Hallelujah

This years Christmas no.1 will once again not mention Jesus. But in a good way - it goes back a further 1000 years in the Bible to King David. I had my doubts - the idea of X factor popsters murdering a classic song was giving me sleepless nights, but it was good, very good.




Dave Bish has posted all the lyrics, though the X Factor version only uses 3 of the verses, and makes the point that very few people will understand the song because they don't know the stories behind it. Especially as Leonard Cohen (who wrote it) himself deliberately mixes up the Bible stories (David and Samson) and uses them all as a metaphor for his own angst.

I wonder what it says about us that we keep choosing bittersweet melodies for our Christmas no.1's - anyone remember Gary Jules' Mad World from a couple of years back?

And the final verse is amazing:

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.

Update: also commenting: Ruth Gledhill, Way out West congratulates Leona Lewis for winning for the 2nd year running ;-], Bryan Appleyard thinks that the misery of Hallelujah was a good antidote to the screaming crowd (echoing the words of, I think, Ecclesiastes: 'sorrow is better than laughter because a sad face is good for the heart'), Virtual Methodist has mixed feelings, and the Jesus Blog says 'Chrisitans please don't get sucked in'.