Hallelujah

by Ivan Gerasimenko

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In 'broken English' I think 'broken' means 'imperfect'.

And that could also be the meaning in Leonard Cohen's 'broken hallelujah'. Although, as has been pointed out, that context is poetry where there may be layers of meaning for the reader to interpret.

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answered yesterday

andrewb47
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Nice idea, thanks! 'Halleluja' said in a wrong way or in a wrong situation according to some church rules –  Ivan Gerasimenko yesterday   
  	 	
I believe a 'hallelujah' is an offer of worship to God. You can only really do that if you are in good relationship with God. It's pretty clear from the way Cohen is using Christian references that he is very cynical about the Christian God. So he knows his hallelujahs are far from perfect. In the second last stanza he contrasts 'holy hallelujah' with 'broken hallelujah'. And at the end he recognises he can only offer hallelujahs to the Lord of Song rather than to any Lord God. –  andrewb47 yesterday 
  	 	
@andrewb47 I don't think he's referring to the Christian God at all; Cohen is a Jew, and every Biblical reference here is to what Christians call the Old Testament. –  StoneyB yesterday
  	 	
@StoneyB it depends on the denomination, but AFAIK the Jewish God is the same with the Christian God. What Jews don't believe in is the Trinity and Jesus Christ being the Messiah. I agree though, that the references in here are from the Old Testament, especially on the 2nd stanza where I think references the story of David and Bathsheba. –  IBG 57 mins ago

Hallelujah in this song operates in three senses simultaneously: as an injunction to 'Praise Yah', (the literal meaning), as a cry uttered at sexual climax, and as the poet's own work. So "a cold and a broken Hallellujah" is one which marks at once the inauthenticity of the poet's faith, his erotic emasculation by his triumphant Muse (both the inspiration of his poetry and its jealous rival for his allegiance), and the failure of his poetic power. ... But that's LitCrit, and...