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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsArgh: Modern Pet Peeve: Use of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" at memorial services.
Totally inappropriate but popular for some dumb reason.
It's about a doomed and tragic love affair.
It's not about death, it's not about heaven, it's not about anything remotely appropriate to a memorial service.
Why oh why is it so popular?
Do people not pay attention to what songs are actually about?!?!??!
It's like people playing "Every Breath You Take" at weddings. Totally inaprops.
Watchfoxheadexplodes
(3,496 posts)Wonder if he knew what the song was about?
Coventina
(27,049 posts)But the thing that drives me crazy is that idiots using "Hallelujah" at these "celebrations of life" probably have no idea who Leonard Cohen is, or anything about the song, just that it's the "cool" song to play nowadays.
appal_jack
(3,813 posts)Tie me to a kitchen chair, indeed!
-app
TlalocW
(15,373 posts)The Martina McBride song with, "Let Freedom Ring," as a lyric? He played that ( "Independence Day" ) and didn't listen to the lyrics?
TlalocW
underpants
(182,582 posts)I'm not sure what he uses now.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)Don't they listen to the lyrics? Drives me crazy.
Volaris
(10,266 posts)One of the best covers of it I've heard is (no really) Bon Jovi. He and his seem to GET that it's about a long-term relationship, and that after a while, you do the WORK of it, because you love the work as a gift to your Other.
Who the fuck is dumb enough to play that at a funeral??
If you need a spiritual/religious-sounding thing, Eagles Wings, call it a damn day and go get some food...
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)question everything
(47,423 posts)Sarah McLachlan's
Coventina
(27,049 posts)While I have heard "Hallelujah" several times.
All I do is roll my eyes.
I would roll my eyes at "Angel" as well, but that I haven't heard.
question everything
(47,423 posts)and the lyrics
Angel
Sarah McLachlan
Spend all your time waiting
For that second chance
For a break that would make it okay
There's always some reason
To feel not good enough
And it's hard, at the end of the day
I need some distraction
Oh, beautiful release
Memories seep from my veins
And maybe empty
Oh, and weightless, and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
So tired of the straight line
And everywhere you turn
There's vultures and thieves at your back
The storm keeps on twisting
Keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference
Escape
In the arms of the angel
Fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room
And the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage
Of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
You're in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here
Songwriters: Sarah Mclachlan / Sarah Ann Mclachlan
Angel lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
And, what I did not know until I searched,
"Angel" is a song by American singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan about the heroin overdose death of Jonathan Melvoin (1961-1996), the Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player.[1] as McLachlan explained on VH1 Storytellers. The song first appeared on Surfacing, the Canadian singer's 1997 album. It is sometimes mistitled as "In the Arms of an Angel"[2] or "Arms of the Angel".
In general, I like Sarah McLachlan so..
Coventina
(27,049 posts)Of course, now if I ever hear it at a memorial service, I'll assume they died of a heroin overdose....
rusty fender
(3,428 posts)The reference to flying away from the endlessness you fear, i.e., eternity, on the wings of an angel to heaven; or the endlessness you fear could refer to endless pain, where death releases you from the pain.
This song is poignant, beautiful, sad. It would make me cry if played at a funeral.
SeattleVet
(5,477 posts)Lyrics are not appropriate for the occasion.
irisblue
(32,916 posts)@ karaoke night @ an LGBT bar in the 80s.
We were the only ones to sing.😳
Now I will tell her 20 yr old daughter this next visit....😈. old friends with memories & no kids
jehop61
(1,735 posts)but it has a beautiful melody. Perhaps that's the draw?
Coventina
(27,049 posts)of beautiful melodies that have been composed over the centuries that ARE appropriate for memorials.
Why choose one that isn't?
Not Ruth
(3,613 posts)Heard a few people mention that song from Shrek!!!!!
Coventina
(27,049 posts)(just kidding, of course!!)
The ignorance is astonishing!!!
