Well maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who’d out drew ya
And 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

From Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

The song Hallelujah is something of a pop culture phenomenon. Originally written by Canadian Leonard Cohen in 1984, it was definitively covered by Jeff Buckley a young American singer who drowned tragically in 1997. Recently, Alexandra Burke sang this song to win the X Factor. But you might be more likely to remember it from the movie Shrek as sung by Irish singer, Rufus Wainwright.

All the links in the paragraph above are to YouTube videos featuring the singers. It’s fascinating and slightly bizarre to listen to these different versions. The definitive video to watch is the official video released by Sony BMG of Jeff Buckley singing in the studio.

This song appropriates many Biblical themes but is it biblical? The consensus seems to be that the song is more about sex than God. I found an intriguing thread here of people talking about the song and what it means to them. I liked what this writer had to say:

The reason that I love this song so much is that it isn’t written from a Christian’s perspective. Trust me, as a Christian hearing the word "hallelujah" repeatedly in a song, especially one as deeply meaningful as this one, makes me want to draw out the Christian message too…it just isn’t there. I think the stronger message is one of lost faith and disillusionment, whether it is of God, a woman, life, love or a bit of everything.

[snip]

Really, I think this is the message that too many Christians miss- grace. There is an entire world of Leonard Cohens out there who have lost their faith, are weak and broken and have no hope of recovering but are searching desperately for something to believe in, something worthy of worship.

Sarah, Spokane, WA

For me personally, when I listen to Jeff mournfully singing “Hallelujah,” it isn’t exactly a worshipful experience. But I do somehow respond to the human cry into the void that the song evokes. Steven Koster wrote a beautiful post on ThinkChristian: Advent is for Longing. Rather than “a holly jolly Christmas” leading up to Christmas day, Steven talks about how,

Advent is a season of emptiness, of longing. The decorations are sparse, the readings are about promises not yet fulfilled. It’s the season of John the Baptizer proclaiming in the desert. The songs are not yet “Joy to the World,” but “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” and “O Lord, how shall I meet you? How welcome you aright?” Rather like Lent, Advent is about waiting and self-reflection. It’s remembering Israel’s exile and our own longing.

And Suzanne talks about Things to worry about at Christmas:

These are the things that the people I know are preoccupied with this season.
1. Taking care of their parents.
2. Making the right financial decisions for the sake of adult children, young or otherwise.
3. Creating an atmosphere of security and hope for younger children.
4. Wondering what to do about the fact that bright sunny and very cold weather means that some street people are dying in their sleep.

And maybe that’s why this song has such a power to move me. Because in a time of year when we’re being told to be cheerful, many of us are dealing with loss and worries. Even so, as much as we’re able, Christmas is a good time to surround ourselves with family and friends and an abundance of food and gifts. Let’s forget for a while the misplaced cries of a lost world’s Hallelujahs. I am listening for the plaintive cry of a defenseless baby. On this Christmas day, I will sing my Gloria in Excelsis for the Christ Child. But always with the basso continuo of the world’s cold and broken Hallelujah in my ears.

Click here or on the image to watch the video of Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah.

[Note: This was written early for Christmas.]