This is an engineer's reaction to the first verse of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.

Last night, while watching the documentary "Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song" on Netflix, I kept being struck by the first verse: "Now I've heard there was a secret cord / That David played, and it pleased the Lord / But you don't really care for music, do ya? / It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth / The minor fall, the major lift / The baffled king composing Hallelujah". 1/

Why is the line "…you don't really care for music…" there? And why does it go on to break a third wall and reveal some mechanics of writing a beloved song? 2/

(For those that don't know me, here is where I am coming from: I am a product creator. I helped develop some arguably successful products, including the trailblazing spreadsheet #VisiCalc in 1979, the popular software prototyping tool Dan Bricklin's Demo Program in 1985, and the early iPad ink app NoteTakerHD in 2010. Also, of course, many less successful ones.) 3/

Here is what I hear as one who loves to create things:

The verse starts with a song writer telling a story about when King David (who tradition says wrote the Biblical Psalms, many of which were explicitly listed as songs to be song and have been popular for thousands of years) wrote something that was especially successful (pleased the Lord). He did not expect it to be the big hit it was (with reference to the baffled king). 4/

(People often ask me if I knew if VisiCalc was going to be such an important product. I answer that of course I felt that way, but I have felt that way about so many other products that were nowhere near as influential. As a creator, one usually feels what you are doing is special. That is one of the things that drives you to work so hard and long on it. 5/

However, the product usually is not successful and you know that likelihood while building it. When something succeeds it is a wonderful surprise. You try, often in vain, to somehow understand why it succeeded to help you and others in the future. Engineers love to explain to others how to do things, even to a fault.) 6/

The song writer then acknowledges that the listener probably does not care for the details. But, like so many engrossed in their craft, the writer then goes on to explain the details in the language of the craft even if you do not want to hear it nor understand what it means. (How many times have you watched other people's eyes glaze over as you explained something you cared about?) 7/

I found this dive into the mechanics jarring because to me, as one who likes music but has no clue how to compose it, it was like a magician revealing the mundane, esoteric details of a trick in the middle of the trick itself. 8/

But then, the music itself is merged with the words, illustrating the meaning viscerally, and it works. The teaching of the view from a craftsperson is also merged with history (David), faith (the Lord), spirituality (Hallelujah), memories of special times with family (hearing Psalms), and more. That rich combination is a unique hook to this song for me. 9/