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Subject: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Peter Stockport Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:03 PM Hmm, I've listened to the Alexandra version, the leonard Cohen and the Jeff Buckley Version. I know there's others, I think the Alexandra version is too overproduced. Too much going on, and too much wailing. I like the Jeff Buckley one but I think I'm edging toward the Leonard Cohen one, perhaps because I know he wrote it. So, which version should be number one? Does it matter? I think it does, it's a great song and one with real words, not like the usual musical pap that makes the towering tops of the hit parade. Not sure the key change is needed either, in the Alexandra version, Peter |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Acorn4 Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:09 PM And it's actually quite upbeat for Laughing Len, n'est-ce pas?? |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Bob the Postman Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:30 PM Not the Rufus Wainwright, he screws up the rhyme. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,lox Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:33 PM There was an album of cohen covers, and whoever didd it on that did a pretty good version, but for me its all about buckley. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Suegorgeous Date: 16 Dec 08 - 07:42 PM Buckley rules! LC wrote amazing lyrics, but his treatment I find too bland (or something). |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: paula t Date: 16 Dec 08 - 08:00 PM I like K.D.Laing's version. What a gorgeous voice! |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Acorn4 Date: 16 Dec 08 - 08:17 PM I'm surprised Cliff hasn't covered it! No, don't tell me. He probably has. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Midchuck Date: 16 Dec 08 - 08:20 PM Ever heard the Five Blind Boys of Alabama do Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day?" Imagine what they could do with this... Peter |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: TRUBRIT Date: 16 Dec 08 - 09:27 PM I am with Paula T - I love kd lang'sversion..... |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: kerry and Mandy Date: 17 Dec 08 - 01:30 AM hi all i think that the version done by a young guy called chris meller, who is 15 years old and a regular at our club at the Star Inn Romney marsh is my favorite. but then im biased. heres the link to his my space. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=400869244 have a listen and see what you think. kerry and mandy |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Deskjet Date: 17 Dec 08 - 02:14 AM The Jeff Buckley version is one of my favourite recordings,ever. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Doug Chadwick Date: 17 Dec 08 - 02:47 AM It's a dirge and all versions should be consigned to the wastebin. DC |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Dave Sutherland Date: 17 Dec 08 - 02:58 AM Buckley's version is awsome but for me Cohen's "Various Positions" version shades it by a whisker. It is the song that has almost closed the generation gap in our house since my youngest one thinks the opposite and he holds Tim Buckley's rendering in true reverence. We are all entitled to our opinion DC but at present it is you against 73,000 members of Facebook. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: s&r Date: 17 Dec 08 - 02:58 AM I normally like KDLang. I love Hallelujah. Sadly in my view the two should never have met. I see this as a somewhat earthy love poem, rather than quasi religious. Stu |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Dave Sutherland Date: 17 Dec 08 - 02:59 AM Oh dear the generation gap - I mean Jeff Buckley. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Teribus Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:05 AM Having listened to it I'm with Doug Chadwick. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Doug Chadwick Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:09 AM That's 2 against 73,000. The score is begining to level out even as I write. DC |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Liz the Squeak Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:14 AM There is no best version. I'm of the opinion that a song is only as good as the memory it envokes. Having heard several versions of 'Hallelujah', I remember them for different reasons, and that clouds the issue over whether they were good or not. The version I heard shortly after I was told my cousin had been killed in a terrible car accident is forever tainted with that memory, so I don't like it. The version that they play on 'Scrubs' is associated with a programme I like, so it's a good version, as with the one they play on 'Shrek', if indeed, it's not the same version... Personally, I don't think anything can beat the 'Hallelujah' that Georg Frederic Handel wrote... but that's just me. LTS |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: theleveller Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:16 AM I'd certainly go for Jeff Buckley. Interestingly, my 17-year old son was rooting through my CD collection and came across it and now plays it continuously on his iPod along with Slipknot, the Chillis and The Killers. So, Jeff's version definitely bridges the generations. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Doug Chadwick Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:21 AM I'll go with Liz's choice of Handel. DC |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,Guest, Green Wellies Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:37 AM What's it about. The other half is reading the words over and over (he's like that) and trying to work it out. He's driving me up the B****y wall. Can someone offer some explanation for him, before I do something I may later regret. