Hallelujah: the Song That Explains Itself
In Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah (1984; the famous cover is Jeff Buckley's, 1994) one line names the chords as they are played: the fourth, the fifth, a minor chord that falls and a major chord that lifts. In the original key of C that is F, G, A minor and F. Learn why the four moves away and the five builds tension, why G to A minor instead of G to C is the deceptive cadence, and why one half step in the third makes minor sound like a fall and major like a lift. Then take the songwriter's lesson, word painting: make the words match the music, with a line of your own. Not to be confused with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (lesson 46). The last lesson of Songwriting Secrets, with a look back at the whole module.
In this lesson you'll
- Map the words onto the chords in C: C (home, I), F (the four, IV), G (the five, V), A minor (the six, vi: the fall) and F again (major: the lift), and play C – F – G – Am – F naming each chord.
- Hear the chord jobs (lesson 7): IV, the subdominant, moves away; V, the dominant, builds tension that wants to go home; and hear G → A minor instead of G → C as the deceptive cadence (lesson 8).
- Explain why minor falls and major lifts (a major third is 4 half steps, a minor third 3; A minor → F keeps A and C while E rises a half step to F), and write your own line where "fall" lands on a minor chord and "rise" on a major one.
Music in this lesson
- HallelujahLeonard Cohen · 1984 · in C (copyrighted: chords only, no melody)
- Hallelujah (cover)Jeff Buckley · 1994
Remember
Hallelujah names its own chords: in C, the fourth is F, the fifth is G, the minor fall is A minor and the major lift is F; the lyric is music theory, sung out loud.
After G the ear expects home (C); going to A minor instead is the deceptive cadence, V → vi; A minor shares C and E with C, so it feels close to home, but sad: the emotional fall.
Minor or major is one half step in the third: lower it and the mood falls, raise it and it lifts; the songwriter's lesson is word painting: rising words on rising notes, sad words on minor chords.