By: Jesse Cronauer

Song by: Leonard Cohen

Meaning
The meaning of the song, Hallelujah, is based off of different biblical stories. The song relates to everyday lives and how there is joy or Hallelujah perceived in a different way. In the song, Leonard Cohen shares the word Hallelujah and relates it to love. There is both a positive and negative side to love and Cohen expresses that meaning throughout the song.

Diction
The word choice of the piece is very interesting. Cohen states in the song, Its a cold and its a broken Hallelujah. The mood created from this phrase is a sad and almost depressed feeling that shows something is lost and taken away. This is important to the song because it expresses the negative form of love through the word Hallelujah by showing that something was lost and was not easily overcame.

Diction (Cont.)
Another phrase Cohen used was Love is not a victory march. The tone given off from this phrase is a sense of informing you that love isnt easy and it seems mournful on the fact that love is not always easy to control. This is important to the song because it explains the difficulty of love and how there will be harsh times and mistakes and how love is not always a so called cake walk. It has its highs and its lows.

Rhythm/Rhyme
The rhythm of this piece by counting stresses is a 4,4,5,4,4,5. There is a constant rhyme scheme (AABCCB) and it is expressed throughout the song. The rhyme scheme does not change throughout. There is not internal rhyme in this piece.

Tone
The tone of the song is a calm, quiet, soothing sound of emotion and remains throughout the song. The song is slow to express the mood of the song and is soft to explain the theme clearly. This helps get Cohens message across.

Mood
The mood throughout the song is a sad, solemn, and almost melancholic sense of feeling and emotion. In the beginning of the song, the mood is a happy, joyful expression and the feeling then changes to a sad, defeated feeling and remains throughout the song.

Imagery
Imagery is shown throughout the song by explaining how love can be taken in different ways as expressed through biblical verses and stories. Imagery is shown by making an image in your mind of what Cohen is trying to describe by the meaning of love.

Theme
Leonard Cohen expresses the word Hallelujah throughout the song with a different meaning to go with it in each verse. In some, Hallelujah is expressed as a joyful, enthusiastic meaning but in others, it has a depressing, melancholic attitude towards it. He explains the meaning of love and how you can not control how the turnout will be. He shares the meaning of love by explaining how love can be interpreted and how it is not always easy to control and it is not always perfect the way you want it to be.

Personification
There is personification in this song as expressed in line 12. The line is her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you. This is personification because beauty and the moonlight are not human things and they can not take on human actions as in overthrowing somebody. The mood expressed through this line is a feeling of defeat/punished. Cohen expresses the meaning of lust to express how love can easily take control of ones self being and can also turn against you. Love is not predictable.

Consonance
There is an example of Consonance in line 5 and 6 of the song. It states, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall the major lift. This helps to reinforce the theme by emphasizing the imagery of musical increments. The verse talks about how David plays music for the Lord because of his love for Him. This helps to bring out the message of love and the meaning of the song.

Metaphor
In line 55, a metaphor is expressed in Hallelujah. The metaphor is with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah. The metaphor explains the loyalty and love the speaker has for the leader, who in the song is expressed as the Lord. This is brings out the theme because it explains the loyalty needed for love to be mutual and how a person needs to be obedient and almost a servant to love.

VERSE I
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 ya? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE II
Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew ya She tied you to a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE III
Baby I have been here before I know this room, I've walked this floor I used to live alone before I knew ya. I've seen your flag on the marble arch Love is not a victory march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE IV
There was a time when you let me know What's really going on below But now you never show it to me, do ya? And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE V
Maybe theres a God above But all Ive ever learned from love Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya Its not a cry you can hear at night Its not somebody who has seen the light Its a cold and its a broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE VI
You say I took the name in vain I don't even know the name But if I did, well, really, what's it to ya? There's a blaze of light in every word It doesn't matter which you heard The holy or the broken Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

VERSE VII
I did my best, it wasn't much I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool ya And even though it all went wrong I'll stand before the Lord of Song With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah By: Leonard Cohen Sung by: John Cale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinEKqtCDk g