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you
it's not a cry that you hear at night
it's not somebody who's seen the light
it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah
hallelujah...
(Practice makes perfect)
