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Trump slammed as Leonard Cohen song plays after his RNC speech, here are interesting facts about ‘Hallelujah’

'The audacity to use the art of a freedom fighter as background music to a shameful hate manifestation,' said a user

Around 1,000-odd people were present at the White House to hear President Donald Trump speak on the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention. Trump formally accepted his party's presidential nomination and said, “My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I proudly accept this nomination for President of the United States.”

He added, “Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens. And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we will allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it. That won’t happen.” Trump attacked the Democrats by saying, “At the Democrat National Convention, Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic and social injustice. So tonight I ask you a simple question: How can the Democrat Party ask to lead our country when it spends so much time tearing down our country?”

He concluded his speech by saying, “And on November 3rd, we will make America safer. We will make America stronger. We will make America prouder. And we will make America greater than ever before. Thank you, God bless you. God bless America. Thank you very much." The convention concluded with a fireworks display over the Washington Monument that spelled out ‘Trump 2020’. ABC News reported that when the POTUS was giving his acceptance speech, protesters nearby the White House were chanting “vote him out”. On the final leg of the night, opera singer Christopher Macchio performed from the Blue Room balcony. During the firework display, bits from Leonard Cohen’s 'Hallelujah' and Lee Greenwood’s 'God Bless the USA' can be heard. Now, the Internet isn’t pleased with the usage of Cohen's song.

A user said, "The most painful part of the night was the desecration of the memory of Leonard Cohen. The audacity to use the art of a freedom fighter as background music to a shameful hate manifestation."

Another commented, "Leonard Cohen would hate all of this."

Another tweet read, "As a Canadian, something tells me Leonard Cohen would be horrified to know ‘Hallelujah’ was being used & exploited at a Trump convention."

"The RNC is playing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah on the White House grounds, and it’s good that Cohen isn’t around to see this," stated a user.

Another stated, "Leonard Cohen wrote 80 verses in the original composition of "Hallelujah". He couldn't stop writing. The song grew into a reflection about love and loss and spirituality and empathy. Above all, it has space for countless views on what it means to be human. The opposite of Trump."

Interesting facts about the song

Cohen had released 'Hallelujah' as part of his 1984 album ‘Various Positions’. But at the time of release, it didn’t gain that much popularity. But two weeks after his death (he died on November 7, 2016), ‘Hallelujah’ was on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, according to a Time magazine article.

The article states that, according to a profile done by New Yorker magazine on Cohen, the song took about five years and multiple drafts to write before he finalized the original version. The song was made popular by other artistes such as Bono, Willie Nelson and Justin Timberlake, who blended their love for Cohen’s song into their own versions. According to Time, Bob Dylan had performed the song on the road in the late '80s, telling The New Yorker “That song ‘Hallelujah’ has resonance for me…this song has a connective chorus, which when it comes in has a power all of its own”.

According to The Atlantic article of 2012, Cohen has always been vague about what his 'Hallelujah', actually meant. The story quotes that Cohen said, “This world is full of conflicts and full of things that cannot be reconciled. But there are moments when we can ... reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by 'Hallelujah’.” The 2001 film ‘Shrek’ also features the song with Rufus Wainwright's version appearing in the soundtrack album and John Cale's version in the film.