Hallelujah

I tossed and turned last night reflecting on the rewrite of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and it's transformation into a Christian hymn. Is it now a "holy" or a "broken" Hallelujah as this article asks?

I wrestled with my thoughts. On one hand, Leonard Cohen (now 80) himself has not appeared to object. I guess the song, after thirty years, is in the public domain. The Christian version is indeed moving and the song is not an overtly "Jewish" one. So why does this bother me? Apparently I am not the only one to feel a little what? depressed? betrayed? ripped off?

Here's what I came up with. The song is deeply spiritual, if not outright religious in nature. It evokes images of Jewish longing and anguish, of King David, Samson, and Bathsheba. It encapsulates a Jewish feeling of mourning and melancholy that Leonard Cohen captured perfectly. To alter it, even for a beautiful purpose, seems wrong or at least slightly stinky.

Of course I had to smile a bit when I read this: “When we rewrote the lyrics, I had no idea Leonard Cohen was Jewish." Duh. With a name like that what did he think?

I am a fan of Leonard Cohen's and proud to say he is a Landsman. But Hallelujah, believe it or not, is not my favorite.  Don't mess with Dance Me To The End of Love (see my blog 8/14/2013)!

Hallelujah!

;-)