A Cold and Broken Hallelujah – response by Brad Jersak

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Leonard Cohen’s mournful ballad, ‘Hallelujah,’ moved me to tears from the first time I heard it (covered by Jeff Buckley). Why so? What is this dissonance between the victorious term of praise when sung in the tones of a dirge? What is it to sing ‘a cold and broken hallelujah’?  (see below)

I cannot speak for Cohen — though others have (e.g. Liel Leibovitz’s A Broken Hallelujah), — but I can describe my own resonance with my fellow Canadian’s lament. The song entrances me with the reality of life and faith beyond the surface narratives of triumphalism. Our ‘hosannas’ and ‘hallelujahs’ have too often signaled a desperate stuckness in what we might call ‘triumphal entry faith.’ It’s easy to cheer before Gethsemane, before the trial, before the Cross … only to dissolve when the palm branches are gone, the sky gets dark and God seems to be nowhere in sight. Looking back through the resurrection, we sometimes forget the despair of Holy Saturday and act as if we never revisit it in our own failures.

Cohen’s lyrics remind us that the heroes of our faith–like Samson and David–not only slew giants and lions and Philistines … they were also morally feeble, failing and falling as voyeurs and johns and worse. In truth, their faith is not ultimately defined by their medals of honor, but because when their self-destructive choices had laid them bare, they nevertheless squeaked out their cold and broken ‘hallelujah’ … and found grace. Or rather, grace sought and found them, even when enslaved, blinded and chained, redemption got the last word.

“And even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of Song, with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.” This is the “Just as I am” confession of one whose sin is ever before him — but refusing to hide from God, composes and cries the Psalm 51 prayers of “Lord have mercy.”

For readers who are still riding the wave of triumphalism, God bless you. But for those who weep this song and identify with the disfunctions of our spiritual lineage, the cold and broken hallelujah will do just fine. Grace is looking for you.


Hallelujah – Lyrics by Leonard Cohen


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


Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah


Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you
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


Baby I have been here before
I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you.
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


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


Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah


Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you
It’s not a cry you can hear at night
It’s not somebody who has seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah


Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah


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 you?
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


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 you
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, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah