SOLVED: Leonard Cohen's Secret Chord from 'Hallelujah'
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Leonard Cohen released 'Hallelujah' in 1984, a song which he took 5 years to write, and for which he wrote over 150 verses. In the first verse he mentions a 'secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord'. Many people have asked... what WAS that chord? I think I might have the answer.
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Hey all - just in response to one or two comments - this is not a religious video, I am an unapologetic atheist.
It's simply being presented from the perspective of Leonard Cohen, a Jewish man with a spirituality that drew from many different sources.
Just so no-one gets the wrong end of the stick.
JH
Reminds me of the hypothetical sephiroth in some Kabalistic traditions (Da'ath).
@@Tophergr8 What a coincidence, I was thinking the exact same thing, as I'm sure were many others....👍
Religious or not, this video, and this explanation, gave me the chills. In a good way! Thank you
Start believing
Powerful
"It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift"
That bit always gets me, 'cos that's exactly what the melody does
good point true
Its called "word painting"
A type of synergy or synchronizing.
The minor fall = the man fall
The major lifts = God lifts the fallen man
Simply like that.
The moody blues did search for the last chord…😊
K.D.Lang made it popular here in Canada. The most stirring and goosebump rendition I've heard
According to Leonard Cohen himself, hers was the best version.
Yup👍
I didn’t like her rendition. Too loud and rough.
This is why Leonard Cohen deserves to be the world's poet laureate.
Leonard Cohen never wanted to work for pay. He wanted to be paid for his work. Now he's not looking for either.
And why he, not Dylan, should have received the Nobel. I once heard the difference between a chess Grand Master and a chess International Grand Master described like this: The International Grand Master is so much better that he is playing an entirely different game. That was Cohen - he was playing an entirely different game.
@@giralua1 His gravitas increased with age, like the price of a fine wine. His last works were edgily delightful, and I (for one) eagerly anticipated more masterworks from this talented music creator. Alas, we are left with the cravings and a sense of loss. This Cohen will always have a special place in my heart.
No way
@@giralua1 I think you haven't listened to enough Dylan to be saying this. It's Alright Ma to Spirit on the Water -- Bob Dylan wrote over 500 amazing songs
Brother, that was the very best musical lesson I have ever heard.
Just when I was thinking this world has lost touch with the meaning of why musicianship exists, your video assures me there are still men seeking the greater meaning.
Thank You!
I had the pleasure of attending a Leonard Cohen concert in a very small, intimate theater in my hometown, and when he sang, "Hallelujah," it darn near brought me to the floor. Your analyses of the song's lyrics and the secret "cord" are very fascinating. It has left me pondering about love and love lost. Your video was fantastic!
I am pleased to know that you attended this concert. My association to Cohen's Hallelujah has almost become a pilgrimage of sorts because, as is my habit, I look up the lyrics to melodies that are beautiful (and haunting), and having listened to Cohen and these "official" recorded lyrics, I was rather shocked that this song has rung out in churches at Christmas time! And so, once again, during this Christmas season, I find myself searching for understanding. I found Mr. Hargreaves study & interpretation today, New Year's Eve 2024. But while I had intuitively known since the journey began that it subtly referenced an intimate relationship Cohen once had, I cannot agree--at this moment--that Hargreaves conclusion is one I can agree with. That is chiefly because listening to him sing it just sounds excruciatingly sad. Personally, I love listening to journeys via instrumental music and the emotions they stir within. [If you don't know what I mean, you'll see a journey conveyed in animation by Walt Disney and the making of Fantasia. It's great.] Music speaks to us sometimes so deeply, and in this song and the sound of the 3rd major chord to the ear is not a "happy resolve" to my ear. Sorry, I didn't mean to go on & on.
@@MLiss0001 I agree with you that the song is about a relationship that really turned sideways. He sings, "hallelujah" with great joy of having the relationship in good times and he sings a different kind of "hallelujah" in the loss of the relationship (an excruciatingly painful, hallelujah) . I think it's two different kinds of hallelujah. He still praises God even though "it all went wrong" .Personally, I have also felt the song is lyrically inappropriate in a church setting but many choirs will change the lyrics to make it more appropriate. I will have to watch Fantasia someday as I haven't yet seen it.
I really enjoyed your commentary on the subject. Happy New Year!
@@jorjeraine5598 Ok, so then you agree with Hargreaves assessment. Cohen sings "Love is a BROKEN hallelujah," for me broken is not joyous. Thanks for writing.
David played before he became King, to his King, who suffered with depression, anxiety, later years paranoia, as the King at one point shot an arrow at David, as David became popular with the citizens because of his victories at war's!
I feel this symbolism reaches far beyond one person’s affair, David’s or Leonard Cohen’s which is why it’s able to move so many to tears even without knowing these specifics. Great video.
Very good comment on a good video!💙✨
Samson, the last Judge of the Israelites. He allowed himself to be corrupted by Delilah who was sent to corrupt him.
DAVID PLAYED FOR Saul, the corrupted king of the Israelites and who David replaced.
I believe I can see both sides, but honestly groups of people at orchestras involved and also played around Holidays, Funerals and pushed in that scenario.. now let's put that in a movie with a King and a Beautiful Woman married to a Man she doesn't love....but a Handsome Knight she see"s everyday through "call of duty" requested by the King.
