SOLVED: Leonard Cohen's Secret Chord from 'Hallelujah'

Leonard Cohen released 'Hallelujah' in 1984, a song which he took 5 years to write, and for which he wrote over 150 verses. In the first verse he mentions a 'secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord'. Many people have asked... what WAS that chord? I think I might have the answer.

[JamesHargreavesGuitar]

Hey all - just in response to one or two comments - this is not a religious video, I am an unapologetic atheist.
It's simply being presented from the perspective of Leonard Cohen, a Jewish man with a spirituality that drew from many different sources.
Just so no-one gets the wrong end of the stick.
JH

[Johnnythree]

I've tried cracking the meaning of the secret chord passively for years. I never sat down and REALLY thought about it like this. Best answer I've ever heard by miles. My hat's off to you. Thank you!

[dixietenbroeck]

*Mr. Hargreaves, THANK YOU! Your interpretation of this phenomenal song has brought **_THIS_** "old woman" to tears, but they're purelly tears of joy.*
*I met my Beloved Husband about one month before he turned 26 years of age, and we were married within 3 months. He will turn 81 on Saturday, and I **_STILL_** ABSOLUTELY ADORE HIM, even after nearly FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF JOYOUS MARRIAGE! The song of "HALLELUJAH" hit my brain exactly like your interpretation, LONG BEFORE I ran into your interpretation, which is SPOT ON, MR. HARGREAVES! Been there, & fully understand your meanings. A "cord of three, " such a wonderful thought-image!*
💖👍👵💋🧓👍💖

[jennyroberts]

I feel this symbolism reaches far beyond one person’s affair, David’s or Leonard Cohen’s which is why it’s able to move so many to tears even without knowing these specifics. Great video.

[sergiop.ealbuquerque]

This song always makes me cry. Always...
The first time I heard it was a Catholic version, with different lyrics, in an Irish Church.
Then I went searching for the original Cohen's lyrics. It's such a beautiful message!😢 It's about love. It's about forgiveness. It's about us. And it's about me and that magic night with her, in 1989, July the 17.
I'm alone now. Just me, my guitar, and my memories. I'm 70 now.
Nice post, mr. Positivist/atheist.🤣🤣🤣
(Comte)

[carolynburgess]

I have listened to Leonard Cohen for. 50 years, he is a modern David full of poetry and angst

[Kieop]

Wow, that was wonderful. The cord of three. Though the E maj chord works too, since it is also known as the heaven chord.

[Polyphemus]

Many versions of this song pronounce "Do ya", as "Do you". That always bugs me. It misses the whole point of the rhyming of '...do ya' with '...lujah'.
The splendid cynicism of Cohen's mentioning a Lord-pleasing chord, only to tell the listener 'But you don't really care for music, do ya?" is, for me, a great example of his brilliance as a wordsmith. I didn't 'get' Cohen at first, but listening to his album, "New Skin For The Old Ceremony" was a revelation. I suddenly resonated to the secret chord of his sense of humor. He became, and remains, my all-time favorite lyricist. And he was blessed with the gift of a golden voice.

[arealamericanamerican]

This is why Leonard Cohen deserves to be the world's poet laureate.

[alwaysfourfun]

Beautiful explanation to a beautiful trail of breadcrumbs. Leonard Cohen was a craftsman. His work was blessed with Hallelujah.

[jorjeraine]

I had the pleasure of attending a Leonard Cohen concert in a very small, intimate theater in my hometown, and when he sang, "Hallelujah, " it darn near brought me to the floor. Your analyses of the song's lyrics and the secret "cord" are very fascinating. It has left me pondering about love and love lost. Your video was fantastic!

[petecolorado]

This is something I've always pondered on as a songwriter and I thank you for your bit by bit explaination and your revealation of King David's secret chord. Leonard Cohen is sadly missed.

[stephenking]

"From your lips she drew the Hallelujah"surely means that David ceased praising God because his soul was burdened with sin and hiding. She took his open heart away from God. take another look at the words. They clearly speak of her taking, weakening David . Note that the she cut your hair is symbolic of Samson and Delilah, taking Samson's strength, breaking his devotion to God .
"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"

To cast this as simply a celebration of romantic feelings is to miss the whole story.

[markpapallo]

Outstanding analysis! Even as an ardent Cohen fan with a fair amount of scriptural familiarity, I never would have connected all these themes. Thank you for increasing my appreciation for this beloved song tenfold!

[tadc]

I've learned so much from this analysis, factually, musically and spiritually. Many thanks!

[martinkerrmusic]

I've performed this song thousands of times but never understood it properly until now. Thank you so much for this enlightening explanation

[robertanderson]

Thank you for this enjoyable discussion It amuses me that this song with such depth of meaning has become a happy singalong song with people just focusing on the repeated Hallelujah

[ellenlebow]

The song embodies co Cohens complex embittered and awe-filled wrestling with holiness- the holiness within loss, of love, of faith, of personal powers.

Cohen is saying that only despair leads one to surrender, and only surrender leads to the holy.

He also accepts in many of his lyrics the driving impulse for an artist to not just encounter holiness but capture it within the limitations of their chosen “craft”

“There’s a burning flame in Every word, it doesn’t matter Which you heard, a holy or a broken hallelujah …”

“….And even though it all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah.”

That’s the line that crowns all the others.

Cohen rarely writes about human love and outrage without entwining it with God.

His “You” is always a double entendre.

I despair when his spiritual verses in Hallelujah are excised for popular consumption reducing its genius down to yet another pop love complaint, and respect the artists who perform it intact.

For an artist to continue they sometimes have to believe the subtler powers beneath the surface of a piece is received via a kind of osmosis that sidesteps the easy and obvious.
But I suppose in that tender, defiant song there’s something for everyone. That’s why it is a universal.

[WilliamOrtiz]

Truly beautiful, Mr. Hargreaves. I had often wondered what the secret chord was myself after having listened to Cohen's song so many times, and I have to say that your analysis of the matter was very enlightening for me and really brought tears to my eyes. Now I know.

To share the gift of true love with a woman is the most pure and unique experience a man can have for he has been blessed beyond imagining.

Leonard Cohen was an incredibly talented composer and you are a great music scholar.

May the union of all people who really love each other never die.

Thank you for your video.

[mikepaulus]

The first two minutes of this video makes me think about Leonard performing Hallelujah late in life. Being so happy that the song captured the world.