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)It's a beautiful song, but it's about a conversion experience and the joy that brought/brings, celebrating the singer's salvation. IMO it's not appropriate for random religious occasions, including funerals, and I'm sick to death of it.
I understand that this is not a popular opinion.
I blame it all on Judy Collins.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)In some defense of its use at funerals, the final verse is about heaven, at least.
But yeah, please don't play it at my funeral!
TlalocW
(15,373 posts)And can't hold a candle to what will be played at my funeral... the MST3K end theme! W00T!
TlalocW
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,129 posts)That's why he was a "wretch".
cyclonefence
(4,483 posts)and that makes it all the more inappropriate for miscellaneous celebrations/funerals--unless the bride just freed her slaves.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)were MOST APPROPRIATE FOR HIS FUNERAL.
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
He had been a Preacher's Kid (and brother, eventually), studied philosophy, and became agnostic. We married in the county courthouse.
hurl
(935 posts)The fun thing about Amazing Grace is that the lyrics also happen to fit the tune of the Gilligan's Island theme.
Aristus
(66,274 posts)Many of Emily Dickenson's poems were composed in this meter, which makes it easy to sing her poems to the tune of 'Gilligan's Island'.
Try it!:
Because I could not stop for death
He kindly stopped for me
There was but room for just ourselves
And immortaliteeeeeeee...
Thanks! I probably should have known that...
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)Thanks.
Grammy23
(5,810 posts)My husband's cousin sang it at her mother's funeral.
Orrex
(63,168 posts)And it's one of perhaps two songs that most Americans can recognize on the bagpipes.
I likewise dislike its overuse, but it ain't going anywhere.
TlalocW
(15,373 posts)Seem to believe it's a Christmas song.
TlalocW
Coventina
(27,049 posts)The River
(2,615 posts)a structural masterpiece. It will be a timeless classic long after we're gone and long forgotten. Music is always subjective and every reaction is personal. Deconstructing art or taste is pointless.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)But it's a great song about having one's heart broken over a love affair.
Appreciating great art does not mean throwing critical thinking out the window.
CanSocDem
(3,286 posts)...that had the featured and quite adequate organist and soloist belt out her version of this song. It seems to sound spiritual so all that is required to sing it is enthusiasm.
At the end of it, my friend next to me said the song should be left to Leonard Cohen. I'm sure she'd be happy not to hear it at all.
.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)Since the location was a lakeside - not as well landscaped as in the video - it was very appropriate.
Fla Dem
(23,568 posts)In the Christian tradition, "hallelujah" is a word of praise rather than a direction to offer praise which became the more common colloquial use of the word as an expression of joy or relief, a synonym for "Praise the Lord," rather than a prompting to action. The most dramatic use of "hallelujah" in the New Testament is as the keynote of the song sung by the great multitude in heaven in Revelation, celebrating God's triumph over the Whore of Babylon.
more....
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-book-excerpt-leonard-cohen-writes-hallelujah-in-the-holy-or-the-broken-20121203
LisaM
(27,791 posts)Normally in this little town (the day after Thanksgiving), they gather in the town's little park and plug in all the town's holiday decorations to loud, local applause, then all the businesses plug in their lights. The locals gather, there's a Santa, cookies, hot chocolate, and people sing holiday songs and carols. There's also a parade of sorts, with people swinging lighted lanterns and carrying fire batons, etc., all of them dressed in long white gowns.
Well, last year, I guess in response to the election (it's very liberal there), things took a very dark turn. The druid-like light swingers took over everything. There was no caroling to be heard. Instead, they all gathered in a large circle (just them, the rest of the town residents were in a sort of stupor looking at them) and eventually a thin, ghostly sound arose - they were singing a really morose version of "Hallelujah". For the holidays! A song that - to me - is somewhat erotic, on top of everything else (I don't mind that about it, it just doesn't spring to mind as a Christmas song).
