| | alright. i'm going to go ahead and blatantly criticize christian culture right now, so if that is going to offend you, feel free to discontinue reading...
I recently heard of this song, titled "Another Hallelujah," by Lincoln Brewster. What our friend Mr. Brewster has done is simply change the lyrics to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (this song has also been covered by Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright,) to make it into a praise and worship song to be sung by believers in a worship service setting.
In an interview, Brewster said, "“I had always heard that chorus and thought, ‘You know, that’s a worship chorus. I don’t know the story about how it was written, but something must have happened to Leonard Cohen because the ‘hallelujah’ in his song is a mock – he’s sarcastic. I think the transformation from his version to my version is basically going from ‘God is horrible’ to ‘God is love.’ I didn’t think he would let us use it, but we got an okay and it only took seconds to turn those lyrics around. When I played it the night of this live recording for the first time, the congregation jumped in like we’d been doing it forever. It’s probably my favorite thing on the project in some ways because it feels like a bit of a victory – a song redeemed for God’s purpose.” [I found this on verticalmusic.com if you're wondering...]
These are the two verses he wrote:
(verse 1)
I love You Lord with all my heart
You've given me a brand new start
And I just want to sing this song to You
It goes like this the fourth the fifth ----
The minor fall the major lift ---- (these last two lines are actually exactly the same)
My heart and soul are praising
Hallelujah
(chorus)
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujan, hallelujah
(verse 2)
I know that You're the God above
You're filling me with grace and love
And I just want to say thank You to You
You pulled me from the miry clay
You've given me a brand new day
Now all that I can say is
Hallelujah
...almost all i can say is, seriously? seriously.
firstly i was appalled at how incredibly lame these lyrics are. i mean, from the "miry clay" reference, to the line, "I just want to say thank You to You" (in which you actually need to say "ya" to make it rhyme correctly...refering to God as "ya" is so reverent, eh?") Brewster said "it only took seconds to turn those lyrics around" and i have to say that it is more than obvious that he did not put much into them...they're horrendous.
And then what he said in the interview about how it was "a bit of a victory- a song redeemed for God’s purpose." As if the original song, which, i believe, speaks of pain and loss, loneliness and doubt and how sometimes praise comes through that somehow...as if that is then "unredeemed," and you need to replace it with simple christianese cliches like "I know that you're the God above/You're filling me with grace and love..." in order for it to be offered as worship to the Lord. i mean, seriously.
so, there you are. that was my attack on just another of the lame things that christians try to pull.
btw, if you haven't heard this song (i mean, the *real* version, obviously) please go listen to it. it's great.
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| | Posted 11/18/2007 12:57 AM - 88 Views - 4 eProps - 4 comments
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i think YOUR AMAZING!