Put that music on and one thing you MOST CERTAINLY WILL HAVE....is a Most Watched Mini Series .
The BEST we have and most watched is
THE LAST KINGDOM staring UTHRED of BEBBANBURG!!!
I have watched it so many times and will continue to watch it and believe me he is easy on the eyes and yes of course there are many beautiful ladies
I've tried cracking the meaning of the secret chord passively for years. I never sat down and REALLY thought about it like this. Best answer I've ever heard by miles. My hat's off to you. Thank you!
Same! The sense that there was a meaning I was getting was driving me crazy. It doesn't help that I know nothing about music.
Same here! Thank you!🎉
Probably Best but definitely Clever and Entertaining answer, James! Thoroughly enjoyed this video. Thanks!
@@sigil8386Yeah. I truly agree. I know nothing about music other than what I like to hear. Have never been able to explain why this song makes me cry whenever it’s heard. I’m happy with the explanation given.
@@yolondadickerson2578 I know! The emotion is so intense, bitterness, regret, and this sense of deeper meaning that comes from the unspoken parts of it. It always moves me deeply.
Thank you Mr. Hargreaves for the interpretation of this beautiful song. I loved Leonard Cohen and all his songs, but now love this song more. From Canada with appreciation.
I've been a fan of Leonard Cohen since I bought an album in the mid 70's. I always though Famous Blue Raincoat was my favourite,
Hallelujah has been spoilt by being sung by people who have no idea who Leonard Cohen was and probably thought this was his only song, Now that you have interpreted the song with your passion, it brings it so much more to life, THANK YOU !!!
Outstanding analysis! Even as an ardent Cohen fan with a fair amount of scriptural familiarity, I never would have connected all these themes. Thank you for increasing my appreciation for this beloved song tenfold!
Agree....it's all there but the analysis brings it to the light!
I've performed this song thousands of times but never understood it properly until now. Thank you so much for this enlightening explanation
This is something I've always pondered on as a songwriter and I thank you for your bit by bit explaination and your revealation of King David's secret chord. Leonard Cohen is sadly missed.
Fell in love with the song the first time I heard it and after hearing this interpretation of the "Secret Cord" I'll never hear it quite the same way again but will always hear it as the most beautiful song I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Thank you for solving the mystery.
'Secret chord', not 'cord'.
*Mr. Hargreaves, THANK YOU! Your interpretation of this phenomenal song has brought **_THIS_** "old woman" to tears, but they're purelly tears of joy.*
*I met my Beloved Husband about one month before he turned 26 years of age, and we were married within 3 months. He will turn 81 on Saturday, and I **_STILL_** ABSOLUTELY ADORE HIM, even after nearly FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF JOYOUS MARRIAGE! The song of "HALLELUJAH" hit my brain exactly like your interpretation, LONG BEFORE I ran into your interpretation, which is SPOT ON, MR. HARGREAVES! Been there, & fully understand your meanings. A "cord of three," such a wonderful thought-image!*
💖👍👵💋🧓👍💖
Happy birthday to your beloved. I met my husband (my 3rd, his 2nd) and we were married within six months of meeting. This year is 31 wonderful honeymoon years. We're in our very late 60s now, having met in our mid 30s. We hope we can make it to our 50th, when we'll both be in our 80s. Your story is such a wonderful one and it makes me smile because we have that same love. ((hugs))
Hallelujah
Wonderful story. If we do fall out of love is God absent? Or have we failed to please the Lord? There’s a great sermon here.
@@barbaraforsyth-bowley3651 I think anyone who has been blessed enough to experience true love for even a minute (and really knew what they were looking at) understands the spiritual heart of this song.
TBH the thing he's talking about in the song, I haven't known for years... not in reciprocal fashion at least lol. (And I hope I can again, before I die.)
But I have experienced it, and for that I'm grateful, even if it was fleeting. Tho I'm afraid for solace in that I may need to look to Buddhism, Taoism, or Hinduism lol (I. e. spiritual paths that emphasize the impermanence of all things.)
But tbh I also kinda believe that when you truly love someone, that love never dies.
I suppose that in a way that makes me polyamorous (lol) but I also believe that real love is boundless.
And if any one thing ever made "God" happy, it's that.
❤️🔥
14:56
Thank you for your thoughtful and beautiful analysis of this song. Your answer to the riddle of the meaning of the song rings true. Cohen is the poet declaring that the physical act of love is a gift from God, for which he is to be praised. As you stated, Hallelujah literally means "Praise God".
This song is truly intriguing. The first time I heard it I had a connection, unexplained, yet deeply felt. Leonard Coen put more time and thought into this song than most albums composed. Because of its length it was not popular when it was first released. However if you consider the artists that have released it only one comes into play that earned his praise and that was and is KD Lang. Her interpretation and delivery of the song brought tears to his eyes. And to this day of all her songs this one still receives a standing ovation after the silence of the crowd during her delivery.
Pentatonix did a beautful Hallelujah.
The first time I heard it was in a Disney movie… Which I thought was ridiculous, in a child’s movie, it made no sense.
KD Lang's version was the first one I ever heard and it sent me looking for the original. I still love both versions. Both brought me to levels I'd never experienced with any other song. Never connected it to the Bible though, but then I am an agnostic atheist.
This song always makes me cry. Always...
The first time I heard it was a Catholic version, with different lyrics, in an Irish Church.
