Leonard Cohen
“You let me sing, you lifted me up, you have my soul a beam to travel on. You folded your distance back into my heart. You drew the tears back to my eyes. You hid me in the mountain of your word. You gave the injury a tongue to heal itself. You covered my head with my teacher’s care, you bound my arm with my grandfather’s strength. O beloved speaking, O comfort whispering in the terror, unspeakable explanation of the smoke and cruelty, undo the self-conspiracy, let me dare the boldness of joy.”―Leonard Cohen, “Poem 19,” Book of Mercy, 1984.
My husband and I recently watched a remarkable documentary about Leonard Cohen’s song Hallelujah and its 80 to 180 verses he wrote during his lifetime. Indeed, the music and its verses documented the Canadian poet and songwriter’s life. The story of the life of Hallelujah was just as fascinating. It took Cohen five years to write the song.
Cohen initially released Hallelujah in an album rejected by a major record company in this country, and it was released only in England in 1984, where it was minimally successful. Only when other popular singers, John Cale and Jeff Buckley, began performing Hallelujah did its widespread popularity get its start. Amazingly, the use of Cale’s Hallelujah in the animated movie Shrek in 2001 skyrocketed the song. Then, with Cohen’s death in November 2016, the music reached international prominence again.
I remember first being moved by Hallelujah when k.d. lang performed it at the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, in 2010. She was dressed in white on a high stage, singing the anthem with all her heart.
Lang described the verses as the struggle between human desire and spiritual wisdom. The early verses have biblical references to Samson and Delilah, as well as King David and Bathsheba. Many see the music and lyrics swaying between blessings and losses. This history of the anthem and its lyrics seem to be a remarkable timeline for the spiritual autobiography of Cohen’s life.
What music could each of us write to share the timeline of our spiritual autobiography?
