The five best covers of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’
It’s hard to put into words just how enigmatic Leonard Cohen‘s ‘Hallelujah’ truly is. The song has routinely been considered one of the greatest of all time, and its place in pop history is rightly assured for centuries to come. However, when drilling down into the track, it is tricky to figure out exactly why.
Cohen’s position as one of the greatest lyricists to ever grace the pages of the universal songsheet of life is undeniable. From his earliest moments as a poet and novelist, before turning his hand to folk music in the 1960s, Cohen’s work has been sincerely thought of as some of the most beautifully crafted in musical history. However, as we all know, pop music doesn’t usually lend it self to the poetic musings of a literary genius.
‘Hallelujah’ may well be the outlier in that, however. The track has become a staple not just for alternative artists but for pop singers too, with the famed rendition from Alexandra Burke meaning Cohen got himself an unexpected credit on a series of Simon Cowell’s X-Factor.
Speaking to host Jo Whiley, newly crowned icon of the guitar, St Vincent, called ‘Hallelujah’ “one of the best songs ever written”. Continuing, she explained, “[It’s] about the complication that it is to be alive — and the agony and the ecstasy and everything and all of the inherent conflict therein.” While she resolutely condemned musicians who dared to take on the track, it’s hard to disagree with her assertion regarding its power.
It’s something Cohen himself recognised fairly early on. The artist struggled to bring a rhythm to his new song and was largely stuck in the lyrical melodrama he had constructed. The verses ran on for pages, and Cohen was unable to bring it into the sphere of musical enjoyment. Instead, it was John Cale of Velvet Underground fame who found the secret chord, as it were, to this piece of iconoclastic brilliance.
From then on, Cohen’s 1984 classic has sat atop a golden throne of pop music. As beloved by the musos as it is the mainstream, it remains a testament to the song’s creation and creator that so many artists have been willing to take it on over the years. Here are five of the best.
The five best covers of ‘Hallelujah’
‘Hallelujah’ – John Cale
There is simply only one place to start, and no, it isn’t that one. Now, John Cale’s version of the track isn’t necessarily the one that stirs the most emotion or connects most deeply with the original material. It has gained an inclusion because of Cale’s overall contribution to Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece. The Velvet Underground man trimmed down the once-epic track from 15 verses to today’s captivating colossal culture.
The process was a long and arduous one, too gruelling for a quick re-telling. Instead, it is best to listen back to the 1992 performance of the track and allow John Cale’s lilting Welsh tone to descend upon the heavenly tune with the reverence he, in more ways the one, bestowed upon it.
‘Hallelujah’ – Willie Nelson
It’s not unusual for someone to have a crack at mastering Leonard Cohen’s undying anthem from 1984’s Various Positions. The song has become an anthem for musicians everywhere and is rightly beloved by almost all who hear it. Yet, despite the continuous covers, Willie Nelson makes it feel original and bold.
Featuring on his 2006 record Songbird, Nelson’s gnarled vocal is the perfect salt to the caramel country tones that he uses. Flexing on the side of poetry, Nelson hardly sings, instead letting the power of the lyrics at hand do the hard work. It’s a grisly country affair, a little removed from the beauty at the centre of the piece, yet somehow, that seems to work best of all.
‘Hallelujah’ – Regina Spektor
As connected to New York and the boom of the indie revolution as The Strokes, just without the bravado, Regina Spektor‘s influence on the influx of current singer-songwriters is often overlooked. Spektor carefully toed the line between irony and postmodernism to deliver some sardonic tracks filled with razor-sharp wit and a truly unique vocal.
Therefore, the similarities between her and Cohen are fairly clear. In 2005, Spektor made good on this conclusion with a simply sublime cover of Cohen’s mega-hit. Employing a piano and a violin, Spektor’s sometimes comedic performance is always neatly undercut by the sharpness of her vocal abilities. Soaring and falling whenever necessary, it’s a forgotten gem of the indie landfill years worth rediscovering.
‘Hallelujah’ – Bob Dylan
“How long did it take to write it?” Bob Dylan asked Leonard Cohen when discussing the magnificent track. “Two years,” Cohen lied, knowing full well that the process of forming that particular song actually stretched into five laps around the sun.
However long it took to write, one thing is for sure, ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the greatest ever written, and Dylan was more than happy to take on the track for an audience in 1988. “That song ‘Hallelujah’ has resonance for me,” Dylan later told The New Yorker. “It’s a beautifully constructed melody that steps up, evolves, and slips back, all in quick time. But this song has a connective chorus, which when it comes in has a power all of its own. The ‘secret chord’ and the point-blank I-know-you-better-than-you-know-yourself aspect of the song has plenty of resonance for me.”
Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen coming together is a beauty to behold.
‘Hallelujah’ – Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley’s cover of ‘Hallelujah’ is the definitive version of the song and if you cannot connect with humble grandeur Buckley imbues the track with on his sumptuous vocal then the chances are you’re just being ‘cool’ for the sake of it. You’re missing the point of music in its entirety.
This performance from his homecoming show in Chicago is about as close to perfection as one can get. It is potent and deeply personal; it speaks with veracious tenacity and refuses to allow the universal merit of such a theme to get in the way of Buckley’s own take on the track. Pin-sharp and as likely to hear the pin hit the floor as ever, it is on performances like this that both the majesty of the track and the sadness of Buckley’s loss are most keenly felt.
Simply put, if this performance does not stir your soul, then it might be worth checking what you have in its place.
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