i did my best; it wasn't much

But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
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


those are lines from leonard cohen's hallelujah, of course. and what made me think of it was that i heard it on the radio tonight. the kd lang version and also an israeli singer's version.

but truly there is no version like leonard singing it himself.

this music with these lyrics and that voice- exquisite.

"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"

and i think it's a rare person who doesn't think this is one of the best song's ever. because it really is.

but here's the thing- of all the people i know in the world or have even met in the world- it's quite likely that i can count exactly 4 who have ever even heard of the song.

i suppose i know all the wrong people. i don't know. but it seems peculiar to me that there are few songs that speak so perfectly of being human, yet most the humans i know have never heard it.

and i suppose i'd ruin the song for myself if i ever read the critical interpretations of the lyrics. i'm sure they'd all probably say i have it all wrong- but here's what i think the song's about-

that life sucks and thank heavens or something else inexplicable for it.

that's how i see life anyway. that it sucks, but somehow i've again worked myself around to being awfully glad to be alive.

"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"