This story owes so much to Synecdochic I should be paying her royalties.
Reading the Ginsberg quote evoked porny images of Lance and sparked a memory of his Celebrity liner notes, which include two passages from Psalms (62:1 and 104:33). But it was Synecdochic who rescued this story in a deli over sandwiches and potato salad as she told me about David and the origin of the psalms, about a king isolated from his people and left alone to keep his faith. Without her input, this would've ended up a fluffy bit of porn, posessing neither substance nor Truth. It wouldn't have been half so much fun to write, either.
In the two months I've worked on this story, I've spent more time considering religion than I have since turning my own queer back on the whole mess as a teenager. If anyone out there says pop music is shallow, you send 'em to me and I'll set them straight.
The title is from Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Justin's stripper music belongs to Iggy Pop and the goddess Ishtar. Extensive use was made of canalbaby's timeline, which should be declared a popslash national treasure.