Where's The Line?

It isn't a new song, by any means, but it stops me in my tracks every time I hear it. It's been covered over and over again, and it's appeared in gobs of movies and TV shows. In fact, this little post was inspired by landing in the middle of Shrek while channel-surfing the other night.

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 Hallelujah 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...

(Leonard Cohen, Hallelujah)

If you want to hear it, there are lots of versions on YouTube - some of them really good. Be warned that the context becomes pretty sensual, although in poetic metaphor. If you choose to continue on, here are some clips that I like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckbdLVX736U (John Cale - I especially like the piano and strings arrangement. There are a lot of variant lyrics - Cohen himself has done several very different versions of the song.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2NEU6Xf7lM&feature=related (4 guys and a guitar - this would easily be my favorite except I think Alejandro Fuentes' raspy voice doesn't suit the rest of the ensemble. Kurt Nilsen is just amazing - if the teeth don't distract you)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIMOdVXAPJ0&feature=related (Allison Crowe - this is my favorite so far. I wish the sound was a little louder on this clip, but I love the simplicity of the piano and the richness of her voice and her emotional expression. On the other hand, the song is written from a distinctly male perspective and loses some nuance when a woman sings it.)

Don't confuse Allison Crowe's clip with Sheryl Crow's version. Sheryl should be fined and enjoined from ever again ruining this song. I hesitate to even put up the link, but here it is, in all its disappointing failure to understand a whit of what the lyrics, harmony and melody were meant to accomplish together - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWDfH51gvc0

But I really want to talk about the lyrics, because they tread (and perhaps cross) some very fine lines. And that will be a topic for another post.