![]() ![]() The song has become pop music’s closest thing to a sacred text. Even Cohen’s original track found a new life, hitting No. Then partisans of Buckley’s version joined the fray and pushed his recording into the No. And a gospel-fired version performed by the winner, 20-year-old Alexandra Burke, became the fastest-selling download in Internet history, rocketing to No. version of American Idol) paid $1.8 million to use the song for their contest finale. And last month, after Cohen had rallied from financial ruin to stage a triumphant world tour, his comeback was heralded with a Hallelujah chorus that went through the roof. It has graced soundtracks ranging from Shrek to The O.C. Since Hallelujah’s first release on his 1984 album Various Positions, it has been recorded by over 100 artists, including Bob Dylan, Bono, Willie Nelson, k.d. ![]() ![]() He once told a British journalist, “I remember being on the floor of the Royalton Hotel, on the carpet in my underwear, banging my head on the floor saying ‘I can’t finish this song.’ ” He did, eventually, but the song wasn’t finished with him. ![]() Leonard Cohen spent almost two years writing Hallelujah, blackening two notebooks with some 80 verses before finally settling on a few that pleased him. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |