Lest we not forget Bono’s “reading” of it. It was much bad.

However, we all make mistakes.

U2 Forever!

Can’t stand the Buckley version, but, there are several beautiful recordings made in recent years by different artists.

Ellen, you are out of your mind.

Despite the fact that Leonard Cohen wrote it, the Jeff Buckley version is certainly the definitive one.

I have never liked the Jeff Buckley version. It’s too moan-y and slow. Love the uptempo Rufus Wainwright version – the clarity helps you appreciate the poetry. And I was lucky enough to hear Cohen sing it live at Red Rocks last month…

I tend to agree with Leonard on this one. There
are many great recordings out there of his great
hit. Let’s give it a rest, for a while. Personally,
I prefer Leonard’s rendition of his song. No one
sings Leonard Cohen like Leonard Cohen!
Elizabeth, in Phoenix

You should check out the version of the band ‘Pain Of Salvation’, this is a progressive rockband that has played an interesting version on their latest live dvd. Search for it on YouTube. It’s really an interesting version for real music addicts like me…

While we’re at it. How about a hiatus on people covering Michael Jackson songs.

Too bad, such a good song.

While we’re at it. How about a hiatus on people named Andy making inane comments.

I believe Cohen even said it himself that Jeff Buckley did a remarkable job on it,perhap’s even more so than him.Or something like “It’s a Buckley song now”.Yeah,say what you will,but vocally,Jeff Buckley blow’s em all out of the water.Case closed.

The best version of Halleluja was performed on American Idol season 7 by Jason Castro. Check the sales figures on Itunes. He gave the song a new life and Leonard Cohen a big pay check!

Andy I agree with you !!!!!!!!!!!

Cohen is right. its become too much. Jeff Buckley’s version is the only one you need.

Even Bon Jovi did a terrible version of the song.

If Leonard himself says it’s being covered too much, he must be paying pretty close attention, indeed.

Tend to agree with Elizabeth from Phoenix on this one, but also agree with Ray. Hallelujah is a stunningly beautiful song that cuts right to the core of one’s soul!! Both Leonard and Geoff deliver unforgettable versions. They blow all other attempts completely out of the water! Oh, and by the way I get to watch the venerable Cohen deliver his version this coming Tuesday (7/14/09) in Liverpool, England, the cradle of unforgettable, incomparable music!! What a lucky girl I am!

Yeah, what about covering Iodine, something from Death of a Ladies’ Man. Cohen doesn’t have to worry about Phil Spector cornering him w/ a gun.

I got a song for Cohen to cover: The Climb

I was just thinking that it was overdone when I heard freakin’ Paramore playing it.

Coulda sworn the Shrek version was by John Cale, my personal favourite.
Jeff Buckley is way over-rated.

Having heard Leonard sing Halleujah live on Saturday night – don’t think there can be a better version. Some of the crowd did look as though they’d heard the X Factor version, knew it was by LC and had come to the concert only to hear that song. What an education they were given!

I think it’s naive to say that some of the crowd at Weybridge had turned up just for that song having heard it by someone else – no one pays 65 quid for that! His music just transcends age groups – what a fantastic gig though! Loved it when he skipped on and off stage.

I and my family and friends adore the BUCKLEY version. I cannot comprehend Ellen.He had a gift.

Even Leonard has paid homage to the Buckley version and to hear and see him sing it live is unforgetable.History will tell!

Check out Courtney Woolsey’s version of Hallelujah on YouTube… Worth the watch!!!

It’s an urban myth that Leonard Cohen gave Jeff Buckley such praise. Just listen to the latest Buckley release, Grace Around the World, and it becomes clear that it was as much producer Andy Wallace who created the sound of his best-known recording. For years Sony had an almost monopoly on marketing Hallelujah. Thanks to the internet and sites like YouTube we are now able to hear far more interesting performances than those oversold and overblown major label products.

Hallelujah is a beautiful song. It’s simply been overdone by the corporate machine (most recently Simon Cowell’s Idol/X Factory). It’s strong enough to withstand the abuse.

I don’t want to argue with Ellen, I pity her too much. Same for anyone who doesn’t “get” Jeff Buckley. How you were born without that receptor in your brain is beyond me.

And to chalk his success up to a producer is laughable. The version of the song on Mystery White Boy sounds just fine… I don’t think Andy Wallace was in the room for that one.

yeas definatley agree with Cohen. When I was in college every guy and girl I knew swooned over the Jeff Buckley version and I thought it was weak as and that entire grace album was just covers and vomit inducing sapiness. Cohens version is the real deal and I much prefer his delivery

It is good we all have different tastes, be boring if we didn’t. I prefer the K D Lang version and let’s not forget Il Divo did it beautifuly in Italian…………KT

The K.D. Lang’s version (on U-Tube) is, I feel, the definitive version of this song. It haunts you.

The problem with practically every cover of the song is that it lacks any guts. So many bad versions of this song have taken it almost to the point of no return. So many versions of this song, (worst of all being Wainwright’s spineless reading of it), have turned the song from a paean of holy proportions into an anthem of the pathetic, whining, pretty-voiced man, devoid of soul.

Buckley’s version is pretty, but that’s not saying much. Leonard delivers it with beauty AND bitterness, a combination most cover singers can’t muster. kd lang did a great job on that score.

Tommy Stinson, gimme a break… You’re making it seem like Buckley’s cover is undeniably a great piece of music that all of us less developed folk don’t seem to “get.” Buddy, maybe there isn’t anything to “get.”

The song was also just performed on “America’s Got Talent”. I forget the name of the girl who performed it, but I was amazed at how she was able to transform such a heart-wrenching song into one that just bored.

I think both versions are awesome. THe buckley version is good to put on when your gonna make love. The Cohen version is Freakin perfect when you’ve got no one to make love too.Its haunting and beautiful.

Various positions is one of my favorite albums of all time. I’ve always wondered why “if it be your will” wasn’t covered more though.

I do think its been over done though.

Buckley’s reading of it is fantastic. The way he plays out each chorus is tied to the feeling of the previous verse. The song as he performed it, with the fatalistic last verse (all I’ve ever learned from love is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you) demands it. It’s not a happy Hallelujah and it is more than a resigned one. Cohen usually sings a happier (although that is too strong) last verse – “even though it all went wrong, I’ll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my tongue but hallelujah). It’s a different song, and calls for a different performance.

Jeffs numerous live version, varied as they reduce any debates about nausea, insipidnessor even the ubiquitous producer influence.
Why all the concern about the length on anyones arms? Its a stupendous song in all its iterations. Just enjoy them all!!

The Buckley version is ok, but it is far too earnest. Cohen’s original has so many bitter/joyous nuances and is knowingly cod-spiritual.

Buckley’s reading, and that of far too many of the artists who have covered it, is far too literal.

Then again, if it serves as an entry point for any music fan into wonderful works of Lenny C, then it can’t be a bad thing.