DyingNote

One thing leads to another. Earlier this week I was listening to Handel’s “Messiah” when I remembered an email newsletter that I had received some weeks back featuring a collaborative cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (now how does “Messiah” lead to “Hallelujah”? Don’t ask, please). More of that joint effort later, but it got me thinking about the number of covers of this song that I have heard. Apparently, over 300 artists have covered this song of which I have heard a meagre 11 apart from the original. Not bad for a song that the record company did not want to release initially (how often have we heard of the idiocy of record labels). Interestingly, Cohen himself has often altered the lyrics and renditions of “Hallelujah” over the years and other artistes who’ve covered this song have also ‘tweaked’ it a bit, e.g. Rufus Wainwright changed “Holy Dove” to “Holy Dark” (see below). Probably the standard version, lyrically, of “Hallelujah” is the one made famous by John Cale. Subsequent attempts by other musicians are founded on this version. (more…)