Maybe I'm overoptimistic about people's intelligence, but my impression is that no one in the history of ever has thought the song is uplifting. There's a reason why it's been used so often in television and film to accompany heartbreak and tragedy and the like.
(I don't really see "a tale of hedonism" in it, either. I mean, it has sex in it, for sure, but that's not the same thing. It's a song of damaged and broken relationships, not of consequence-free one-night stands.)
[EDITED to add:] That last sentence is an oversimplification. There are lots of versions of the song, even if you consider only Cohen's own ones, with different balances between the religious and the sexual/romantic elements; the original 1984 version isn't "a song of damaged and broken relationships", or at least not only that. You could even, kinda-sorta, call it "uplifting". Later versions, Cohen's and others, not so much.
But none of them, so far as I know, is a "tale of hedonism" in any useful sense.
It is certainly not fun and happy song, but I would go as far as claim it is ultimately uplifting. After all it says "I'll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah" - past all the suffering and brokenness the author is ultimately thankful for his lot. And in many philosophical traditions, including the Judaic one, the happy man is one who is satisfied with his lot.
Whether a song is uplifting or not is completely subjective. Intelligence has nothing to do with it… Sometimes even a perfect expression of despair in a song can be uplifting to the listener, for many reasons.
Whenever I’ve been at my lowest, for ex, the various versions of Dylan’s "Not Dark Yet" have always been a source of comfort.
(I don't really see "a tale of hedonism" in it, either. I mean, it has sex in it, for sure, but that's not the same thing. It's a song of damaged and broken relationships, not of consequence-free one-night stands.)
[EDITED to add:] That last sentence is an oversimplification. There are lots of versions of the song, even if you consider only Cohen's own ones, with different balances between the religious and the sexual/romantic elements; the original 1984 version isn't "a song of damaged and broken relationships", or at least not only that. You could even, kinda-sorta, call it "uplifting". Later versions, Cohen's and others, not so much.
But none of them, so far as I know, is a "tale of hedonism" in any useful sense.