Album: GraceAvg rating:
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Length: 6:46
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That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well, it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth,
The minor fall and the major lift,
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well, your faith was strong, but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
And she tied you to her kitchen chair,
And she broke your throne and she cut your hair,
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well, baby, I've been here before,
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya
And 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, Hallelujah,
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 ya?
But remember when I moved in you,
And the holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well, maybe there is a God above
But all I've ever learned from love,
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it's not a cry that you hear at night
It's not somebody who's seen the light,
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Many, many versions and still no one has topped k. d. Lang (imho)
In Cohen's opinion as well. He stated that he had grown tired of hearing the song, but K.D. Lang's version was his favorite.
just please STOP IT !!
The sublime lyrics of Leonard Cohen married to the divine voice of Jeff Buckley….a marriage made in heaven
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
I like Leonard Cohen’s original recording !
Can I recommend some decaffeinated coffee for you?
Lobotomies are also a thing.
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
agree completely
I hesitate and cringe a bit to say this, but I've never seen the "magnificence" of this song (other than the story about it - so credit goes to LC). I've actively listened to it several times and it's always "meh" to me musically (maybe a solid "7"); maybe his voice or "energy" just doesn't "vibe" for me?
I'm genuinely curious what has it be so compelling to others - am I alone in this view?! The rating suggest so and....reaching out with curiosity.
Read the words. Feel the symbolism they represent.
This song is lose stool water.
just please STOP IT !!
(And all the other pants covers that get played constantly)
Can I recommend some decaffeinated coffee for you?
just please STOP IT !!
(And all the other pants covers that get played constantly)
I'm genuinely curious what has it be so compelling to others - am I alone in this view?! The rating suggest so and....reaching out with curiosity.
Not worth tieing the shoelaces to Tom Waits. Whiny and weak compared to the power, despair, and raw emotion of the original.
Not sure where Tom Waits enters into the equation, but, while I consider Leonard Cohen to be the greatest songwriter of all time, his original recording of this song really isn't that great. The song itself is timeless, but the original recording has a distinct '80s vibe to it that makes it sound cheesy, and it seems as if Cohen hadn't quite figured out how to transition to the deeper register his voice was becoming. Which is probably why the song didn't really gain popularity until John Cale's recording in the '90s. That said, Cohen has since recorded live versions of the song that are magnificent.
Thanks RP for this one
A beautiful boy, tragically gone.
Not worth tieing the shoelaces to Tom Waits. Whiny and weak compared to the power, despair, and raw emotion of the original.
Are you talking about Leonard Cohen's?
Not worth tieing the shoelaces to Tom Waits. Whiny and weak compared to the power, despair, and raw emotion of the original.
kinda like your comment… whiny and weak
EXCELLENT recommendation. Go listen to that podcast. It's so very touching and interesting. Great find, Chicago!
Thank you so much. It is an honor to know that good people around and hallelujah!
there are so many great versions of this song but Jeff Buckley's cover gets a "10-Godlike" ranking from me. If you haven't heard it, Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast covers the story of how Jeff Buckley discovered and transformed this song.
https://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah
EXCELLENT recommendation. Go listen to that podcast. It's so very touching and interesting. Great find, Chicago!
TLynneHenry wrote:
Not that it's not a lovely song, but twice in one day (k.d. lang version played this morning) is a bit much.
lily34 wrote:
huh. i thought it was a leonard cohen original. learn something new every day.
Written by Leonard Cohen. You are correct!
Not that it's not a lovely song, but twice in one day (k.d. lang version played this morning) is a bit much.
huh. i thought it was a leonard cohen original. learn something new every day.
I can't remember who posted this, years ago, but this best explains the intent of Leonard Cohen's lyrics:
"The song begins with David, one of God's most devout servants, who spoils that relationship in his adulterous passion for Bathsheba. In the line "she cut your hair" he probably thinks of Samson, whose bond to God as a Nazarite (symbolized by his uncut hair) was likewise broken when his passion for Delilah blinded him to her betrayal.
In the lyrics that grow out of those two stories, Cohen rejects the idea that romantic love is discovery, victory, or revelation. Rather, it is urgent and painful, it seems to have happened against the will of the singer himself, and it has left him broken. Yet though he is broken, he cries out Hallelujah—the ultimate cry of praise—to a love so emotionally overwhelming it's like worship."
Beautiful...
i love this, thank you!
Still shit
As are all of your comments regarding this song.
I think I liked this song perhaps the first 800 times.
Like the birthday song, it has gotten really, really, old and annoying.
Never, ever need to hear it again. Will likely hear it hundreds more times.
Overly dramatic, sap-fest of saccharhine.
I did enjoy the first 30 seconds of this version, though
Your words ring true in my ears. After about 30 years of that history, I cannot enjoy Mr Buckley's version as I did in the past. In fact, I have a hard time enjoying Leonard Cohen's original version, too.
Time for the "PSD" button, now displayed as Fast Forward!
kimacho, I fully agree with you! Thanks for your opinion
Sorry, but I keep on thinking and feeling that this song is overrated
In recent years, this song has indeed been done to death, often in very inappropriate ways and by very untalented people. But back in 1994, this was a single, beautiful breath, lovely in a new and different way from the Cohen original. Still one of the finest covers ever.
