# The “Hallelujah” Thread: Cohen and Covers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [September 17, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734 "2022-09-17T19:22:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/1 "2022-09-17T19:22:46Z")
This has been discussed a bit before, with some people here claiming this song has the best opening lines or is the most romantic. There have been slight discussions about religious imagery and how literal the lyrics were meant to be. > **[Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen’s almighty struggle with rejected song that became...](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/17/hallelujah-leonard-cohen-film-rejected-song-became-classic)** > > A new film tells the story of the song, written over 10 years with 180 versions I love this song, but did not realize it took a decade to write, went through 180 variations, was rejected by the studios, was not particularly noted when first sung by Cohen and even Dylan, and really became popular and revitalized Cohen’s career after being performed by _Shrek_. (See article.) So if you think of this thread as a rug that ties the room together… 1. What are the cover versions you like most? 2. How do you interpret the lyrics of your favourite version, if at all? 3. Are there other songs you like which are now considered classics which languished until featured in a movie? 4. Are there foreign versions of this song you like? 5. What is the best Leonard Cohen song? 6. You don’t really care for music, do ya? ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/2 "2022-09-17T19:30:23Z")
I would also humbly add I had the good fortune to hear Cohen sing this song in person, at the best concert (by far) that I ever attended. The man had real class and presence. He sang his heart out for hours and hours. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/3 "2022-09-17T20:06:26Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > What are the cover versions you like most? The original is my favorite, but I do enjoy k.d. Lang’s 2010 version. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > How do you interpret the lyrics of your favourite version, if at all? Apparently incorrectly. I’ve alway heard it as “the battle king.” It turns out the correct lyric is “the baffled king” which I just now discovered. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Are there other songs you like which are now considered classics which languished until featured in a movie? The closest I can come up with is _Holding out for a Hero_ by Bonnie Tyler, which I first heard when I watched _Who’d Harry Crumb?_ and again gained some fame, ironically given this thread, in _Shrek 2_. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Are there foreign versions of this song you like? I haven’t listened to any but now I’m going to search Apple Music for some. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > What is the best Leonard Cohen song? It’s impossible to choose just one. I’d submit three, one each from what I perceive as his young, middle aged, and old age parts of his career. From his younger years my favorite is _Famous Blue Raincoat_ from _Songs of Love and Hate_. From his middle-aged years my favorite is _Democracy_ from _The Future_. From his old age years my favorite is _Almost Like the Blues_ from _Popular Problems_. His posthumously released _Happens to the Heart_ is also excellent. > [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > You don’t really care for music, do ya? My tastes in music run the gamut, from those that are considered great talents by many like Cohen and other greats (Mozart, Sinatra, Selena, Zevon, Vicente Fernandez, and many others) but also those considered low brow. I’d say that I do, but many others would disagree 😜. On the other hand, I still kick myself to this day for missing Cohen’s show in Austin in 2014, which is the closest concert of his that I had the opportunity to attend. I wasn’t keeping track of his tour dates at that time 😢. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/4 "2022-09-17T20:20:24Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > and revitalized Cohen’s career after being performed by _Shrek_. (See article.) I wasn’t aware of that part. The story I’m familiar with is that he had to come out of retirement starting with the recording of his _Ten New Songs_ album due to his manager having stolen all his money. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/5 "2022-09-17T20:24:40Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > What are the cover versions you like most? Well, my daughter’s a capella group did a haunting, almost ethereal version… . [rabbit hole] Someone mentioned Famous Blue Raincoat. Jennifer Warnes did an album of Cohen, and even a then-unreleased song of his with Stevie Ray Vaughn’s guitar at its crispiest… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tNYiMxHbcE4/maxresdefault.jpg "First We Take Manhattan (Digitally Remastered)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNYiMxHbcE4) Imagine hearing _First We Take Manhattan_ before the original, that was a treat. Then [REM’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9PrGQAE8Mo), then [Leonard’s version, live](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4DH49LFfi8). . [back out of rabbit hole] ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/6 "2022-09-17T20:26:27Z")
I like k.d. laing’s cover. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/7 "2022-09-17T20:42:50Z")
Regarding _Famous Blue Raincoat_, I associate it in my head with how the characters from _Final Fantasy IV_ could have been living post-game. The narrator is Cecil, the brother / enemy is Kain (not Golbez 😜), Jane is Rosa, and Lily Marlene is Rydia. Obviously the comparison isn’t anywhere close to exact, but I wonder if Takashi Tokita was familiar with the song and possibly took some inspiration from it. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/8 "2022-09-17T20:46:49Z")
My favorite Hallelujah is probably [Jeff Buckley’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4&ab_channel=jeffbuckleyVEVO), but I am also very fond of Leonard’s. BTW, on of my all time favorite biographies is of [Cohen.](https://www.amazon.com/Im-Your-Man-Leonard-Cohen/dp/0063114909/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1TSD4XZ0Z97T3&keywords=leonard+cohen&qid=1663447449&s=books&sprefix=leonard+cohen%2Cstripbooks%2C87&sr=1-7) mmm ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/9 "2022-09-17T22:36:45Z")
