Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)
"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success,[1] the song found greater popular acclaim through a new version recorded by John Cale in 1991. Cale's version inspired a 1994 recording by Jeff Buckley that in 2004 was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
The song achieved widespread popularity after Cale's version of it was featured in the 2001 film Shrek.[3][4] Many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert, with more than 300 versions known as of 2008.[5] 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 re-appeared on international singles charts, including entering the American Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.[6]
History[edit]
Cohen is reputed to have written around 80[7] to as many as 180[8] draft verses for "Hallelujah"—a number affected by the accounting question that he had many versions of the same line.[9] Cohen is said to have claimed 150 draft verses, a claim substantiated by his notebooks containing manifold revisions and additions, and by contemporary interviews.[10] In a writing session in New York's Royalton Hotel, Cohen is famously said to have been reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, filling notebooks, banging his head on the floor.[7] Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, creators of the 2022 documentary film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, said that Cohen took about five years to write the song, and reconfigured it numerous times for performances.[11]
Unlike some other songs that became anthems, "Hallelujah" initially was on an album that was rejected by Columbia Records,[12] was largely ignored after an independent label released it, was not widely[8] covered until John Cale's 1991 version, and did not reach the Billboard charts until Cohen's death in 2016.[13] Reflecting on the song's initial rejection, Cohen related that Columbia told him that "we know you are great, but don't know if you are any good".[14]
Following his original 1984 studio-album version, Cohen performed the original song on his world tour in 1985, but live performances during his 1988 and 1993 tours almost invariably contained a quite different set of lyrics. Numerous singers mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes; for example, in place of Cohen's "holy dove", Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright substituted "holy dark", while Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe sang "holy ghost".
"Hallelujah"
22 May 2007[54]
Late 1993–94, at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York
6:53
- "Candyman" (Live on The X Factor)
- "Without You" (Live on The X Factor)
17 December 2008
2008
3:39
Leonard Cohen
Quiz & Larossi
21 October 2016
2016
4:28
Leonard Cohen
Pentatonix, Ben Bram