Overplayed religious crap
I love it, many don't, music is like that. BUT, contrary to appearances, and all the choirs that have sung it, this song is NOT about religion. Love, sex, obsession maybe but NOT religion
Overplayed religious crap
Funny. I never think of it as religious. It takes a religious framework and makes it a song about lost love.
there are so many great versions of this song but Jeff Buckley's cover gets a "10-Godlike" ranking from me. If you haven't heard it, Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast covers the story of how Jeff Buckley discovered and transformed this song.
https://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah
Bump. That is a great podcast. Highly recommended. It's about more than just the evolution of this song, the way creators crate.
there are so many great versions of this song but Jeff Buckley's cover gets a "10-Godlike" ranking from me. If you haven't heard it, Malcolm Gladwell's Revisionist History Podcast covers the story of how Jeff Buckley discovered and transformed this song.
https://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/07-hallelujah
Thank you for including the link and suggestion on that podcast!
Fuck it. This schmuck stole it from Leonard.
It's His Forever
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Braindead, it didn't stole it, he just make a cover of it, with respect for Leonard Cohen
Outstanding! His sensless death was a minor tragedy!
Your second exclamation mark is odd, especially combined with the word minor. Trying to read it in my head with the implied emphasis is making me giggle, and I'm sure that was not your intent.
This is not a church song. And no it is not Jeff Buckley’s now. To each their own on which version you like best, but it is Cohen through and through.
It's really great: country, traditional, Black church gospel, you name it. The Louvin Brothers, Aretha, Willie, on and on.
AND some bro-country guy who decided this song deserved the 'white country gospel' treatment. Oh well.
c.
SeriousLee wrote:
Fuck it. This schmuck stole it from Leonard.
It's His Forever
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
The day this album came out I ran to the store to get it and It's been in my player for ages... I'd love to hear the song 'Eternal Life' on RP more too, and all the other songs on that album for all I care.
Agree! Tired of this song!
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
I was just thinking the same. No one covers it better.
God I hate this song, by anyone.
To each his own... thank you for just stating your opinion, rather than attacking the artist. I can respect your comment because of that.
That wouldn't be so bad.
Write me a song that every teenager wants to be deflowered to.
Leonard Cohen:
"Hold my beer."
Jeff Buckley:
"No, hold my beer!!!"
This... this is just a pale shadow of the power of the original. Give us Cohen's version, please.
This version by Jeff Buckley is regarded by music critics and fans the world over as a classic gem. But apparently, you had to be different, simply because you're sooooooooo special. See that >| next to the play button? Click that. See where that takes you.
its bit shit
Nice version, yes, but how about getting John Cale's version into the rotation?
Now that would be very interesting to listen too
Visceral and unpleasant reaction to this whinny whine.
This version by Jeff Buckley is regarded by music critics and fans the world over as a classic gem. But apparently, you had to be different, simply because you're sooooooooo special. See that >| next to the play button? Click that. See where that takes you.
When Johnny Cash covered "Hurt," Trent Reznor acknowledged, somewhat begrudgingly, that the song was no longer his, it was Cash's.
I feel pretty comfortable in saying that this song is no longer Leonard Cohen's, it's Jeff Buckley's. And that's fine. Cohen has a whole bunch of songs that are still his. Let Jeff have this one.
hear, hear
Can.not.listen
Its kind of beyond a 10 rating in a non numerical universe
How do I say this nicely? (being Canadian and all..) While I'm happy that many Americans have got to know and love this song through this cover, us Canadians have loved and treasured both the author/composer's (Leonard Cohen) heart-wrenching version, and the quintessential cover, most notably sung live, in bare feet and in tribute to Cohen who was sitting in the front row, by the goddess herself, kd lang. Welcome to the team friends, and glad you like Jeff's version, but gad, the originals were devastatingly beautiful and still make me pause when I hear them today, decades later.
Prick
This is the most over rated sappy, long and repetitive song ever and you play this waaay to much, Bill!!! Fingernails on a chalkboard.
i hear ya
this is one song that needs to be unwritten and deleted from the musical record.
i wish that were possible.
it is drivel and from the start i wish it to end. but like a bad disease it just keeps going
hey my first post, i signed up to give this a MINUS TEN
I stand by every word.
How people gush forth forth over this bollox shows there are plenty limp minded people out there.
and jeez leonard cohen what a depressing prick and thank god this buckley twat din't get to record much more.
this is one song that needs to be unwritten and deleted from the musical record.
i wish that were possible.
it is drivel and from the start i wish it to end. but like a bad disease it just keeps going
hey my first post, i signed up to give this a MINUS TEN
Well congratulations, you got 10 thumbs down on your post so mission accomplished it would seem.
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
It's one of the best cover versions ever.
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
Check out KD Lang for a great cover
and also shite
Out of curiosity, just how many covers of this song are there?
Recorded as in an album:
John Cale
Jeff Buckley
Rufus Wainwright
k.d. lang
Alexandra Burke
Pentatonix
and then
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...(Leonard_Cohen_song)#Other_cover_versions
Also give this a listen:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/po...
The absolute best cover I've ever heard of this song. Jeff made it his own. Still missing him after all these years.
Out of curiosity, just how many covers of this song are there?