I downloaded the sheet music for “Hallelujah” and have been learning to play it on my keyboard during my daily practice. It speaks to me, it moves me, it inspires me.

Actually, I cannot find the words to describe the thrill I get when I hear the songwriter, Leonard Cohen, perform it. Maybe because it starts off with my favorite Old Testament character. Maybe because it’s about sin and redemption. Maybe because it’s about music. Maybe because it’s directed to somebody who doesn’t like music – we’ve all known a few of those right and you wonder how anybody could be so cold about it.

Or maybe because a song is always more powerful when it’s sung with heartfelt conviction by someone who has lived life and knows what a broken Hallelujah really means – far more than a perfect voice hitting all the right notes.

I didn’t pay much attention to songwriters before I started songwriting but now Leonard Cohen as a novelist, poet, and songwriter, is my new inspiration. I realize I don’t have to choose between them because I, too, am all of the above.

Published by Kathy

Kathy writes novels set on cruise ships and other travel locales, writes and produces dance music, and likes to imagine life as a DJ.