Changing words to Cohen's "Hallelujah"

Question

I have heard at least four different sets of lyrics to Cohen's Hallelujah. But in spite of having very different overall themes, none of them changed the lines "the fourth, the fifth / the minor fall, the major lift."

Why is that line seemingly too important to change? I realize that it describes its own chord progression, but that fact is generally irrelevant to the theme of each adaptation.

One of these sets I heard in a university. It was a "final project" of two Arts majors. One of them sang it and the other wrote the lyrics. Another I have heard a few times on the radio—a Christmas nativity story. A third one was another Christmas nativity story someone posted on Facebook. And the fourth, I only remember noticing that they kept that line.

Answer 1

The first thing to consider is that the phrase you reference is from the first verse of the song as it was originally released in 1984 on Cohen's album Various Positions:

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 ya?
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing "Hallelujah"

John Cale's version, which was to popularize (covering) the song dramatically with its new arrangement for piano, also starts with this verse. Jeff Buckley's cover followed, starting, again, with this verse. Rufus Wainwright's interpretation, using Cale's composition, once more, opens with these lines.

In the grand scheme of things ('grand' in the sense that Cohen likely wrote over a hundred verses for it over the duration of 5 years, encompassing the richness of the human condition), this verse serves to set up the entire song, as the "secret chord" that David—also a 'baffled king'—played to please the Lord, can be interpreted to be this song itself, giving it a sense of history and drama.
I think "the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift" also correspond to the song itself, to its many verses and repetition, to its musical and emotional lows and highs.

I found a Christmas version, which indeed only keeps those lines intact:

I've heard about this baby boy
Who's come to earth to bring us joy
And I just want to sing this song to you
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
With every breath I'm singing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I've been unable to find other popular iterations, so this seems to be the only song that keeps those lines intact while changing others, and the singer is referring to "this song" itself before repeating them.

Answer 2

Those lines are arguably the most unique in this much loved and often altered song. There are quite a few other songs about themselves--"Song Sung Blue," "PF Sloane," "This Song," "Your Song," and "Piano Man" among others. But I can't think of a single other that incorporates such a technical self-description into the lyrics, particularly with such artfulness. The nearest analog would be the way James Brown often narrates the structure of a song as he delivers it ("Take it to the bridge!" "Can I hit it and quit it?").

So if you omitted that line you'd have lost the most characteristic aspect of the original. The chorus is beautiful, but it's far from being the only song to repeat the line "Hallelujah" over and over.