Then I went searching for the original Cohen's lyrics. It's such a beautiful message!😢 It's about love. It's about forgiveness. It's about us. And it's about me and that magic night with her, in 1989, July the 17.
I'm alone now. Just me, my guitar, and my memories. I'm 70 now.
Nice post, mr. Positivist/atheist.🤣🤣🤣
(Comte)
A year younger than thee Brother, in 505- please read my comment above and let me know how you feel about it, if you will please. 💐
You're never alone.
You may be by yourself, but you're never alone.
And their love is always with you. ♥️
Thank you for sharing this touching bit of your story.
I am also 70 and alone.l have loved this song forever and it always touches my heart.
If the world loves this song, it's because it is against God's Law.
I went through a major change in my life in 1981. I also began my journey and discovery of folk music and Leonard Cohen at that time. I did fall in love with this song when the album first came out and the other songs included on it. I think I still have the original cassette somewhere in my collection. While I have enjoyed many of the covers of it done by other people, it is the original by Leonard Cohen that still brings me joy. Thanks for the description, I enjoyed listening to it.
Questa storia del “secret chord” mi incuriosì una decina d’anni fa quando, lavorando come musicoterapista presso una comunità, dovetti proporre un repertorio da cantare in coro. Hallelujah era un brano conosciuto da tutti e anche facile da cantare... ma non volevo usare il testo inglese per non mettere in difficoltà coloro che non lo sanno. Ho scritto perciò la mia versione in italiano e subito mi sono imbattuto nelle prime righe di testo che coincidono esattamente con la progressione armonica del brano suonato in DO maggiore. Vi regalo perciò la mia versione (perchè la musica è di tutti e non accetta padroni):
Sapevo di una melodia
con cui David rallegrava Dio
ma vedo che la musica ti annoia.
Passando per un DO e un FA
la tonica e l’armonica
il re pentito scrisse l’Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Aveva una fede solida
ma lei era così splendida
faceva il bagno al chiaro della luna.
Poi lo legò a una seggiola
ti tolse la chioma e la maestà
e ti strappò di bocca un Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Forse c’è un Dio sopra di noi
per quel che ne sappiamo noi
non so nemmeno come si pronuncia.
Ma è luce in ogni sillaba
non conta cosa recita
se è un santo o un miserabile Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
James, this is brilliant. Thank you. On so many levels. It's associative, interdisciplinary, intuitive, analytical. Also, it speaks to me. I love it.
Thank you for this enjoyable discussion It amuses me that this song with such depth of meaning has become a happy singalong song with people just focusing on the repeated Hallelujah
I enjoyed this video very much. There is depth in much of Leonard Cohen’s work. A true poet.
The first two minutes of this video makes me think about Leonard performing Hallelujah late in life. Being so happy that the song captured the world.
From Wikipedia… “Even Cohen, like the king in the song, was baffled by Hallelujah. He didn't want to explain it and decided he probably couldn't if he tried. He said: "If I knew where songs came from, I would go there more often””
Very cool
Fascinating. So well done! What a puzzlebox of a song! Thank you for adding that insight. I won't hear it the same way again.
I've learned so much from this analysis, factually, musically and spiritually. Many thanks!
Very welcome :)
@tadc wrote: "I've learned so much from this analysis, factually, musically and spiritually. Many thanks!"
Ditto!
Wow
Beautiful explanation to a beautiful trail of breadcrumbs. Leonard Cohen was a craftsman. His work was blessed with Hallelujah.
❤Yessssss Indeed & I love the way he explained it. Love the song so soooooo much!😊
God's holy and just nature prohibits Him from blessing something that He otherwise condemns.
To be honest, I was the one who bought his album back then in Germany. As a teenager of 15, I heard "Hallelujah" in some music program on German TV back in 1984 and new, I had to buy the whole album whick I then gave to my mother as a Christmas present, because years before I had fallen in love with Cohen after finding his "Greatest Hits" among her records. But guess what, she didn't like it. And gave it back to me, because anyway it was a trick. I had a Christmas present for her, but had borrowed the record from her since then.
So this song has been with me for over four decades now. And though I sensed the personal biographical connection of Cohen with the David story, I never got into it as deeply as you did. Thank you so much for sharing your amazing insight on the song, which feels completely accurate to me.
And well, you may see yourself as an "unapologetic atheist". What I sense from your interpretation though, is that your heart is that of an agnostic mystic. 🙏💖
Although we may never know what the composer really meant , you did a fantastic interpretation of one of the best songs ever made. Thank you so much.
Thanks for this. I knew that the E major chord was the baffler, and the E-sharp in bass was even weirder. I'm mostly a bass-player, so I know that trick. It makes the singer lift their shoulders even if they don't know why, and you can hear them constrict their throat to deal with it, and their emotion comes out whether they want it to or not. Well done, Hargreaves.
Wow, that was wonderful. The cord of three. Though the E maj chord works too, since it is also known as the heaven chord.
