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Confusing Hallelujah Lyrics

......
Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you
And she tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah

what does the last sentence mean? who is "you" referred to?
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah, what did the writer mean?
what does move in you mean? become holy?
And is it really a religious song? or other meanings implied?

Asked by Little G on 20:50, 11/10/2008 - 388 views
Learn English , using English      Tags: buckley hallelujah jeff rufus wainwright Writing
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Best Answer - Chosen by the Asker
Well, first (though it may be obvious), we must know that "hallelujah" is "a shout of joy, praise or gratitude".

This is NOT a religious song at all, even though it uses a lot of biblical phrases and allusions. It's actually very sexual, in some parts. The song is very poetic.. and can be interpreted to be about a man who is very deeply in love.

The entire last stanza which you posted:

Well there was a time when you let me know
What's really going on below
But now you never show that to me do you
But remember when I moved in you
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was hallelujah


He is saying to his love that nowadays they don't get very "intimate", and that he is trying to remind her of the time when they WERE "intimate". The last sentence there beautifully dramaticizes what he remembers in his memory-- that while making love, every breath they breathed was hallelujah, was a shout of joy/praise/gratitude.

When he says "But remember when I moved in you", he is referring to when they were making love.

The "you" he is referring to is the woman he is in love with.

The lines "But love is not a victory march / It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah" means that love isn't a victory, it's not something something to feel triumphant about, but that love can be very painful ('it's a cold and broken hallelujah).

2 months ago
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actually,
i'm wondering if it's a reference to the baby Jesus
when his mother, the Virgin Mary carried him inside her womb.
answered 2 months ago
0