Hallelujah

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Hallelujah
© 1984 by Leonard Cohen
New lyrics © 2007 by H. Paul Shuch, inspired by the original

I watched you from a distant roof.
You longed for love, but you needed proof;
And no man had the power to subdue you.
I raised you up, began to care,
I left my throne to touch your hair
And from your lips I drew a hallelujah.

CHORUS:

Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Hallelujah, hallelujah.

In time, you came to love my song,
You sang it with me, loud and long.
I still recall the magic moments. Do you?
The many times I moved in you,
The angels wept -- you heard them too.
Together we were singing hallelujah.

I finally learned that secret chord
That David played to please the Lord,
But you no longer hear my music, do you?
Yet still I play the fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall, the major lift...
If only you could feel the hallelujah!

I know that you do not deceive
When saying I should never leave.
I'd end up where I was before I knew you.
But baby, I've been there before.
I've lived alone, I've walked the floor
Bewildered and in search of hallelujah.

And so I wouldn't miss you, much.
I would not feel, but only touch,
So run away, don't think that I'd pursue you.
I will not be alone for long.
Who cares if I replace my song
With a bitter and a broken hallelujah?

If I hadn't heard the siren's call
I never would have lived at all.
You don't regret our time together, do you?
So even if I get it wrong
I'll end my days in joyful song
With nothing on my lips but hallelujah.

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