Given the lyrical context, what could be more appropriate than having an affair with a chord that doesn't fit within the rigid rules of the system, but is heavenly nonetheless? It's fitting indeed that it would fall on "composing", which can mean both songwriting and also an unusual but deeply meaningful euphemism for "making beautiful music together", with the employment of euphemism itself reinforcing the secret/taboo theme of a "forbidden" tryst. I don't think it's one interpretation or the other, as both chord/cord imply a union of components that becomes greater than the sum of its parts. E maj played by itself, like sex without love, is nothing but a shadow dimly seen in a mirror. It's only when they harmoniously contribute to a larger architecture that it pleases the Lord. I don't know if it was genius or hard work, or some exquisite combination of the two (and perhaps with a little divine inspiration to complete the triad), but however he got there it's truly a masterpiece of art. Hallelujah!
@@YouTubalcaine Wow. Exquisitely put.
E cord would be the number one cord in the Jewish tradition which would be Am the 4th G the 3rd F or Dm second and E the one . the secret cord is F in the key of c but Bb in the key of Dm or phrigin A
it's not reasonable to believe that David didn't play in the phrigin mode
Isn't it used in casinos.
@@sarahale-lx2nm In what context is it used?
There is so much to search for in Cohen's work.
Your take on this is witty... and probably right.
Good work ! Thank you for sharing this.
Your analysis of "Hallelujah" has made one of my favorite songs even more beautiful. I am one of the few who fell in love with this song when it was released. "Various Positions" is a brilliant album. Not the least of it the beautiful selfie that Leonard chose for the cover. Thank you for your insight.
I'm very familiar with the story of David and bathsheba. As I've studied the Bible for over 55 years. And if you read the story yourself, you will see that it was a sordid situation.
David's adulterous affair with Bathsheba caused her to get pregnant. The problem was she was married to one of David's officers who was out fighting a battle for Israel. David caused her husband to be killed and then he took Bathsheba as his wife. Not only was God was not at all happy with what David did, and he sent the prophet Nathan to confront him.
The good thing in the story is that David repented. He knew that he screwed up and he repented wholeheartedly. It's good to know the deeper details of a Bible story because there are many lessons in it for all of us. Also you can see how God works in people's lives
Yes, I was thinking about that in the context. In the secret chord, David discovered a new relationship with God in repentance, as he discovered a concept fairly uncommon at the time - unconditional forgiveness. As a result of that union, God made David important in the scarlet thread that was to run through time to the birth of the Son of David, the Messiah, the one who came not to save the righteous, but to bring sinners to repentance. There is certainly a lot of mystery here.
Thank you, I'm sitting here screaming NOOOOOOOOO that affair made God send the prophet Nathan to CONDEMN David's affair.
And God said to him, I gave you your masters wives into your arms, and if this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why despise the word of the Lord by doing evil in his eyes? God was not part of that hot stanking mess
Also King David was told by the Lord: The sword will never leave the house( Israel) until Jesus returns back to earth!!!
And he did not explain why Damson and Delilah are hinted at in the song when he says “she cut your hair”.
Truly beautiful, Mr. Hargreaves. I had often wondered what the secret chord was myself after having listened to Cohen's song so many times, and I have to say that your analysis of the matter was very enlightening for me and really brought tears to my eyes. Now I know.
To share the gift of true love with a woman is the most pure and unique experience a man can have for he has been blessed beyond imagining.
Leonard Cohen was an incredibly talented composer and you are a great music scholar.
May the union of all people who really love each other never die.
Thank you for your video.
I don't even care if Cohen wrote it like this. No way to ask him anymore. But this video essay is a work of art on its own and from now on this is my standard explanation of the song! Bravo!
Fantastic video. An absolutely beautiful journey through this mysterious song. 💚
I have listened to Leonard Cohen for. 50 years, he is a modern David full of poetry and angst
Absolutely. Non religious educated people don't get that. They don't get the awesome historicity of the story itself imo.
Yes I agree with the narrator in this video.
Has anyone thought that the lyre maybe his hands and the music is working in obedience to God?
🤯@@chrismatiru7537 With #'s being assigned letters... I gotta do some googling.
Thank you for opening my eyes to this extraordinary song, and lifting the guilt I have felt for fifty years over an affair where I fell in love. The only problem being, that it became so life altering, I never found love again with that intensity. I wonder how many of us live knowing ‘the one’ was never matched……
Leonard Cohen ,our Canadian Icon,love all his songs ❤️❤️❤️🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Cohen was a wordsmith and a Zen student? Master of Song and words. Such a one, multi dimensional song in word form? ..Clearly deeply felt and drew on other areas of his direct inner experiences of life . The "Silver" cord is another reference used in ref to astral travel and to do with frequency and energy. His gentle kindness and voice in the scales. Yin and Yang "what happens to the heart" a beautiful song, also a clue of his skill. The combination of two fields of energy fields entwined as one, at that highest point. As one in the moment and the words Hallelujah. The answer is indefinable, fathomless as two become one in union of love. This is not a religious comment and draws maybe on Leonards own cultivation of Zen life and personal inner experiences .... My gratitude to Leonard Cohen for the songs and his legacy...
Cohen was more than that. David was not only a musician, he was a king. To do politics / touching the strings of people and making them go along in harmony is a form of music. But only if you "care" to govern in this way (and you are able to do it). "But you (ruler of the nation) don't even care of music do you?"
The one thing David ever wanted with all of his heart. So, he was a man after God’s own heart because it was for this reason God created the man and the woman, for true love. Considering the nature of the world we live in and this way of life that ends in death, God is our only hope for having what we dream of. May God bless you.
Death is not an 'end' It is a beginning, a transition.
