The song broadens the definition of the word hallelujah by taking it out of its purely religious conflict. Buckley´s hallelujah is pain filled and reflects the damaged emotional state of the speaker. "Hallelujah" conveys the experience of falling in love and having the relationship turn sour as the speaker progressively loses power over the situation. However, the song ultimately conveys that the "hallelujah" is in experiencing heartbreak and still being able to see the grace and beauty in love.
There are biblical allusions in the song, but they are used to strengthen the theme and relate to love rather than religion. The lines "She tied you to her kitchen chair / And she broke your throne and she cut your hair / And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah" reference Samson and his loss of power when Delilah cuts his hair. These lyrics directly relate to the theme by showing how Samson lost his great strength to Delilah because of his love for her.
The theme becomes more clear with the lines "And love is not a victory march / It´s a cold and it´s a broken hallelujah." I think these lines are important because, in addition to directly saying that the pain of love deserves a hallelujah as much as the times worth celebrating, they say that love is not something to win. Love loses its beauty when it is a pursuit or being controlled. The short sentence structure and simple diction make the point of these lines clear and straight forward.
Furthermore, the lines "Maybe there´s a God above / But all I´ve ever learned from love / Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you" show that the message of the song is not religious. The speaker believes in the possibility of God, but comments more on love through the lyrics. The violent diction adds to the pain that love can bring, which the speaker clearly experienced. The speaker says that he only learned how to hurt those who try to hurt him first. I think these lyrics follow the previous lyrics in that they show the futility of love when it is about winning, especially when winning means causing each other pain.
The song is really sad, but offers hope that love can be beautiful even after all of the destruction and pain it can cause.
I love this song and it really just reminds me of Shrek. It's really interesting how the meaning you talked about plays out in the context of the movie. It actually serves Fiona more. Either way it's a great song and analysis.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your analysis, I always thought of this song as the one slow song in Shrek. But your analysis is so clear and really helps me to understand the song more and see it as more than just a song in a movie.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Simone and Anna. At first you just think of it as a really good song that just happened to be put in a movie. But as you listen to the lyrics you realize that it does really apply to Fiona's story through the movies, as she almost had to give up her family to be with Shrek.
ReplyDeleteI love this song and I think it was a great choice. I like that you talked about both its religious and non-religious aspects, because I think both are important to the message of the song.
ReplyDeleteOnce more, I'm chiming in that I love this song as well. I knew it had religious refrences to it, but as I first heard it in Shrek I've never taken it that way, simply as a "love?" song. Your deconstruction of the song helped me prove that it wasn't about God but more of love itself.
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