Hallelujah
I've been to the Metro Centre a few times recently. Each time a pass by a series of ads for Maxwell's Plum, promoting themselves as "beer heaven". Things like "sinners welcome" or "145 kinds of beer on tap. This is what heaven must be like".
And "Hallelujah! Praise Jesus and pass the beer."
When I saw the last one, I stopped, and read it over a few times. I was genuinely offended.
Now, it's not that I haven't used the word Hallelujah in vain, so to speak. I have said Hallelujah and Praise Jesus when looking for keys (and finding them) having a shit, stubbing my toe (ironically there) and seeing a girl I thought was attractive.
In fact, I remember one time on a bus full of a Pentecostal Youth Group, singing an altered version of "Look what the Lord has done" in reference to a girl all the boys thought was very pretty.
So why did this bother me?
Well, I think part of it is my protectiveness of Evangelicals.
Yes, I know, it sounds strange. I have left Evangelicalism behind, and counsel others to stay away. Despite this, I feel the general public misunderstand Evangelicals. They have become an easy target for distain and mocking. When I see or hear that, I feel as if my heritage, my family, and my previous experiences are mocked as well.
It's more than that though.
I went on a "Hallelujah" binge a while back. Leonard Cohen wrote a song with that name[LISTEN], and it has been covered a whole wack of times. Most notable was Jeff Buckley, whose version is Leonard Cohen's personal favourite.[LISTEN] Buckley uses a more plaintive voice, that has more range, and according to critics, suits the song better.
There are two versions of the lyrics as well. Cohen's recorded version here is the revised version. Buckley chose the original.
As I was listening to it over and over and over, these lines stood out:
"...love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"
And then later:
"Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"
It jsut so happened that, while I was in the midst of this binge, I was thinking about "Love" and what that word really means. And I was quite happy with Cohen's definition.
Love isn't triumphant and bright. It's cold and broken.
And maybe when I saw Maxwell's Plum's crass sign, I felt that my discovery of Love had somehow sullied.
And "Hallelujah! Praise Jesus and pass the beer."
When I saw the last one, I stopped, and read it over a few times. I was genuinely offended.
Now, it's not that I haven't used the word Hallelujah in vain, so to speak. I have said Hallelujah and Praise Jesus when looking for keys (and finding them) having a shit, stubbing my toe (ironically there) and seeing a girl I thought was attractive.
In fact, I remember one time on a bus full of a Pentecostal Youth Group, singing an altered version of "Look what the Lord has done" in reference to a girl all the boys thought was very pretty.
So why did this bother me?
Well, I think part of it is my protectiveness of Evangelicals.
Yes, I know, it sounds strange. I have left Evangelicalism behind, and counsel others to stay away. Despite this, I feel the general public misunderstand Evangelicals. They have become an easy target for distain and mocking. When I see or hear that, I feel as if my heritage, my family, and my previous experiences are mocked as well.
It's more than that though.
I went on a "Hallelujah" binge a while back. Leonard Cohen wrote a song with that name[LISTEN], and it has been covered a whole wack of times. Most notable was Jeff Buckley, whose version is Leonard Cohen's personal favourite.[LISTEN] Buckley uses a more plaintive voice, that has more range, and according to critics, suits the song better.
There are two versions of the lyrics as well. Cohen's recorded version here is the revised version. Buckley chose the original.
As I was listening to it over and over and over, these lines stood out:
"...love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"
And then later:
"Maybe there's a God above
But all I've ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah"
It jsut so happened that, while I was in the midst of this binge, I was thinking about "Love" and what that word really means. And I was quite happy with Cohen's definition.
Love isn't triumphant and bright. It's cold and broken.
And maybe when I saw Maxwell's Plum's crass sign, I felt that my discovery of Love had somehow sullied.
posted by deadwriter at 12:59 a.m.
7 Comments:
I know what you mean. There can be beauty and value in evangelical church experiences, and even though I have my problems with them, I don't want to see them mocked and misunderstood either. On the other hand, there are probably a number of people who do believe in Jesus who enjoy beer at Maxwell's Plum. And Hallelujah is not limited to Evangelicals or even Christians. While Maxwell's is probably poking fun of the kind of religous people like your parents and my church, I'm going to ignore it. God is in all places and experiences, including pubs full of beer drinkers. I think if I run across that ad, I'll try to think about that. Otherwise, yeah, I'll be offended too. Stuff like that makes me feel angry and frustrated, because I can't bridge the gap between the Christians and the Non-Christians. And I wonder if we sometimes make the situation even worse, when we vent our criticisms and frustrations about one side.
"Hallelujah" is one of my favourite Leonard Cohen songs, and the first I learned to play on the guitar. Alot of Cohen's songs and poetry touches on faith in real yet artistic manner I can't help but appreciate.
The links to the songs were broken, but nobody seemed to notice. So, I fixed the links and made it a bit more obvious that you could listen to the songs. Did everybody muiss that?
Just out of curiousity - are you also offended by the song: "It's raining men?"
;)
I've been thinking about what's offensive and what's not offensive. I agree, some people would find Maxwell's use of the word Hallelujah offensive, but there are others who think that the word Hallelujah really does express how a cold beer feels at the end of a long day.
Since I'm a teacher I deal with offensive stuff everyday! For example the word GAY is not offensive nor deragatory until one of my students uses it in an offensive or deragatory manner. It absolutely makes my skin crawl when a student says, "This song is SO gay." I get angry and say (in my best annoyed teacher voice), "If by Gay you mean happy, sure, but if that's not what you mean then please don't use that word in my classroom in that manner."
To a fifteen year old kid that's not mean at all - it's just the way he/she is describing a song (usually in a bad way, for that matter).
The point is, these are all really just WORDS. Words are meaningless until we infer meaning, make meaning or read into them.
I think that Maxwell's really just meant, "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS! BEER!" and didn't mean anything in a sacrilegious manner. Businesses really don't intentionally go out of their way to piss people off. However, businesses sometimes go out of their way to be controversial, and in turn, may piss a few patrons off.
:)
Hi Lani,
I think what's offensive and what isn't is, for the most part, a very personal thing. I think the sign was purposely trying to be controversial, evoking a bit of asacreligious tone, not just because of the Hallelujah, but also because of the "Praise Jesus" underneath.
But my readction was equally, if not more related to my relationship with the Leonard Cohen song, a very personal thing. That being said, I wasn't offended by "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" by Al Jolsen. I think part of my offense, as I said, is related to my distrust and distain for advertizing in general. Yes, I reacted to this ad in particular, but if I was more sensitive and more discerning, there would lots and lots of ads I would be offended by, relating to sexism, racism, and more.
I don't usually get offended by stuff, I usually just roll my eyes and mock it. So this post was more an exploration of my feelings.
That being said, I would argue that a large number of people would find your student's use of the word "Gay" as offensive. It associates a specific segment of the population with something negative. Do you get offended when boys say things like "you throw like a girl" or "that's women's work"? These support a stereotype that women have certain resposibilities that are below those of men, and are incapable of the same physical feats as men. Likewise, calling something "gay" implies that homosexuals and the things they do and like are somehow inferior to the things straight people do and like.
Now, as I said, some people might not find this offensive, since what is offensive is a very personal thing. But you can't deny the implications of using "gay" this way.
TANGENT: Fuck fucking fundraising goddamn lingo fuck fuck library system bending over for corporate mentality and fuckig business speak fucking portfolio what the fuck jesus christ fucking fuck.
TRANSLATION: I'm nervous about a job interview this afternoon.
(how's that for offensive for ya?)
I'm offended.
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