Great comment, I 100% agree. I was thinking the same thing as I watched the video. God is love and created us to freely love Him or not. It's up to each individual to make that decision who or what they will love.
I've always seen the ideas of religious ecstasy in this song but this video really gave me a lot of new ideas around it to chew on. Very interesting and very much appreciated! Great work
Beautiful thesis; beautifully presented. Your analysis is thoughtful and challenging. As a Christian theologian, musician, mathematician and physical scientist, I found this inspiring. If more believers listened to atheists, they would learn a lot more of the nature of the Creator, than by narrow introspection. I may not agree with every interpretation in your presentation, but, by the God in Whom I believe, though you may not, I will listen for what He has to say to me through what you have said to us. Thank you. May you find happiness and fulfillment. DW
Always have loved the song Hallelujah, and have several versions of it on my playlist. Did wonder about the secret cord (and more) but never though that someone might have solved the mystery, and apparently you did! Congratulations, Sir!
The greatest song written, by the greatest songwriter of the last 100 years .....
Beautiful I love Hallelujah. Its always been my favorite song. I truly enjoyed your narrative of this beautiful masterpiece.
Thank you!
@virginia7890
It's my second favourite song, after Dance Me To The End Of Love ❤️
@@JaneCrossan I love all his music
And yes Dance me to the end of Love is quite beautiful
He was quite gifted
I have always read the song as being about the sacred and the profane love and all the different types of love in-between. The Pure and the perfect to the broken and the hopeless. "Maybe there's a god above but , all I ever learned from love is how to shoot somebody who out drew ya", "I've seen your flags on the Marble Arch but love is not a victory march its a cold and its a broken hallelujah!"
Its about how we as musicians express emotions through music. in the melancholy of a minor chord and the exhalation of the lift from a minor to a major. I think there is most definitely word play with Chord and Cord on more than two levels, we play strings after all and when that's done well its pretty unthamomably transcendent. Lets hope it remains a secret, we will probably find out with Ai !
I was going to talk about the cord of three being a theologian but you GOT it in one! very very well done!! I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Mr Cohen in Montreal a real long time ago with a group of theologians. I am also a musician and storyteller. He wasn't direct with everyones questions but he alluded to small things and when I recited the cord of three he beamed and smiled and said women are mostly overlooked, dont you think, to the group. This misdirection made everyone talk about women in the Old Testament but I felt an intense feeling of joy, it was Bathsheba! the other theologians would never have accepted it. Leonard Cohen was a magician driven by his amazing intelligence and recall. his spirituality was awe inspiring and right there in all his songs. like Suzanne another epic walk into religious and secular rabbit hole of Mr Cohen's life.
Now when I listen to it, it makes me cry. I love your interpretation. Leonard also wrote “Dance me til the end of love”, also makes me cry.
True love is God given, so precious!
I feel we all would fall in love with a “true love passion relationship and even more when it’s a forbidden love!” It’s exciting and tantalizing! But no not God’s will! God would never give a love triangle with him being part of that affair, and destroy another that started as a trio with God. No! That’s not God or God’s love!
Excellent video! I had never thought that there might be something more literal to the first verses before. But I believe you missed something that might be important: Cohen, while not mixing metaphors, mixed his biblical characters. I've always found it interesting that, with no warning, he switches mid verse (2) from the story of David and Bathsheba to Samson and Delilah. It was Samson whose secret of his strength was in his long hair, which had never been cut (due to the Nazarite vow his mother took in gratitude to God for opening her womb after many years without children). And it was Delilah who seduced him in order to get him to reveal this secret. Two men, blessed by God, betraying their LORD with tragic consequences.
Anyway, perhaps you could dig further into this and discover why Cohen mixed two of the most notable and important characters into a seemingly single person.
That's a fascinating question. I wonder if Cohen was addressing the song as if to both men, or perhaps to be the subset of men who fall passionately in love that leaves them deeply vulnerable.
Theory on why the two men could be combined as a single character (as authors often do writing novels): "She tied you to her kitchen chair." Kitchens are where we get fed, and food is something we must have to live. So she fed some need in him, a need so strong he couldn't walk away. "She broke your throne" meaning that need in him took away his self-dominion, self-control. "And she cut your hair." Since hair represents thoughts in psychological analysis, his thoughts were cut short by his need for her. What Samson and King David had in common, therefore, wasn't just being lustful and making bad choices. Both had a need at soul level which they didn't examine within themselves (and address preventatively). So that when each found a woman who filled that deep unhealed hole in themselves, who fed them the thing their soul had to have (possibly genuine love?), they couldn't resist the connection. That need to fill that emptiness inside overrode all sensibility. Interestingly, analyst Carl G. Jung said we are attracted to someone because they have some quality we wish we had. (He also said once we have acquired that quality in ourselves, the attraction for the person evaporates.) The empty aching place in us may be a quality we need to feel complete. Since a healthy balance of masculine and feminine energies in a person is required to make each of us whole as a soul, this may require the opposite gender (or at least incarnating an equal number of times as a man and as a woman) until both energies are firmly enough implanted.
I was wondering too. You're not alone 😊
No explanation needed. There are verses in which God's chosen men made serious and consequential
errors that involved women.
A secret chord describes much of the instrumental portions of Cohen's songs. While often the lyrics paint a picture, the accompaniment is the canvas he paints on.
