Diane GardnerFounder, Adept Business Solutions · Profit First Professional

Hallelujah with Josh Rogan & Mike Michalowicz (The First Try)

19 Nov 2012 · 4 min

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4:24

The video captures a spontaneous, first‑try duet performance of Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah” by Josh Rogan and Mike Michalowicz. The participants riff on the famous “secret chord” motif, referencing musical intervals (fourth, fifth, minor fourth) while loosely reciting altered lyrics that blend the original verses with original, stream‑of‑consciousness lines about love, victory, and existential reflection. The rendition is punctuated by repeated chanting of “hallelujah” in various phonetic forms, interspersed with casual spoken commentary that acknowledges the informal nature of the take (“That was cool for the first try”). The overall tone is playful, experimental, and lightly self‑aware, showcasing a raw, unpolished musical expression rather than a polished cover.

Chapters

I heard there was a secret chord that David played in Pleased Alone, but you don't really care for music, do you? Well, it goes like this to the fourth, the fifth, and the minor fourth. I don't know that part. It goes like this. The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift. The baffled king composing Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. I've been here before, I've seen this room, I've walked this floor. I used to live alone before I knew I've seen your flag, the marble arch. Our love is love, the victory march. It's golden, it's unbroken. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. The words are moving too. And every breath we drew is hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Maybe there's a God above, and all I ever learned from her was how to shoot somebody who outgrew you. It's not a cry that you hear at night, it's not somebody seeing the light, it's a cold, it's a broken hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah! Hallelu— ya! Halleluja! Halluhuya! Alleluia! Alléluia! Nice, bro. That was cool. It was cool for the first try. That was fun. I'm going to have to