The night before last was another night of sleepless hours when nothing seemed to work to stop the wakefulness, but eventually morning came, and Plan B: a small sleep in, a later than normal departure for work and some strong coffee help the countdown to two weeks off over the Christmas period.
A musical excerpt on the news yesterday morning, two versions of the same song vying for number one spot on the UK Christmas Music charts, hits a chord and I have to listen to Jeff Buckley's rendition of Hallelujah, over and over again....
I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
Well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah Leonard Cohen
Mind you, as I've written about earlier, sometimes it's only when you check the lyrics that you realise that your initial interpretation is off. And after listening carefully, this song is really about King David's fall into temptation a long time ago, death, lust and betrayal of a trusted servant, no matter that it sounds like a contemporary song of love at first hearing. But to get things in context, some of the most beautiful love songs of all time were written in biblical times, and King David was an ancestor of Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. It is to my mind at first an unusual choice for Christmas music, though indeed very beautiful.
Whatever music you're listening to and enjoying, I wish you and yours a safe and happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
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