Confused by Hallelujah

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:23 pm

Album Version or Live Version ???

I found there are 2 versions Hallelujah. One is from 1984 album, Various Positions, track 05, and the other one is from 1994 album, Cohen Live, track 07, recorded in 1988. They have completely different lyrics except the last verse. I have checked some bootleg files, the second version mentioned above always attended in concert, on the contrary, only Various Positions and The Essential containing the first one, the studio one, the album one.

http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/halldraft.html
This page shows a draft which displaying the first verse of Live version while the lyrics on this page belong to album one.

I am very confused. Need guidance. Thanks a lot.

=====Lyrics (Album Version)=====

Now 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...

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

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...

=====Lyrics (Live Version)=====

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

Yeah I've seen your flag on the marble arch,
But listen, love is not some kind of victory march,
No it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, (Hallelujah...)

There was a time you let me know
What's really going on below,
Ah but now you never show it to me, do you?

Yeah but I remember, yeah when I moved in you,
And the holy dove, she was moving too,
Yes every single breath that we drew was Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

Maybe there's a God above,
As for me, all I've ever seemed to learn from love
Is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.

Yeah but it's not a complaint that you hear tonight,
It's not the laughter of someone who claims to have seen the light
No it's a cold and it's a very lonely Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

I did my best, it wasn't much.
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch.
I've told the truth, I didn't come all this way to fool you.

Yeah even tough it all went wrong
I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 5:53 pm

WiTS wrote:I found there are 2 versions Hallelujah. One is from 1984 album, Various Positions, track 05, and the other one is from 1994 album, Cohen Live, track 07, recorded in 1988. They have completely different lyrics except the last verse. I have checked some bootleg files, the second version mentioned above always attended in concert, on the contrary, only Various Position and The Essential containing the first one, the studio one, the album one.

You answered your own question! There's FIRST version, from Various Positions (1984), and we call it "the studio version".
There's the SECOND version, played live in 1988 and 1993, and released live on Cohen Live (1994) taken from Austin City Limits show in 1988. We call it "the live version".

Live version was included also on More Best Of (1997), but the studio version was repeated on The Essential although Leonard came to prefer the new lyrics (that's why he didn't sing the first one any more, or coupled them as John Cale or Jeff Buckley. My guess it was done so because The Essential preferred studio versions.

To confuse you more, the first, original studio version was played on tour in 1985, so there are many live versions of it on 1985 bootlegs!

But it's very simple: there are two versions. He never joined them in live performances.

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 4:36 am

Tom Sakic wrote:
WiTS wrote:I found there are 2 versions Hallelujah. One is from 1984 album, Various Positions, track 05, and the other one is from 1994 album, Cohen Live, track 07, recorded in 1988. They have completely different lyrics except the last verse. I have checked some bootleg files, the second version mentioned above always attended in concert, on the contrary, only Various Position and The Essential containing the first one, the studio one, the album one.
You answered your own question! There's FIRST version, from Various Positions (1984), and we call it "the studio version".
There's the SECOND version, played live in 1988 and 1993, and released live on Cohen Live (1994) taken from Austin City Limits show in 1988. We call it "the live version".

Live version was included also on More Best Of (1997), but the studio version was repeated on The Essential although Leonard came to prefer the new lyrics (that's why he didn't sing the first one any more, or coupled them as John Cale or Jeff Buckley. My guess it was done so because The Essential preferred studio versions.

To confuse you more, the first, original studio version was played on tour in 1985, so there are many live versions of it on 1985 bootlegs!

But it's very simple: there are two versions. He never joined them in live performances.

Tom, thank you very much.

But, why did Cohen drop the first version lyrics? Any problems with it? Just didn't like it or is there some story behind it?

I checked files again. It is true like you said that there were a lot studio version lives in 1985 bootleg, for example, the bootleg "Diamonds in the Mine Field". Btw, where can I find more LC' bootlegs?

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 9:53 am

found some words, maybe will be the answer to the 2 versions

===============================
Antwerp 17/04/1988
You know,I wrote this song a couple of..,it seems like yesterday but I guess it was five or six years ago and it had a chorus called Hallelujah. And it was a song that had references to the Bible in it,although these references became more and more remote as the song went from beginning to the end.And finally I understood that it was not necesary to refere to the Bible anymore.And I rewrote this song;this is the "secular" Hallelujah.<<Baby I've been here before..>>.
================================
Interview, Reijkavik, Iceland June 1988
Yeah another song came on top of that. So I'd already recorded that one. And I wanted to push the Hallelujah deep into the secular world, into the ordinary world. The Hallelujah, the David's Hallelujah was still a religious song. So I wanted to indicate that Hallelujah can come out of things that have nothing to do with religion.
================================

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 11:39 am

Hi WiTS, welll, thank you very much on these quoations about Hallelujah, that explains everything

Much appreciated!

As far I know, Leonard recitated the "secular" second version already in German documentary recorded on rehearsals in January 1985, few days before tour of 1985 began! So he had the new version already then, but didn't perform it before 1988? I never foudn that German docu so I really don't know, but this is the issue for some future research.

For bootlegs, you can get them in trading, or buy it in not so regular circulation (alternate CD shops, semi-legal sellers of music), or download it from the web. Maybe the last one would be easier from China. The complete Montreux Jazz Festival show was recently available at http://www.easytree.org/ (free torrent site for traders).
You can find some rare performances online, somewhere here we had a link.

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:21 pm

Tom Sakic wrote:Hi WiTS, welll, thank you very much on these quoations about Hallelujah, that explains everything Much appreciated!

As far I know, Leonard recitated the "secular" second version already in German documentary recorded on rehearsals in January 1985, few days before tour of 1985 began! So he had the new version already then, but didn't perform it before 1988? I never foudn that German docu so I really don't know, but this is the issue for some future research.

For bootlegs, you can get them in trading, or buy it in not so regular circulation (alternate CD shops, semi-legal sellers of music), or download it from the web. Maybe the last one would be easier from China. The complete Montreux Jazz Festival show was recently available at http://www.easytree.org/ (free torrent site for traders).
You can find some rare performances online, somewhere here we had a link.

Thanks for bootleg information, Tom. SLSK is OK here in China, but BT was banned or limited by some China ISPs. Good luck to me to reach the etree.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:26 pm

Soul seek is not used by collectors I think, although I'm using it myself. Very small number of peopel is using it, I thought that it was the step behind torrente files.
It seems I am not able to find that link, I'm still searhing for it.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:28 pm

Thank G-d for search option, becasue I did know that margaret linke dthe site:

http://www.twoshakesofalambstail.com/st ... index.html

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:47 pm

Tom Sakic wrote:Thank G-d for search option, becasue I did know that margaret linke dthe site:

http://www.twoshakesofalambstail.com/st ... index.html

Hallelujah~~

Thanks a million!!!

leeching

BitComet is OK here. I am downloading Leonard Cohen, BBC-TV2, 1968
http://www.easytree.org/download.php/15 ... 31.torrent

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:53 pm

Bravo! I'm glad you suceeded immediately. BBC Sessions is LC's first major show, I forget it was available there. There was also Warsaw 1985 beside the mentioned Montreux 1985.
Note that these mp3s on this link are mostly RARE performances from bad sources. They're all actually from Rare Songs Vol 1 and Rare Songs Vol 2 fan bootlegs. Note the 1979 out-takes Misty Blue and Do I Have To Dance All Night, download that first! There are also out-takes from Songs From Rebecca , the abandoned 1975 album (Guerrero, Don't Go Home With Your Hard On). Thirsty For The Kiss is early version of Heart With No Companion. Who By Fire is performed in 1989 with Sonny Rollins on sax and Was Not Was on backing vocals woth Perla&Julie.

Interesting, now I see that site has not all Songs For Rebecca outtakes [early versions of Came So Far For (Her) Beauty, The Smokey Life (aka I Guess It's Time) and the Traitor Song are missing]. Now I remember the tape was found much later than that site was made. (They are also not on the Rare Songs compilations.) That's worth considering, to put newly found rarities online

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Jan 04, 2005 1:12 pm

Also trading thru FTP connection. I used FTP just once, because it's too sophisticated for my acces to the web. (It took four days for the show.)

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Thu Jan 06, 2005 4:17 pm

I wrote a post on my blog, about the song Hallelujah, in Chinese.

There're 12 cover version online for you guys, enjoy!

http://blog.dream4ever.org/wits/archive ... /7694.aspx

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:59 am

Can I download Damien Rice's?.........
I'll send you O'Calaghan when Kush's letter arrives, WiTS

WiTS · Post by **WiTS** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:12 pm

Tom Sakic wrote:Can I download Damien Rice's?.........
I'll send you O'Calaghan when Kush's letter arrives, WiTS

PM your mail adress, I will send you a MP3 file
The files is 2.39M, so please give me a large mailbox.

Thanks for O'Calaghan in advance

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:31 pm

My email is at yahoo which provides 250 MB, and I use 8% at this moment. My adress is under every post I write... tomsakic(at)yahoo.com

Confused by Hallelujah

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