I first heard The Stranger Song in college, and it has stuck with me for decades, the rhythm of the guitar almost hypnotic in its appeal.
This is an excellent study of this beautiful song. I absolutely loved it when Cohen first released it. Choen showed his love for his childhood faith and biblical knowledge when he wrote this song, as well as his love for his mystery woman.
Thank you James! I think you’ve discerned the true blessing that we all who valued Leonard Cohen, felt so right about!!❤
I've watched it 3 times now because my mind is so blown. This is excellent and so well explained!
I commented two months ago - and have revisited your video this date - 17 October 2024 Thursday.
In the intervening months, I had forgotten the three-fold cord connection you made - but on hearing it again, I am reminded of the view on marriage I was gifted with some years ago.
Yes, I am single - yet I've pondered what marriage would be like - and what it takes to have a successful marriage. God has to be the key Element - the Tie that binds. Does that mean that all marriages between a man and woman who have faith in God stand the test of time? No.
Does that mean that two non-believers are doomed to fail? No. You talked about true love. That is an ephemeral concept until you actually experience it yourself. And in those cases, I believe God is present, giving those two people the opportunity to sense His presence - because God is love.
Enough of my rambling. Just wanted to thank you again for this treatment of a song that has grown dear to me.
God is omnipresent. When we are in the vibration of real love, we are more attuned. From the vibration of love, our entire universe was created. Nothing built to last was created out of human-generated emotions like anger, hatred, lust, greed, jealousy, fear, or other confusions. The intimacy of a loving relationship opens a door into a very special sacred spiritual space.
The song embodies co Cohens complex embittered and awe-filled wrestling with holiness- the holiness within loss, of love, of faith, of personal powers.
Cohen is saying that only despair leads one to surrender, and only surrender leads to the holy.
He also accepts in many of his lyrics the driving impulse for an artist to not just encounter holiness but capture it within the limitations of their chosen “craft”
“There’s a burning flame in Every word, it doesn’t matter Which you heard, a holy or a broken hallelujah …”
“….And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.”
That’s the line that crowns all the others.
Cohen rarely writes about human love and outrage without entwining it with God.
His “You” is always a double entendre.
I despair when his spiritual verses in Hallelujah are excised for popular consumption reducing its genius down to yet another pop love complaint, and respect the artists who perform it intact.
For an artist to continue they sometimes have to believe the subtler powers beneath the surface of a piece is received via a kind of osmosis that sidesteps the easy and obvious.
But I suppose in that tender, defiant song there’s something for everyone. That’s why it is a universal.
_"Cohen's complex embittered and awe-filled wrestling with holiness - the holiness within loss, of love, of faith"_ - reminds me of
_Yes you who must leave everything that you cannot control_
...
_When you're not feeling holy, your loneliness says that you've sinned_
(Sisters of Mercy)
@@MrKotBonifacy😮😮
@@NelaRyan-oi4ch ...you mean?
@@MrKotBonifacyyep
@@MrKotBonifacy
What a provocative reinterpretation of the David-Bathsheba story! From David's broken and contrite heart over engaging in a forbidden love affair, he found redemption in sacred music!
The deeper sin though, was David later sending her husband to a battle and in a position where he knew he would be killed; which he was.
Nothing about this affair was sacred nor did it pleased the Lord Yes, David killed him because Uriah was called home from battle to lay with his wife so that her pregnancy through David would be kept a secret. But Uriah would not.
He was so honorable that he could not allow himself the pleasure of sleeping with his wife when his commander and the rest of the men were sleeping in tents. Then David had to resort to plan B.
Get Uriah killed.
David wanted that child desperately but the Lord allowed it to get sick and die.
David fasted and prayed his child would live. He was sorrowful and repented and God forgave him. Sin NEVER Pleases God. It has disastrous consequences. It breaks our fellowship with Him..but true repentance can restore it..because the Lord desires a true relationship with those he has created. Sin has disastrous consequences but restoration of our relationship to our Creator God is very possible.
Wow, James, you figured it out and took the rest of us into and through the mystery with you. Great video!
Awesome detective work which if totally accurate shows Cohen to be not only musically gifted but a phenomenally intelligent lyricist. Nice one.
Yours is, by far, the best analysis of this song I have ever seen in UA-cam. Completely shadows bigger channels that try to reduce it to a rebellious song about god and religion, as if Cohen was some kind of dumb teenager. Thank you.
Loved Leonard Cohen (and the Buckley version). Grateful to have seen him upfront in next to last tour.
Utterly wonderful description, so full of meaning, love and life as a struggle against the animal impulse, to the the higher Spiritual access to God. Wonderfully explained, and full of beauty. Thank God for Leonard Cohen.
Genius interpretation. Spot on! I quote Cohen's songs throughout my novel "Atan the Revolutionary." He's the only poet who has ever turned my ear.
I really needed to hear this. I’m so grateful to have been able to find it. Thank you for a moving analysis and deeper message.
Had to go and play Cohen’s version to confirm that the “major lift” chord is, indeed, just a return to the IV chord in his version. I’ve always instinctively played a major II chord (specifically a D7, relative to Cohen’s key of C) at that point, and am frankly disappointed to learn it isn’t in the original.
Not only does it work much better musically, in my opinion, but it makes the word-painting cleverer. The idea of a “major lift” is much better evoked by turning one of the minor chords of the key (the ii chord) into its major cousin - literally “lifting” it into Major - than it is by simply returning to a diatonic major chord that we’ve already heard in the sequence (and has already had its turn in the word-painting scheme as “the fourth”). “The fourth”, “the fifth”, “the minor fall” and “the major lift”, also just work better as descriptions of four different chords, in my opinion.
Im not claiming to be an epic song writer, but i do believe I've been in the same mental slpace as leonard cohen. In that moment i wrote the best song I've ever written, i doubt i will ever top it, and it doesn't matter whether it's good or not to other people... after i wrote that one, i realised there were lots of truly beautiful songs that came from the minds of truly talented people and the common theme was mind ravaging heartbreak. Leonard was broken in a way i sincerely hope no one else has been, but alas many have...
And their songs rise and remain as beautiful, haunting testaments to that moment of bitter pain.
Now whenever i hear a beautiful song i rhetorically say to the author: "you poor bastard! Whatever did you go through to produce a song such as this?"
After experiencing the deepest love possible encompassing a perfect physical, spiritual, emotional and mental connection, he would be so full of gratitude for such a heavenly gift, and heartbroken to have lost it, knowing he would never experience that love again.
Wow. Impressive analysis of a song that now impresses me even more. Thanks for this.
I can't help but re-listen to this inciteful and brilliant interpretation. Whether Leonard meant it this way or not, your interpretation will forever be how I interpret this!
I heard a story about a man that lead a life with ups and downs and even in that confusion was worthy of praising God. And you don't have to appreciate this man's story. Even if we know we are following our heart we may still question if we are doing right. A purity (bathing) on the roof (open to God's sight) beautiful even in black and white (moonlight), conquered your heart. This vision tied you down as a commoner, removed your authority as a ruler, removed your strength of being a God given man (David was a Nazarite, his hair, like Samson and Delilah, was a God given strength). And all of this was praiseworthy. You say I turned away from God, but I can't even fathom such a thing. And who are you to question my relationship with God? God is there in every action, joyous praise and broken pleading. I tried to do right, I may seem blind and unfeeling. I followed my heart, even if that led to a mess. I've lived, and when I die, I'm going to be thankful for my life.
James, you is blowing my mind with alarming regularity. Fantastic work Sir!
Glad to hear it :) much appreciated
I love your breakdown of this. Hallelujah!
That is an amazing and beautiful analysis! I’m grateful. LC was a master songwriter. Song, in the hands of a master, is the highest form of poetry. Cohen has written a great number of masterpieces. He could go deep, and there lies considerable pain, but there lie also truth and beauty, and that is what he brought to us with his songs.
Thank you for this. Leonard Cohen was one of my late husband's favourite artists (mine as well) and this was our favourite piece. I wish he was here to share this with, as the secret chord was a topic of discussion many times. Brilliant!
Your exposition moved me to tears - I don't think that that has ever happened before. Thank you, James.
Brilliant! I love that song and now it means even more. There have been moments of my own in the cord three and I say of them even now - Hallelujah.
While I hate the fact that this song apparently glorifies cheating, I can't but applaud the analysis. Great video!
There's plenty of "dirty" Cohen lyrics.... "Ah I remember you well, in the Chelsea hotel"... So yea makes sense but at same time no it doesn't. Because I don't think Cohens intention was ever to glorify cheating... This retelling is told by an atheist.... It could just as easily mean theologically that "only when we've fallen in sin will we accept god's grace", or "we'll still praise God even when we are sinning". Im Not convinced by this dudes interpretation tbh
You make a very compelling argument, particularly in light of Cohen's fundamental identity as a poet above all else.
Leonard Cohen was an amazing artist and a lot of work and thought went into each piece he wrote. My all-time favorite artist.
James, that's deep. And your research is wonderful. I just had a 2 hour debate/argument with your Dad about his beliefs. This video is so much more rewarding😀
Hahaha it’s very much not worth getting into it with my Dad when it comes to religion. It’s like trying to debate with an automated phone system. You’ll just get the same answers over and over no matter what you say!
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar 😀Thanks James. I'm glad you're not offended. He said he hates science dogma. I said, so do I, but religious dogma isn't the way forward.
@@jono1457-qd9ftscience dogma is an oxymoron.
If it's a dogma, in other words if you are forbidden to criticise it, forbidden to examine it, forbidden to test it, forbidden to openly and widely share your findings - it is absolutely not science.
Sounds like his dad is more clued up than you 2, here's some dogma, science says the moons light is reflected sunlight, and if you measure the temperature change in moonlight vs moonshade there is no difference. So try measure it yourself with a thermometer and then tell me who's the fool 😂
Interesting take. I never looked at it quite so literally.
My interpretation was that the “secret chord” was a personal spiritual relationship, whether with a literal god or just a metaphor for being in tune with one’s self on a spiritual level, but the woman in the song didn’t care about that and however it ended it broke him and he can’t figure out how to get it back (so he’s baffled).
That verse contains an allusion to Samson as well as David. Same deal with both men, their relationships with god were damaged by a woman in some way.
I never considered the minor fall and the major lift as metaphors for what happened between them. I really like that and think that’s spot on.
