Who is the "baffled king composing halleluia"?!
Question:
Who is the "baffled king composing halleluia"?
Is that a Biblical reference?
Answers:
Yes, indirectly.
The "baffled King" is King David in the Old Testament, who wrote Psalms (with the frequent repetition of the word “Hallelujah”). The Bible makes reference to King David communing with the Lord and learning that certain types of music were more pleasing. The chords mentioned in the lyrics (that "David played and it pleased the lord) are often used in hymns
The "secret chord" is also sometimes seen as alluding to David's harp-playing, used to soothe King Saul (I Sam. 16:23).
The whole Cohen song is loaded with Biblical references, in fact:
"You saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you" - Bathsheba, who tempted the king to kill her husband so he could have her. (Yep, old King Dave got mixed up in this story as well).
"She tied you to her kitchen chair, she broke your throne and she cut your hair" - Delilah, who cut off Samson's locks that held his superhuman strength.
"But remember when I moved in you and the holy dove was moving too" - This could be a reference to the divine conception and Mary.
The lines referring to the immaculate conception can also be interpreted as having a sexual connotation: "And every breath we drew was hallelujah."
The really tricky line from the song is "but you don't really care for music, do you", which has about a gazillion theories behind it....
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