What Does Hallelujah Mean

Do these lyrics sound familiar, “Well 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?” (line 1-3)? Have you tried to understand the song, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen? You might have heard this song on Shrek or in church, but what does this song mean? Is it a love song? Is it a spiritual-religious song? We can understand the song, “Hallelujah” through in depth lyric explanations, the meaning as a whole and history of the song. The abundance of interpretations of “Hallelujah”, explains why it’s one of the most meaningful songs of modern times. “Hallelujah” easily supports several levels of interpretations well beyond what even Cohen meant. My interpretation of the song is about biblical and sexual connections. Cohen grew up in the Jewish tradition, so this explains most of the references to the Old Testament, especially the story of King David and his affair. The other biblical reference I noticed was about Samson and Delilah. The story of Samson and Delilah was about his biased affection for her. While I recognize the songs biblical allusions, I

“Hallelu” means all you praise and “Jah” is one of the biblical names of God. Together the two words mean all of you praise the lord! Cohen explained: “Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means ‘Glory to the Lord.’ The song explains that many kinds of Hallelujahs do exist” (Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley Songfacts). The word Hallelujah is known to be a leading or ending phrase of a hymn. It’s a word people have been singing for thousands of years. In the Book of Psalms which King David wrote, the word occurs 25 times. A good example using the word is in Psalms 150:1, “Praise God in His sanctuary, praise him in the firmament of his power ... Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD.” Cohen mentions to that verse in the song “Hallelujah”, saying: ‘and every breath we drew was