Hallelujah

This song shows major romantic poetry components and although is a modern tune, is actually closer in relation to the romantics than may appear. Each aspect described below has shown the specific qualities of the song and how it relates back to poets in the past.

Leonard Cohen demonstrates a strong interest in the common man with his famous song Hallelujah. Every person has struggles and the song shows many of these. Because of this, we also see the celebration of the individual in the song. The song is about an individual’s story. The lines “Maybe there's a God above, All I've ever learned from love, Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you 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.” This line shows a common struggle among many people. When everything starts to go wrong, many loose faith and hope. The lines “Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you, She tied you to her kitchen chair” are talking about this individual becoming infatuated with a women but it comes with compromise and he gives up his power. We see the ups and downs of his story and the emotions and other components all put together really put together strong feeling in the song. Cohen emphasises that even when someone feel alone and helpless, they aren't the only ones. The focus on the individual in the song really makes it powerful, and that is one of the reasons why romantic poetry is powerful too.

There is a lot of imagination in this song. It starts out by saying “Well I heard there was a secret chord, That David played and it pleased the Lord”. It shows how creative the artist is. He could have just said that it was a very good song but instead he made images of a person playing to God come to mind. Also when he sings “She tied you to her kitchen chair

She broke your throne and she cut your hair, And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah” it invokes your imagination. It makes you see this actually happening, and it is a very clever and imaginative way to say that she betrayed you. Things lyrics make you imagine these events in your mind.

Lots of romantic poets share similarities with Leonard Cohen. One example is William Wordsworth, who also wrote about love. Wordsworth’s poem, She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways, talks about his loss and loneliness and his love for a women.

Hallelujah is also full of strong emotion. You can tell that Cohen has very strong feelings and the song came from what he truly feels. This is showed by the lyrics “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” because the words in the song are descriptive and full of emotion. The whole song is based around his feeling and thoughts.

There is hope for everyone