I was always struck though by the “two versions” we’ll call it. The original is more uplifting to me, more hopeful. “I’ll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah”. He’s going to keep going and keep trying. But the ending verse that Cohen put in the live version which Jeff Buckley sings is not hopeful. “It’s not a cry you hear at night, it’s not somebody who’s seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah”. He’s a broken man and he’s not found his way back.
Very interesting indeed. I remembered being awed by the song when it first came out to the chagrin of my friends. And now with this very plausible analysis I’m even more intrigued. One of the best songs ever written…5yrs omg
Excellent video 👌
Yes, maybe the best song ever written, along with, do not laugh, "He stopped loving her today, similar theme I believe. Equally IMHO the best song ever written.
Many thanks for your enthusiastic thoughts on David's secret chord, reminding us of our chord, our love, our life, secret, but not cryptic.
I'm not familiar with much of his work, but Leonard Cohen has a mighty reputation as a songwriter. This analysis is a wonderful accolade, insightful and, as the song says, a major lift.
The secret chord is Gsus.
I'll see myself out.
You might’ve been answering a different question. I’ve heard that answer before.😂😂😂
7 sus4, the money chord in Hey Jude, and Without You.
Hail luc jah( God )..the 4th the 5th is the 4th Epoch ( were in that now) is the rescue Epoch .the minor fall is now ..then comes the 5th Epoch the major lift .. the song is dedicated to the God of song whom the angels sing to 24/7 .each Epoch is 4.1 Billion years long...
Geezuss🤦
@@jono1457-qd9ft also somehow descended from the tryst between David and Bathsheba? … Asking for a friend
I like how you put so much effort into this. It is fascinating.
Canadas most precious poet...
Cohen 😎👍👍
Never tried playing Hallelujah backwards...
But am now thinking about it😉👍
@richardlynch5632 Let us know if it says "Paul is dead."
@@napadave58
😂👍
Turn me on dedmnn
@@napadave58 ...or "cranberry sauce." 😏
Or if it says “I love Maple syrup & Loons” 💙🍁oh for more emoji… 😢
Thank you so much for a brilliant closer look at Leonard’s masterpiece!
Not having a musical bone in my body doesn't stop me from adoring this song, I love Cohen's work and his unique style and he seems to be a man of great depth.
I think your work and interpretation are commendable and love the mathematical 345 connection. Thank you for this video, it's fascinating.
There may or may not have been a secret chord, but David's music as he played was by the power of the Holy Spirit of God and therefore it was alive and changed those who heard it. King Saul for one. When the demons in Saul were active, David played his harp and God's Spirit was in the music and calmed King Saul. Praise to the one and only God, Sovereign Ruler of the Universe! The Spirit of God was the secret chord. Amen!
When I die, my musician soul will stand before Leonard Cohen, with nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.
That will not be D.C you see but the Judge of all.
Oh, brother!
This was fascinating. Well done parsing out the song's meaning. ❤
Wow! What a great analysis! I've always liked the song but never paid that much attention to the words. Thank you and may God bless you.
Really really interesting.....& what a clever dissection.....thoroughly enjoyed your work here. Thank you! I'm not particularly musical but have always loved that song too. 😊
The fall was minor and the lift was major. Music and life.
In both cases the women were non Jews! One a Hittite ..one possibly amorite.....
Ruth was a Moabite. She is in the lineage of the Lord
@@jeanalice4732 What does this mean.
"From your lips she drew the Hallelujah"surely means that David ceased praising God because his soul was burdened with sin and hiding. She took his open heart away from God. take another look at the words. They clearly speak of her taking, weakening David . Note that the she cut your hair is symbolic of Samson and Delilah, taking Samson's strength, breaking his devotion to God .
"Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
She tied you to a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah"
To cast this as simply a celebration of romantic feelings is to miss the whole story.
She didn’t weaken him, but rather exposed him to being vulnerable to the highest beauty of the potential of creation in the chord of three.
Well thank goodness you have already expressed this. I was worried that I might have to deliver a diatribe. Every claim that guy made is silly. And the commenters mostly feel enlightened! Lots of data around to murk up the true beauty ; of Leonard Cohen and of God.
I agree!
I completely agree, God sent David a messenger to ask him what would you do to a man in this situation and David was incensed, l would have him Killed, the messenger from God then says ''you are this man'.. God never condones or blesses sinful behaviour.
Cohen himself stated this entire song is about love, love lost, the pain of love, and se x. Pretty sure he knows what he is talking about since he freaking wrote it!!
I really appreciate your taking the time to expand on this song, especially the 150 verses. That helps me to keep on polishing my songs, even though it seems to take so long. As far as your explanation of David and Bathsheba, your interpretation promotes what the Bible calls “Adultery”. God was so mad at David that He killed the child that David and Bathsheba had as a result of their lustful affair. God was very displeased with their affair.
That's my only problem with this video
@@PaperBanjo64 also not only did he kill Bathsheba's husband, he also had shunned his own wife Michel who didn't like him dancing naked in the streets for everyone to see him without clothes. I think it all shows David's personality is one of manic depression. When he was on a high he was very high and experienced highs most people would never know, but often his psalms show a man in the depths when he definitely wasn't singing Halleluliah.
You did a beautiful job playing it . I def got goosebumps when you first played and sang it . Thank you for sharing .
Een perfecte uitleg , dank u wel . De songs van Lenonard Cohen hebben stuk voor stuk een diepere betekenis.