The song has a really beautiful sound, but the lyrics tell an ugly story. Basically, “I had an affair and caused all sorts of problems, but it’s OK, because we both had some really great orgasms”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/10 "2022-09-18T02:10:07Z")
The statement that Columbia rejected the song seems odd as they released it in 1984 on _Various Positions_. Admittedly the album was a flop. I bought it from a discount bin for $2, not having known that it existed even though I was a fan since the early 70s. He hadn’t had a release for years and no internet. I played it a lot for other people although my favorite track was _Dance Me to the End of Love_, which he opened with the last couple of times that I saw him. My favorite other version is from the _First Aid Kit_ tribute show _Who By Fire_. The whole program is available on YouTube with unfortunately inferior video, but it is terrific as a piece: [First Aid Kit with friends - Leonard Cohen Tribute Show | 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=of_hZoVvqaM) Individual bits are available with better video including Hallelujah: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NlhdQjpTlDE/maxresdefault.jpg "First Aid Kit - Hallelujah w. Annika Norlin (Who by Fire - Live)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlhdQjpTlDE) ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/11 "2022-09-18T02:40:15Z")
Beautiful lyrics that take a lot of interpretation to come to that conclusion (not saying you are wrong on your synopsis, but not saying you are wholly correct). I’ll take it any day of the week over most songs about affairs. I’m a fan of the original and the Buckley covers. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/12 "2022-09-18T02:47:01Z")
I like the original, but my favorite version is John Cale’s (which I’m surprised no one mentioned). His version IMHO really influenced many of the later covers, a bit slower, a bit more melancholic than the original. My favorite performance of said cover below - [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AdNdncBTc-Q/hqdefault.jpg "John Cale - Hallelujah (Brussels, 1992)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNdncBTc-Q) But if I got to pick a second favorite cover, I’d go with Cinematic Pop’s version, because I love orchestral arrangements of pop songs. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/O6g8kkx7C-c/maxresdefault.jpg "Hallelujah - Live Symphony & Choir - Feat. 16 yr. old McKenna Breinholt") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6g8kkx7C-c) As for the other points, the only song I think was largely returned to an iconic position due to a movie was Bohemian Rhapsody by Wayne’s World. Not that it wasn’t amazing before, but it became iconic to a whole new generation. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/13 "2022-09-18T03:40:02Z")
I know the absolute worst version \*cough \*Bono ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/14 "2022-09-18T03:40:54Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > The closest I can come up with is _Holding out for a Hero_ by Bonnie Tyler, which I first heard when I watched _Who’d Harry Crumb?_ and again gained some fame, ironically given this thread, in _Shrek 2_. Bonnie Tyler’s “Holding Out for a Hero” first appeared as part of the soundtrack to _Footloose_ in 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/15 "2022-09-18T03:59:37Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > 1. Are there other songs you like which are now considered classics which languished until featured in a movie? An early example of this is _As Time Goes By_, written in 1931, first recorded by Rudy Vallée that year becoming a modest hit, taking off big time when it was used in the movie **Casablanca** in 1942. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/16 "2022-09-18T05:04:15Z")
I only know it from Jeff Buckley. Most of Jeff’s material on the album is better, in my opinion. I do like _The Future_ from Cohen, however. _Slide in all directons…_ ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/17 "2022-09-18T05:12:33Z")
The K.D. Lang version is great, but this one is by far my favorite: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/x6rNtBBspdo/maxresdefault.jpg "Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen (Cover)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6rNtBBspdo) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/18 "2022-09-18T05:25:32Z")
[Who By Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=251Blni2AE4). [Dance Me to the End of Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGorjBVag0I). ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/19 "2022-09-18T05:39:57Z")
If you want to take a deep dive into this song- check out the recent documentary I [mention](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently/699906/4478) in the recent movies thread. > [@Movies you've seen recently](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-youve-seen-recently/699906/4478): > > **Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song** > Since his death, it seems like there have been about a hundred documentaries on Leonard Cohen. This is another one. However, I found it to be an interesting dive into the creation and subsequent canonization of a song that, when it was first recorded was not deemed worthy of release in the US. It goes without saying, that while a number of artists are featured, if you aren’t a fan of Cohen’s music, don’t watch. Another interesting fact that comes up is about the controversy over whether this is a secular (sexual) song or a religious song. It turns out that Cohen continuously worked on lyrics over a number of years and there are “canonical” Cohen secular and religious versions (and anything in-between, apparently). ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734/20 "2022-09-18T05:51:45Z")
The best Leonard Cohen song? Too many good ones to pick from. “Suzanne,” “The Future,” “Tower of Song”, “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “Bird On a Wire,” “There is a War”… I’ve always loved this version of “Who By Fire,” featuring Was(Not Was) and Sonny Rollins (!) with Leonard: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_mee-bUs9NE/hqdefault.jpg "Leonard Cohen & Sonny Rollins - Who By Fire [Live] [Sunday Night Live/Night Music]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mee-bUs9NE) My roommate and I used to stay up late Sunday nights watching this show, even though we had to get up early Monday morning…good times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hallelujah-thread-cohen-and-covers/971734.md?page=2)