(If you’re wondering what this is about, read this.)

My five random words for today’s exercise are belt, bingo, lift, trolley, reindeer.

Chosen word for free association: lift
spirits, elevator, raise, major lift

Exercise:

I had the opportunity to learn how to play and sing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” recently for an upcoming benefit performance. I love the self-referential portion of the song in which the melody and chord progression are climbing and the lyrics say the following:

Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift

I put this song in the same category as “The Hook” by Blues Traveler and “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen. All of those songs are tongue-in-cheek exercises that make different points than the listener expects; “The Hook” is a cynical look at how it doesn’t really matter what a song’s lyrics are about as long as the hook grabs your attention. “Born in the USA” is about the deplorable treatment our veterans receive after coming back home from war; it’s not a celebratory song, but it is often used as one because the chorus — the hook — is just “Born in the USA”, which by itself doesn’t make any negative statements about the government or military.

“Hallelujah” is similar, if a bit more obfuscated. Its point seems to be to rail against love. Or is it to celebrate the pain of love?