"HALLELUJAH" LEONARD COHEN (1984)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #SeptSongLyricChallenge

Day 30

I’ve really enjoyed looking back at some of my favorite song lyrics this month. They’re reinforced for me the whole reason why I started this blog to begin with. For my last pick, it feels appropriate to go big with an epic song. And not just an epic song, but one with lyrics that are on a whole other level. Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” fits the bill. Written like a beautiful amalgamation of prose, poetry and satire, the lyrics trigger all kinds of thoughts and emotions. No one ever said it quite like Cohen, but what he had to say resonated deeply with countless fans, critics and musicians alike.

“Now, 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? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah.”

"MASTER SONG" LEONARD COHEN (1967)

For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs

Songs of Leonard Cohen is one of the most mature, most impressive debut albums ever recorded. His storytelling and haunting vocals are beautiful, delightful gifts to discerning music fans. His melodies and instrumentation aren’t immediately accessible. They carry a bit of nuance and require a closer listen. These great qualities were all there from the very beginning. “Suzanne”, “So Long, Marianne” and “Sisters of Mercy” were probably the more well-known tracks from the album, but my favorite is the quiet, understated “Master Song”.

The song’s lyrics are an old mysterious story. Cohen himself was always vague about who the song was about, although there’s a thought out there that the song was about Cohen’s girlfriend Marianne, himself and the master - a spiritual guru that Marianne befriended. The lack of clarity is the strength of the song, as it eggs on the listener to keep listening for clues. Are these people real? Are they just fictitious characters? Why is the main character called a master? The mystery is shuffled about in Cohen’s classical guitar riff and a series of strings and Middle Eastern instruments. The quiet strength of “Master Song” is that each verse reads like a chapter in a book that you simply can’t put down.

“He was starving in some deep mystery like a man who is sure what is true.”

"HALLELUJAH" LEONARD COHEN (1984)

I’m not a huge fan of Leonard Cohen. And I admit that I probably haven’t taken the time to appreciate what fans love most about him. But I loved “Hallelujah” from the very first time I heard it. Cohen reminds us of the power of the word “Hallelujah”, but gives it his own honest interpretation of it, colored and blemished by all the conflicting thoughts and actions that humanity has shared throughout history. Jeff Buckley, Dylan, Bono, K.D. Lang and countless others have all covered this classic, but the original is and always will be my favorite.

“Now, 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? It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah.”