RabbitRancher: July 2020

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Lyrics to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."

I have loved the music, tapping my feet and humming the melody, and then somebody told me I should read the lyrics. Wow! What a revelation. What I thought was an upbeat, inspiring song turns out to be a despairing ode to love gone wrong. Since it is used in religious contexts, it shares certain characteristics with the biblical "Song of Solomon." It has been covered by many artists, many using different verses. One source said he wrote 80 verses, but only recorded four. Here are the ones I could find.

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen

Now, 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?

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor fall, the major lift

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did, well really, what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light in every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Baby I’ve been here before

I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor

I used to live alone before I knew ya.

I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch

And love is not a victory march

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.

Hallelujah

Well there was a time when you let me know

what's really going on below

but now you never show that to me, do you?

But remember when I moved in you

and the holy dove was moving too

and every breath we drew was hallelujah

Hallelujah

Maybe there’s a God above

All I’ve ever learned from love

Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya.

It’s not a cry that you hear at night

It’s not somebody seen the light

It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand before the Lord of Song

With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Leonard Cohen

Three verses from Jeff Buckley’s recording.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Lowes, Verizon and Synchrony

It’s been a big disappointment! I applied for a credit card to pay my Verizon bill, since i bought an iPhone for my daughter Darlene, and it seemed to me it might make it easier to pay if they were on one card.

I did not know that Verizon uses Synchrony Bank for its credit cards, or I might have not applied. I have had a Synchrony Bank card for my Lowes account since before Carolyn died. It has been a revelation of the mind set of capitalist corporations. Details will follow.

Just this week I received a two page letter explaining why they cannot give me the best percentage rate on my new Verizon Synchrony Bank card.

The credit score ranges from 300 to 620. I got a 580 score. Here’s why:

Sum of credit limits across all bank open end accounts is too low.

( Yeah, banks don’t want to open a new account because I paid the old accounts off when I sold the ranch in Nevada.)

Too few accounts currently paid as agreed.

(Yep, I didn’t pay them off monthly as agreed: I paid them off in full as soon as I had the cash.)

Number of mortgage accounts is too low.

(I only have one mortgage on this house. I do not plan on buying another house so I can have another mortgage.)

Too few open installment loans with loan amount of $10,000 or more.

(Yep, I ruined my credit rating by conscientiously paying off my loans and not borrowing any more.)

For years now, every month I have to go to my Lowes store and pay the balance in full. They have screwed up the ID and password and I have not been able get a new one for two years. Probably because my wife died, and it was her account. So I can’t get online to see the balance due.

Also, rather than make the due date on the first of the month, Synchrony Bank makes all payments due on the 25th of each month. With a $25 late fee if you miss it. If you pay on the first of the month with the rest of your bills, you will pay an extra $25 dollars every month on top of their high interest rates.

Every month on the 20th I go to Lowes and pay off the balance with my debit card. From my Credit Union. I refuse to open an account at a bank until the usury limits come back down.

That’s probably one more reason my score is so low.

It would be nice if Elizabeth Warren became Vice President. Her bona fides on fighting for the consumers against the banks is on record. But first we would have to move Joe out of the way. He’s been a friend of the banks for many years.