Originally posted by Röland
Buckley or Wrainwright sing it the best.
Agreed.
Lyrical interpretationThe original recording contains multiple biblical references in the lyrics, alluding to David's harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (1 Samuel 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof (2 Samuel 11:2). The line "she broke your throne and she cut your hair" is a reference to the source of Samson's strength from the Book of Judges 16. The third verse mentions "the name" (Tetragrammaton). Jeff Buckley described his own rendition of the song as an homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm".[5]
In 1994, Cohen released a substantially different version on the 1994 live album Cohen Live, retaining only the final verse from the original recording. In this version, the lyrics became more sexual, and the song's structure was slightly reworked.
Since his original studio album version, live performances by Leonard Cohen almost invariably include the final song verses not performed by Cale and many others. Many cover artists mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes such as Rufus Wainwright singing "holy dark" and Allison Crowe singing "Holy Ghost" rather than "holy dove". Although individual words do change among various versions, apart from such examples of clear revision by interpreters, any variation may be due to selection from Cohen's complete lyrics rather than alterations by the cover artist.