Another in our occasional series of post where I offer you a variety of versions of a well know piece of music and ask you to choose your favourite. Today we listening to “Hallelujah” a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). “Hallelujah”, in its original version, is in 12/8, which evokes both early rock and roll and gospel music. Written in the key of C major, the chord progression matches the lyrics from the song: “goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift”: C, F, G, A minor, F.
Cohen wrote around 80 draft verses for “Hallelujah”, with one writing session at the Royalton Hotel in New York where he was reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, banging his head on the floor. His original version, contains several biblical references, most notably evoking the stories of Samson and Delilah (“she cut your hair”) as well as David and Bathsheba (“you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you”).
Achieving little initial success, Cohen’s lyrical poetry and his view that “many different hallelujahs exist” is reflected in wide-ranging covers with very different intents or tones, allowing the song to be “melancholic, fragile, uplifting [or] joyous” depending on the performer: The Welsh singer-songwriter John Cale, the first person to record a cover version of the song (in 1991), promoted a message of “soberness and sincerity” in contrast to Cohen’s dispassionate tone.
Jeff Buckley, inspired by Cale’s earlier cover, recorded one of the most acclaimed versions of “Hallelujah” for his only complete album, Grace, in 1994. It was released as a single in 2007, ten years after Buckley’s death. Critical reception. In 2004, Buckley’s version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”. The same year called Buckley’s version “exquisitely sung,” observing “Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but … Buckley treated the … song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain … It’s one of the great songs.”
Following its increased popularity after being featured in the film Shrek (2001), many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert, with over 300 versions known. The song has been used in film and television soundtracks and televised talent contests. “Hallelujah” experienced renewed interest following Cohen’s death in November 2016 and appeared on many international singles charts, including entering the American Billboard for the first time.
In 2004, k.d.lang recorded a version of “Hallelujah” on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. She has since sung it at several major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005,] where it “brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation.” Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwritiers Hall of Fame when Cohen was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Cohen’s partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: “After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, ‘well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It’s really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection’.” Lang sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, before a claimed TV audience of three billion.
