Bonus Edition: "Hallelujah," the Unlikely Christmas Carol

Over at Texas Monthly, I wrote about Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which is—it can’t be stressed enough—a very horny song by a Jewish Zen Buddhist about sex, religious ambivalence, and the relationship between the two, and how it made a deeply improbable jump to being a Christmas standard.

The reason for this is multi-faceted, but it begins, more or less, with the Arlington, Texas-based a capella group Pentatonix and stuck largely because there is a supply chain crisis for new Christmas music, so songs that have nothing to do with the holidays are being retrofitted into something that sounds nice to have on while families are opening presents. But that is pretty much the definition of a Christmas song, and so “Hallelujah” is Christmas music now. That’s not all bad—I’m happy to hear it in pretty much any context, and I’m happy that more people are finding this very powerful and moving song. But it is funny, and if you enjoy this newsletter, consider this piece on “Hallelujah” to be a bonus edition.

While I’m hear, a few housekeeping notes: First, thank you for subscribing, it really means a lot to me that anyone is reading about these songs I love. Second, the Monday newsletter that would come on Christmas will come on Tuesday instead; that morning, there’ll be some Christmas morning playlists in your inbox instead (a happy one, if that’s the vibe, or a sad one, if that’s where you’re at), and then we’ll resume our regularly scheduled programming. Finally, I’ll send out some thoughts on favorite songs of 2023, along with Apple Music/Spotify playlists, next week, since I’m enjoying writing about songs a lot right now.