Hallelujah (Catholic School Girl Edition)

My niece just graduated from Holy Names, a venerable all-girls Catholic high school in Seattle. Last weekend we attended her graduation ceremony and one of the highlights, in addition to the mere wonderment that my niece is all growed up, was a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” A rather daring song for a group of Catholic high school girls to tackle — but they pulled it off quite nicely. Allison Crowe’s version is worth a listen, too.

Comments

  1. Matthew Lickona says

    Did they do the final verse?

    And even though it all went wrong
    I’ll stand before the Lord of song
    With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

    Chills.

  2. Rufus McCain says

    They sang the whole thing:

    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

    Baby I have been here before
    I know this room, I’ve walked this floor
    I used to live alone before I knew you.
    I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch
    Love is not a victory march
    It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    There was a time you let me know
    What’s real and going on below
    But now you never show it to me, do you?
    And remember when I moved in you
    The holy dove was moving too
    And every breath we drew was Hallelujah

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    You say I took the name in vain
    I don’t even know the name
    But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
    There’s a blaze of light
    In every word
    It doesn’t matter which you heard
    The holy or the broken Hallelujah

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah

    I did my best, it wasn’t much
    I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
    I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
    And even though
    It all went wrong
    I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
    With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah, Hallelujah
    Hallelujah

  3. Quin Finnegan says

    I’m trying now to imagine what I would have imagined on hearing an all-girls Catholic High School choir sing that second verse.

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