Five Hallelujahs

So I’ve been thinking about love. So? Haven’t we all? Isn’t it always that time?

And also, I've been thinking about the song "Hallelujah." Seems every time I turn around these days, I'm stumbling across it. American Idol? Yikes. And then today at my daughter's dance recital, a tweener did a solo routine all flopping around in her veils and agnst to the Wainwright version. As luck would have it, we all survived.

I've been living with this song for many years, having been a Leonard Cohen fan from High School, when I came across the song "Suzanne."

Leonard Cohen once called "Hallelujah" his best song. He might be right, as the lyric, “all I ever learned from love / was how to shoot at someone who outdrew you” is the most succinct version of love I’ve come across. So here it is, for you, of course, five times (though some versions, of course, screw around with the lyrics, etc.). Let's start with the original.



Leonard Cohen. The original, from his wonderful Various Positions album.



John Cale. His version is on a tribute album titled I'm Your Fan, which came out in the late 80s.



Jeff Buckley (there's a better one on YouTube, but I wasn't able to embed it). Is this the most famous version? Maybe. At least before Shrek.



Rufus Wainwright. The Shrek version. This is the only one I've ever heard on the radio.



Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi? Huh? Well, it's not bad at all. He has a little too much of that power ballad thing in his vocals, but kudos to him for his taste in covers.