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Leonard Cohens Hallelujah
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Teachers notes

This lesson is suitable for intermediate/ upper intermediate level students who are
knowledgeable about music.

Preparation

Go to www.azlyrics.com or www.songlyrics.com and search for Hallelujah by Leonard
Cohen. Print off the lyrics and create a gap-fill by blanking out the following words:

Verse 1 Verse 2 Verse 3
played
really
fourth
composing
saw
moonlight
broke
from
room
alone
flag
cold
Verse 4 Verse 5 Verse 6
time
show
moving
breath
took
name
light
broken
feel
didnt
wrong
nothing

1. How much do you know? (see worksheet)

This task allows students to gauge the influence of the song around the world before they
listen to it. They should look for Hallelujah (Cohen song) on www.en.wikipedia.org then
click on Chart positions.

Answers: a) 3; b) 2008; c) Norway; d) Hot Digital Songs.

2. Gap-fill

Students listen to the song and complete the gap-fill exercise. The song may be found on:
YouTube >Hallelujah Leonard Cohen. Give lower-level students the list of words to
choose from.

3. Vocabulary sets (see worksheet)

Answers:

a) religious words: David, the Lord, Hallelujah, faith, she cut your hair, holy dove, I took
the name in vain, holy.
b) musical words: chord, played, music, fourth, fifth, minor, major, composing, march,
song.

Students could then try to add their own words to each category.

You may need to tell students the Biblical story of Samson, who lost his strength when
Delilah, the woman he was in love with, cut off his hair.
Students who have studied music may ask more about the meaning of fourth, fifth,
minor and major. If you have not studied music yourself, you could give them the
following explanation:

In Western music, the smallest division of a note is half a note, or a semitone. The
difference between two notes in a chord is called an interval. Intervals of 2, 3, 6 or 7
notes are known as a major second, major third, etc. Intervals of 4, 5 or 8 notes are
known as a perfect fourth, perfect fifth, etc. Adding a semitone to a major interval
makes it augmented; taking one away makes it minor; taking two away makes it
diminished. Taking away a semitone from a perfect interval also makes it diminished.
These changes are summarised in the table below.

1 semitone Intervals + 1 semitone
diminished minor major
2
nd

3
rd

6
th

7
th

major augmented
diminished perfect
4
th

5
th

octave
perfect

Students who have studied music could discuss the systems in their own countries. It could
also be interesting to discuss what they call the notes: in the UK, they are called C, D, E, F,
G, A, B, C, but in many European countries they are called do, re, mi, fa, sol, la,
si or ti and do.

4. Vocabulary matching (see worksheet)

Answers: 1) e; 2) a; 3) d; 4) f; 5) g; 6) b; 7) h; 8)c

5. General meaning (see worksheet)

Answer: a sexual relationship

6. Write the next verse (see worksheet)

You may need to point out that you can be pronounced ya.

Answers

1. Verse 1 rhymes A A B C C C B (where all the A words rhyme with each other, all the
B words rhyme with each other, etc.).
2. Verse 2 rhymes A A B C D D B.
3. Students may struggle to find some other rhymes. You could suggest through you
or (humorously) sue you, or students can reuse a rhyme from one of the existing
verses.

7. Design a new CD (see worksheet)

The record sleeve can be found on the Wikipedia page given in task 1. Students could
also do a written commentary explaining their choices.

Worksheet

How much do you know?

Do you know the song Hallelujah? Have you heard the original version by
Leonard Cohen?

Go to Wikipedia and find the answers to these questions:

a) How many cover versions were there in 2008?
b) In what year did the song reach its highest chart position in the UK?
c) In the European countries included in the chart, where did it reach its highest
position, and in what year was this position achieved?

How popular is the song in your country?

Vocabulary sets

Find words/phrases from the song in the following categories:

a) religious words
b) musical words.

Vocabulary matching

Match the words and phrases with their meanings.

1. to care for a) puzzled/confused
2. baffled b) Why do you care?
3. to overthrow c) to trick/deceive someone
4. a throne d) to remove someone from a position of power
5. marble e) to like/enjoy
6. Whats it to you? f) a chair that kings/queens sit on
7. a blaze g) a type of stone used for grand buildings
8. to fool someone h) a large, bright flash

General meaning

What is Leonard Cohen comparing to religion?


Write the next verse

1. Look again at the words at the ends of the lines in verse 1. Which words rhyme?
2. Is the rhyme scheme (the pattern of rhyming words) the same in verse 2?
3. Can you think of some other rhymes for Hallelujah?
4. Now try to write another verse, using the same rhyme scheme.

Design a new CD

Look at the record sleeve of the original single. What do you think of:

a) the photos
b) the colours and styles of the title and the artists name?

Imagine that a new version is going to be released.

a) Who do you think could sing it?
b) Design the new CD case.

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Leonard Cohens Hallelujah

www.teachitworld.com 2009 12214 Page 1 of 4

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