All the little kids who'd come to sing Christmas carols and their parents were looking around as if to say, "what just happened?" Then they started gathering in small groups and singing carols in retaliation (I joined them; I love singing carols and Christmas songs).
Strange and inappropriate, though I laughed for weeks thinking about it. I was as upset about the election as anyone, but I wouldn't take it out on little kids.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)Wow!
Worktodo
(288 posts)Is often played at weddings. Sting has said that "people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle little love song, when it's quite the opposite."
Coventina
(27,049 posts)Aristus
(66,274 posts)Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)He said he did it as an "antidote" to Every Breath You Take.
Danascot
(4,689 posts)Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen, almost always by the GOP
Born down in a dead mans town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "Son, if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)But then, Republicans are generally clueless.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)Bruce said no.
However, the lyrics did fit poor New Jersey under Christie's rule:
"...Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young...
...The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide....
...Someday girl I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place
Where we really wanna go
And we'll walk in the sun..."
Initech
(100,027 posts)God I hate that song. Also the use of God Bless America in the 7th inning stretch. How is this still a thing?
thecrow
(5,519 posts)where the couple's first dance was to the Beatle's "Yesterday".
Coventina
(27,049 posts)LisaM
(27,791 posts)I know of a case where they had to dissuade a bride from using "Every Breath You Take". 'It's a stalker song! You can't use it!'
classykaren
(769 posts)Rolling stones prelude to the devil. lol They never listened to the words.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)At my funeral (which I will not attend)
I want this song played:
Coventina
(27,049 posts)that is not the case.
They were not Leonard Cohen fans, and in fact, probably never even knew who he was.
Having personal favorites picked out to play is fine, in fact, I think that is a really good thing that is meaningful to the mourners.
My aunt, who just passed away before Thanksgiving last year, had her music all picked out, and it resulted in a very nice way for us to say goodbye to her.
lapucelle
(18,185 posts)"In the Mood."
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)onethatcares
(16,161 posts)"Long ride home" by Patti Griffin played at my memorial whatever.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)But seriously,
what song is played at a funeral or memorial isn't that big of a deal.
We go to say our goodbyes and support the family and loved ones.
Not to critique the service.
Coventina
(27,049 posts)Maybe I have a different perspective than most people, as I have been to a LOT of funerals, memorial services, graveside services, "celebrations of life", etc.
My father was a pastor, and I have very large extended families on both my mother's and father's side, and, my husband and I have a very large circle of social contacts. All of that equals a lot of deaths and a lot of services.
Because of that, I have developed a sense of when the observances are meaningful, and when they are more "faddish" (yes, there are fads in funerals, just like everything else).
This latest fad is one I think is really misguided and doesn't show true thoughtfulness behind it.
JMHO.
Jakes Progress
(11,122 posts)as a campaign song. They never listen to the words past the first bars of the chorus there either.
In "Hallelujah" the fist verse has "lord" in it, so it must be religious, right? Never mind the rest of the song.
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)I don't care unless they do it at my funeral.
ramblin_dave
(1,546 posts)rusty fender
(3,428 posts)left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)If the deceased didn't complain,
leave it alone.
JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,315 posts)We don't want to waste a perfectly good funeral, eh?
Lifelong Protester
(8,421 posts)A song about mistreatment.
Homer Wells
(1,576 posts)At a funeral, rather than Hallelujah, I think a better selection would be either 'Closing Time', or for a drearier song, perhaps 'You Want it Darker'.
The River
(2,615 posts)Here is a link to the best review of Hallelujah I have ever seen. It's about way more than a "doomed and tragic love affair".
Well worth the read.
3catwoman3
(23,940 posts)One of my favorite examples of innapropriate/inattentiv use of a song was the final night of the Republican National Convention the year of the Bush-Quayle ticket. As they were standing on the stage with the confetti pouring down, the music playing was from La Cage Aux Folles. I think it was "The Best of Times," but can't remember for sure from that long ago.
Anyway, I really go a laugh out of that, and wondered if there had been a Democratic mole somewhere on the planning committee.