There are a few key songs in modern film and TV that get placed again and again for their succinct quality in setting a mood and framing a scene. A few off the top of my head are “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap, and “What a Wonderful World” made famous by Louis Armstrong. Though these are all fantastic songs in their own right, there is one particular song out there that I want to talk about. A lot of artists cover it, a lot of films want it, and a lot of TV shows use it. You may have guessed it: “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.
This song is tragically gorgeous, and it’s easy to hear why it strikes such a chord within us emotionally. It’s a vulnerable song that can only really be sung in a very raw and real way – no wonder it’s so popular all across the board. In 2016, The New York Times wrote an article called “How Pop Culture Wore Out Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’”, and honestly I can understand their point. However, upon a recent re-watching of a certain classic movie (that propelled this song into the current cultural stratosphere), I realized how incredibly perfect this placement was. It gave life and an emotional attachment towards these characters, not even just from my own personal viewpoint, but culturally.
The movie I’m talking about is “Shrek”. Okay, okay! So how is it that this quirky 2001 fantasy-comedy animated film, combined with one of Leonard Cohen’s classic songs, a perfect scene? Well, let’s recap the movie real quick!
“Shrek” is the story about Shrek the ogre, a bit of a loner, living his best life in his swamp. A fateful meeting with a talking donkey (aptly named Donkey) pushes his boundaries, especially when Donkey announces he’ll come to live at the swamp. As all of a sudden every magical being in the kingdom shows up on his property, Shrek learns that the ruler of the land, Lord Farquaad, has banished all of them there, invading Shrek’s bubble. In order to get back the deed to his swamp, he agrees to rescue a princess who can make Farquaad king through marriage. The princess, named Fiona, has been locked in a dragon guarded tower for quite some time. According to legend, she is supposed to fall in love with the prince who rescues her, sealing their destiny together with “True Love’s Kiss”. Shrek and Donkey, upon rescuing Princess Fiona, end up befriending her. Things take a turn when an apparently loving relationship between her and Shrek begins, and Fiona worries about what he’ll think of her as she’s holding onto a dreadful secret. Will she marry Farquaad? Will she end up with Shrek? From here on out will be major spoilers, so if you haven’t seen this film, go watch it to get the answers!
Throughout the film, Shrek compares himself to an onion: he’s complicated with layers (and even a bit stinky). It’s quite clear that he uses his mean ogre-ish-ness as a defense mechanism against anyone trying to get close to him. It’s been difficult for him to feel accepted and wanted when all the humans around him want to kill him. Shrek is actually just a super vulnerable guy who has trouble trusting people because he’s been hurt in the past. Can we cue an “Aww”?
Donkey is the first one to try and get through Shrek’s impenetrable wall. Their friendship creates the bridge that allows Shrek to form a bond with Fiona. And so when Shrek mistakenly thinks he hears Fiona call him ugly, and inadvertently unlovable, it seals his bloomin’ onion right back up as though it wasn’t even harvested from the ground.
The moment ‘Hallelujah’ plays, Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona have separated and are contemplating their losses. Though the lyrics to this song has many interpretations, in this context it seems to speak to each character’s inability to get what they truly want. In effect, they are resigning to each’s own “broken hallelujah”, an outward cry of gratitude, actually deeply steeped in pain and unwelcome acceptance.
The scene and lyrics play out like this: Shrek is walking back to his empty swamp, alone. It’s the thing he most desired, yet now his greatest sadness. He is “the Baffled King composing hallelujah” as he looks into shards of broken glass. The glass morphs to a chandelier at the castle where Fiona is getting prepared to wed Farquaad. She sighs, accepting her “hallelujah” as the chorus plays out. We see Shrek again in his home, trying to put the pieces of his broken home back together as we hear “I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor, I used to live alone before I knew you.” Back at the castle, Farquaad revels in his own glory as Fiona faces her doom, as “love is not a victory march, it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah”. How can marching down the aisle to this cold and broken man-child be true love? Across the land, Donkey is reunited with the lady-dragon who guarded Fiona’s tower. Crying by a lake, feeling scorned and rejected by Donkey, she tends to her broken heart – “all I’ve ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you”. And though he’s not perfect either, “it’s not somebody who’s seen the light“, Donkey makes his way to her, reconciling their bond. We hear “hallelujah” sung one last time as both Shrek and Fiona sit alone reflecting on their loss.
Now obviously, this scene is mixed in with some little funny bits here and there – it’s still a comedy and a donkey and dragon fall in love! But honestly, it’s so intelligently crafted. Even if this were set in a less fantastical place, I don’t really think it would offer that much of a difference in interpretation and mood. It gets sad, it elicits empathy, it makes you wanna cry without actually chopping an onion. Watch the scene here:
There’s a lot to say about this placement in terms of storytelling, but one of the strangest things about this “Shrek” placement is that it turned out to be an incredibly complicated production situation. Let’s clarify the first thing: the version of ‘Hallelujah’ performed in “Shrek” is NOT Leonard Cohen’s original recording. There have been some very memorable covers of this song, such as Jeff Buckley’s tender and angsty 1994 rendition or Pentatonix’s popularized vocal arrangement in 2016. But the rendition in the film is from Welsh artist and original founding member of The Velvet Underground, multi-instrumentalist John Cale. His 1991 solo piano accompanied version framed this film’s memorable scene, and everyone felt the heartstrings tugged on for Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. DreamWorks who produced the film decided to replace John Cale’s version on the original soundtrack with another version performed by Canadian artist Rufus Wainwright. Wainwright was already signed to Dreamworks’ record label, DreamWorks Records and was releasing his sophomore album Poses just weeks after the “Shrek” soundtrack became available. The soundtrack reached Double Platinum success in 2003. And “Shrek”-mania exploded culturally, expanding the franchise into four more movies, a musical, and a variety of other media.
It’s interesting to see how a song can grow and evolve in this way. Leonard Cohen certainly had no idea “Hallelujah” would have this sort of effect on people. The story goes that it took him nearly 5 years to write the song, plus his label didn’t really want to release it. But somehow he wrote this incredible composition, and as artists began to fall in love with it and perform it, it found its way into film and TV with profound impact. It’s like peeling back the layers from one person’s genius songwriting skills, to unraveling artist after artist’s rendition, to uncover a universally beloved core in our pop culture. Dare I say, like an onion.
