Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen song)
Hallelujah is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen . It was released in 1984 on the album Various Positions . There are numerous cover versions of other musicians that have been used in many films and television series. The best known come from Jeff Buckley , Rufus Wainwright and the a cappella formation Pentatonix .
text
The text of the original version of Various Positions begins with references to King David from the Old Testament . The melody of the song is associated with another one that he played on the harp for God . The second stanza refers to the story of Bathsheba ( 2 Sam 11 EU ). In the further course “ the name ” (see also “ HaSchem ”), the Tetragrammaton of Judaism , is mentioned. The refrain consists of multiple repetitions of the word Hallelujah .
A special feature of the song is that the text refers to the harmonies of the song: “It goes like this ( tonic ), the fourth ( subdominant ), the fifth ( dominant ), the minor fall ( parallel minor key ), and the major lift ”: C, F, G, Am, F.
In the live version from 1994, which can also be found on More Best of Leonard Cohen from 1997, the explicit biblical references are missing. Only the last stanza was taken over with a slightly different formulation (“ I'll stand before the Lord of Song / With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah ” became “ I'll stand right here before the Lord of Song / With nothing on my lips but Hallelujah ”). The rest of this new text is more about the relationship between the singer and a lover.
Other interpretations
The fansite leonardcohenfiles.com lists more than 100 recordings of Hallelujah by other musicians , including live versions . Bob Dylan was the first to add his friend's piece to his repertoire when he performed in Cohen's hometown of Montreal in 1988. John Cale recorded another cover version in 1991 for the Cohen tribute album I'm Your Fan . The text mixes both published Cohen versions. The well-known versions of Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright were influenced by this recording .
Musicians who played the song include Popa Chubby , Annie Lennox , Allison Crowe , Sheryl Crow , Kate Voegele , Rea Garvey , Willie Nelson , Imogen Heap , Bon Jovi , Wir sind Helden , Paramore , Bono , Axel Rudi Pell , Beirut , Savannah Outen , Amy Macdonald , Bastian Baker , Lindi Ortega, child star Nora Foss Al-Jabri , opera singer Renée Fleming , then 15-year-old Danii Minogue , Pain of Salvation , Helene Fischer and Shawn Mendes . Alexandra Burke's version was Britain 's number one Christmas hit of 2008.
Damien Rice played the song in 2008 when Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The title was interpreted by Justin Timberlake for George Clooney's donation marathon for Haiti , which was held on January 23, 2010 for the benefit of the earthquake victims in Haiti under the title Hope for Haiti Now and was broadcast worldwide . The song was sung by kd Lang at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics on February 12, 2010 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver . Adam Sandler parodied the song at the benefit concert for the victims of super storm Sandy in December 2012 in New York's Madison Square Garden .
The Swiss Cohen interpreter Roland Zoss created a dialect version with Halleluja 2013 in the Swiss ChinderWiehnacht sung by Nyna Cantieni. The Berlin Max Prosa published a German version of the 2013 album Rangoon . The text transmission comes from Misha Schoeneberg . The text is based on the longer Cohen version, the accompaniment on Buckley. By Gerd Köster the text was to Kölsche transmitted. In 2013 the title was added to Gregorian 's repertoire as part of a tour . A version of the Irish priest Ray Kelly , retyped for a wedding reception in 2014, quickly reached millions of views on YouTube. In December 2015, Lindsey Stirling published a largely instrumental interpretation on her YouTube channel. In December 2014, Xavier Naidoo sang the title in the show Sing my song - The Christmas Concert . The recording was ranked 27th in the German single charts . In October 2016 the Texan vocal ensemble Pentatonix released an a cappella version that reached number 4 in the German single charts.
Leonard Cohen commented on the numerous interpretations in an interview with CBC in 2009: "It's a good song, but it's sung by too many people." However, a slight feeling of satisfaction creeps into his heart when he is recall that his American record company refused to release the song: "They thought it was not good enough."
Use as a soundtrack
Hallelujah received special attention after using John Cale's version in the animated film Shrek ; On the other hand, the version by Rufus Wainwright can be found on the soundtrack album. Other films that used the song include Watchmen (version by Cohen himself), Smoke , Lord of War , Into the Wild (each version by Jeff Buckley), The Fat Years Are Over (Jeff Buckley in the movie, Lucky Jim on the soundtrack album), Basquiat (John Cale), Saint Ralph (Gord Downe), Barefoot (version by Rea Garvey ) and When the Night Begins (instrumental version). Also in well-known television series such as OC, California , Dr. House , The West Wing , Without a Trace , Cold Case , Numbers (versions by Jeff Buckley and Imogen Heap), Scrubs - The Beginners (John Cale), Emergency Room , One Tree Hill , Heartbreaker - father of four sons and crime scene came Hallelujah in individual episodes.
