The lyric from Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” finishes with “Lord.” The opening verse refers to the biblical King David and frames the song around music, spirituality, desire, and doubt.
Leonard Cohen wrote “Hallelujah” over a long period, producing many verses before selecting the ones used in the original recording. It appeared on his 1984 album Various Positions. The song’s title comes from the Hebrew expression hallelu-yah, commonly understood as “praise the Lord.”
The lyrics draw on stories and images associated with David and Samson, while also describing a complicated human relationship. Because the song combines sacred references with sensual and reflective language, different performances often select different verses. That is why versions by Cohen and later performers do not always contain identical lyrics.
The song became especially prominent through cover versions, including recordings by John Cale and Jeff Buckley. Its exact opening wording is often remembered incorrectly as referring to a “holy chord,” but Cohen’s lyric says “secret chord” and ends the line with “Lord.”