SONG OF THE DAY
“Hallelujah” by k.d. Lang (Hymns of the 49th Parallel, Nonesuch Records, 2004.) Written by Leonard Cohen.
INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)
- k.d. lang recorded a version of “Hallelujah” in 2004 on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel.
- It is an album of songs by Lang’s favourite Canadian songwriters, and includes one song by Lang and David Piltch.
- She has several times been chosen to sing the song at major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005, where her rendition “brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation.”
- Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on the occasion of Cohen’s induction into the Hall of Fame.
- Of that rendition, Cohen’s partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: “After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, ‘well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It’s really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection’.”
- Lang also performed the song on 12 February 2010, as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia [which is, of course why I am blogging about it on this fine day]. It has so far peaked at #2 on the Canadian Hot 100, debuted at #61 on the Hot 100 and peaked at #19 in Australia.
- The song was written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and originally released on his studio album Various Positions (1984). Although it achieved little initial success, in recent years cover versions have been performed by a large number and broad range of artists, both in recordings and in concert, and has now surpassed “Suzanne” (written in the 1960s) to become the most-covered Cohen song.
- Numerous artists mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes, such as Rufus Wainwright, a Canadian-American singer, substituting “holy dark” and Allison Crowe, a Canadian singer-songwriter, substituting “Holy Ghost” for “holy dove”. Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe recorded a critically-praised version of “Hallelujah” in a single take for her album Tidings (2003). Crowe also performed the song for a national television special broadcast annually across Canada each year from 2003 through 2008. Crowe interpreted the song as a “very sexual” composition that discussed relationships; Wainwright offered a “purifying and almost liturgical” interpretation to the song.
- The Welsh singer-songwriter John Cale, the first person to record a cover version of the song in 1991, promoted a message of “soberness and sincerity” in contrast to Cohen’s dispassionate tone.
- The cover by Jeff Buckley, an American singer-songwriter, is more sorrowful and was described by Buckley as “a hallelujah to the orgasm”.
- The song has been performed by almost 200 artists in various languages.
- The song and its covers have been the subject of a BBC Radio documentary and have been featured in the soundtracks of numerous films and television programs. The BBC commemorated the 25th anniversary of the first recording with an hour-long radio documentary, “The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall”, in which the song’s history and numerous cover versions were presented and discussed.
- It was covered as a duet by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris, featuring Charlie Sexton on guitar, during an international telethon on 22 January 2010, to benefit relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
- Different interpretations of the song may include different verses, out of the 80 verses Cohen originally wrote.
- In an April 2009 CBS Radio interview, Cohen said that he finds the number of covers of his song “ironic and amusing” given that when he first wrote the song, his record company wouldn’t put it out. However, he now thinks the song could benefit from a break in exposure: “… I was just reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it and the reviewer said — ‘Can we please have a moratorium on Hallelujah in movies and television shows?’ And I kind of feel the same way…I think it’s a good song, but I think too many people sing it.”
- Bob Dylan was among the first to perform Cohen’s song in concert with his earliest noted performance being in Montreal on 8 July 1988.
- Bono’s version, which is mostly performed as spoken-word, was included in Tower of Song, an all-star tribute to Cohen in 1995.
- Bon Jovi has covered the song several times in concert, including on their 2008 Live at Madison Square Garden DVD, and Cohen rates their version as his favorite.
- Acclaimed English songwriter and singer Imogen Heap covered the song as well.
- The song was performed by singer/songwriter Damien Rice at the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions when Cohen was inducted.
- That same year Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins recorded a classical-crossover version for her album Sacred Arias (2008).
- In 2005, “Hallelujah” was named the tenth-greatest Canadian song of all time in Chart magazine’s annual readers’ poll.