Hallelujah?

Okay, so long time, no write.  I need to get back into the habit I suppose.  Matter of fact, after I write this random thought, I might even add another entry on David.

So, here’s the thought.  I have the album, Arise: A Celebration of Worship playing in the background.  It’s a great album, it has tracks by Paul Baloche, Don Moen, Jared Anderson and Lincoln Brewster to name a few.  Anyway, I’ve listened to this CD before, really, I have.  Many times that I have listened to it, I have never reallylistened to the whole thing I guess.  Anyway, here’s the link to the song that caused this blog reaction:

A New Hallelujah (Lincoln Brewster)

Listen to it.  Remind you of anything?  Yeah, that’s right, Shrek.  Can you take a song that was used in Shrek as a worship song?  Here’s the original song used in the movie written by Rufus Wainwright (I could write a whole blog entry on naming your child Rufus).

I’ve heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don’t really care for music, do you?

It goes like this:

The fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty

in the moonlight

overthrew you

She tied you

To a kitchen chair

She broke your throne,

she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe I’ve been here before

I know this room, I’ve walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew you

I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch

love is not a victory march

It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

There was a time you’d let me know

What’s real and going on below

But now you never show it to me do you?

Remember when I moved in you?

The holy dark was moving too

And every breath we drew was hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above

And all I ever learned from love

Was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you

It’s not a cry you can hear at night

It’s not somebody who’s seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I track with the song through verse 1.  I start to track the Biblical story of verse 2, then he looses me big time.  “Maybe there’s a God above.”  Really, do we not know?  “It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah.”  Wow.

Here’s my point.  Lincoln Brewster has kept only the parts of the song that maybe could be interpreted as worship.  Here’s Lincoln’s version:

I love You Lord with all my heart

You’ve given me a brand new start

And I just want to sing this song to You

It goes like this the fourth the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

My heart and soul are praising

Hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah

I know that You’re the God above

You’re filling me with grace and love

And I just want to say thank You to You

You pulled me from the miry clay

You’ve given me a brand new day

Now all that I can say is

Hallelujah

Does this work?  I mean the lyrics are spot on.  They really are.  Can you detach a song from its connections to Pop Culture? People would have the reaction of, “I think I know that song.”  You could probably make a good case for the seeker sensitivity of the song.  But is that really the goal of worship in the church?  I would say no.  What are your thoughts on this adaptation?  Does it work, or not?