Leonard Cohen - hallelujah - Lyrics Meaning

Hallelujah was first released in 1984 on Leonard Cohen's album, Various Positions. Written by Cohen the songs first release didn't receive much success until it was covered by musicians such as John Cale and Jeff Buckley, Cohen once said to bob Dylan that it took him over two years to complete the song.

The Lyrics tend to lean towards the interpretation of individuals, most see it as a religious statement or inspired from it at the least, it has many lyrics biblical references to the story of King David (who supposedly was a composer of God) and his struggles with lusting over a woman and King David kills her husband and thus does the dirty deed.

It tells a story of a man who finds it hard to reconcile his own singular personal quest for truth a religious or spiritual path who is in love, "saw her bathing on the roof" He is "overthrown" by her beauty and is filled with desire and to have it comes with compromise,

"Tied you to the kitchen chair" defining the sacrifice for love and the freedom of loneliness. In the end he has been left with nothing, doubting a god above ashamed of his self-betrayal, and is only left with a cold and broken hallelujah.