The situations in which the song is used are varied, from depressed moods to dramatic final scenes. Usually, not one of Cohen's original versions is used, but one of the numerous cover or instrumental versions.
Chart placements
Version by Leonard Cohen
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|
| 2008/09 | - | - | - | 36 (2 weeks) |
- |
| 2010/11 | - | 67 (1 week) |
- | - | - |
| 2014/15 | - | - | 66 (1 week) |
- | - |
| 2016/17 | 27 (1 week) |
13 (1 week) |
2 (2 weeks) |
80 (1 week) |
59 (1 week) |
| All in all | 27 (1 week) |
13 (2 weeks) |
2 (3 weeks) |
36 (3 weeks) |
59 (1 week) |
Version by Jeff Buckley
| year | Chart placements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
|
| 2007/08 | - | - | - | 74 (4 weeks) |
| 2008/09 | - | 57 (5 weeks) |
38 (35 weeks) |
2 (18 weeks) |
| 2009/10 | - | 55 (2 weeks) |
40 (5 weeks) |
- |
| 2010/11 | - | 55 (5 weeks) |
61 (5 weeks) |
- |
| 2012/13 | 38 (4 weeks) |
38 (3 weeks) |
46 (1 week) |
- |
| 2013/14 | 75 (4 weeks) |
47 (1 week) |
- | - |
| All in all | 38 (8 weeks) |
38 (16 weeks) |
38 (46 weeks) |
2 (22 weeks) |
Version by Alexandra Burke
| year | Charts |
|---|---|
|
UK
|
|
| 2008/09 |
1 (16 weeks) |
| 2009/10 | 70 (4 weeks) |
| All in all |
1 (20 weeks) |
Version of Pentatonix
| year | Chart placements | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
US
|
|
| 2016/17 | 4 (11 weeks) |
1 (11 weeks) |
7 (11 weeks) |
23 (11 weeks) |
| 2017/18 | 12 (4 weeks) |
19 (4 weeks) |
24 (4 weeks) |
- |
| 2018/19 | 12 (4 weeks) |
8 (3 weeks) |
24 (2 weeks) |
- |
| 2019/20 | 21 (4 weeks) |
8 (4 weeks) |
45 (1 week) |
- |
| All in all | 4 (23 weeks) |
1 (22 weeks) |
7 (18 weeks) |
23 (11 weeks) |
Awards
In 2007, Hallelujah, in the version by Jeff Buckley, was named the best song of all time by British magazine Q.
literature
- Alan Light: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah”. Atria Books, New York 2012, ISBN 978-1-4516-5785-2 ( excerpt from rollingstone.com, December 3, 2012; accessed February 5, 2014).
- Babette Babich: The Hallelujah Effect: Philosophical Reflections on Music, Performance Practice, and Technology . Ashgate, Surrey 2013, ISBN 978-1-4094-4961-4 .
Web links
- Hallelujah in the song dictionary
- Text and audio samples of the various positions and live versions on leonardcohenfiles.com
- Jens Ohlig: Associations due to a catchy tune after hearing the piece "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. January 2, 2014, accessed January 4, 2014 (Analysis of Composition and Poetry).
- Rose-Maria Gropp: Leonard Cohen: "Hallelujah" , Frankfurter Allgemeine, December 23, 2017, accessed on: January 20, 2018 (archive) .
Individual evidence
- ^ Leonard Cohen Covered by Other Artists. leonardcohenfiles.com (English).
- ↑ Jürgen Kalwa: A prayer in dark chocolate. In: Deutschlandfunk , June 22, 2013.
- ↑ MTV report on donation gala ( Memento from January 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Alan Light: Adam Sandler Parodies Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' at "12-12-12" . In: Rolling Stone , December 13, 2012 (English).
- ^ Booklet of the album Rangoon
- ^ Leonard Cohen, German special text: Gerd Köster. gerd-koester.de
- ^ Die Presse , April 10, 2014
- ↑ Hallelujah- Lindsey Stirling- #aSaviorIsBorn. YouTube , December 7, 2015.
- ↑ Sing my song - The Christmas Concert: Xavier Naidoo stirs with "Hallelujah". VOX , January 2, 2015.
- ↑ Chart placement of the version by Xavier Naidoo on officialcharts.de
- ^ Sylvie Simmons: I'm Your Man. The life of Leonard Cohen. btb Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-442-75292-8 , p. 474.
- ^ Leonard Cohen's songs on soundtracks. leonardcohenfiles.com (English).
- ↑ Chart sources Leonard Cohen: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Chart sources Jeff Buckley: DE AT CH UK
- ↑ Chart sources Alexandra Burke: UK
- ↑ Chart sources Pentatonix: DE AT CH US
- ↑ Mack Rawden: Q Magazine Picks Greatest Songs Ever Written. In: cinemablend.com , 2007 (English).