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Stu Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:42 AM Buckley, with KD Lang a close second simply for her incredible voice. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Paco Rabanne Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:56 AM As a life long fan of the mighty Leonard I always prefer his versions of his songs, although Jennifer Warnes came a close second with her album 'Famous blue raincoat' I'm just pleased that some pop person is topping up the old fellas pension fund. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: greg stephens Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:02 AM Main stage of Glastonbury this year, Leonard himself, the sun setting behind the hill on a perfect day, 50,000 people singing the chorus, Cohen taking off the hat reverentially and saying "Thank you friends". Absolutely perfect. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,Golightly Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:06 AM Leveller, if your 17 year old son has got to grips with Hallelujah's lyrics, please could you ask him to have a go at the Killers' 'Human'? I love it to bits but....... Apologies for thread creep. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: The Borchester Echo Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:14 AM Simon Ritchie on Squeezebox Schizophrenia, recorded several years ago now. And all the rest of the CD, to give all the "but it's not f*lk" brigade a fit that might shock them into listening. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Domnull Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:06 AM El Poco I'm with you - give me Leonard's anytime. Also couldn't agree more about the benefits that LC will (hopefully) enjoy because of this song, especially given his financial woes a couple of years back thread.cfm?threadid=83855#1553324 It is no coincidence that there have been quite a few cover/tribute CDs made of 'big names' doing Cohen songs. Weirdest version of Hallelujah is maybe Bono's |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,Ralphie Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:17 AM Definitely Simon Ritchie....(Along with his waltz time version of Anarchy in the UK) |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Sleepy Rosie Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:24 AM Buckley does it so beautifully. "There was a time I moved in you, and the holy ghost was moving too, and every breath we drew was 'hallelujah'" For anyone who finds the lyrics confusing, my assumption is that it's an erotic love song that exalts his experience of loving her and the sex they share, into an act of 'worship'. And I guess she goes on to leave him. But then don't they always! |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Phil Edwards Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:40 AM There was an album of cohen covers, and whoever didd it on that did a pretty good version John Cale (also the version they use, bizarrely, in Shrek). This is the best version I've heard. I can't listen to either of Cohen's - he over-emotes on both, and on the live version he's not actually singing (hasn't been for a while now). Rufus Wainwright's (the version they use, even more bizarrely, on the Shrek soundtrack album) is just pretty. Tim Buckley did singing-like-Tim-Buckley amazingly well, and he does it amazingly well on his version of Hallelujah; it's a magical performance. But I think it's a performance by a performer much more than it's a performance of a song. Also, to my mind he was just too young - it's a bruised, jaded, middle-aged song, I always feel. (Tim Buckley aged 40 singing Hallelujah... what might have been eh?) John Cale hits the notes and sings the words like they mean something to him, which they probably do. His version is spare and bleak - jaded and middle-aged - but held up by that beautiful, never-ending, rolling piano part beneath it. It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah - but it's still a hallelujah. I hope never to hear the version by this Alexandra person. (Key change? That song needs a key change like Simon Cowell needs assertiveness training.) I'll probably be disappointed. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:40 AM John Cale with the piano from "I'm Your Fan" seems to be the most widely heard...love it... |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Stonebridge Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:12 AM I would also vote for J. Cale from the "I'm Your Fan" album. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Silas Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:17 AM Would not like to say who's the best version is, probably Buckley, but I certainly know who has the worst version - Bloody X sodding Factor. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Jean(eanjay) Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:23 AM I love K D Lang's version ...... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P_NpxTWbovE&feature=channel_page ...... but then I'm a great fan of hers :-) |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Rasener Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:25 AM Well I find it very difficult to choose the best version of it. KD Lang just gets my vote Il Divo do a very nice version of it. I also like Rufus Wainrights version I also Like Alexandria Burke's version. She has a great voice. I wonder what Ricky Nelson would have been like doing this. Here you go, listen to all of them on this link http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2008/12/15/hallelujah-from-alexandra-burke-to-jeff-buckley-listen-to-the-top-ten-versions-of |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,KevBoyd Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:28 AM The disappointing thing about the X-Factor final (besides it's very existence, obviously) was that little hairy Eggnog got kicked out too early for us to hear is no-doubt excruciating version of "Hallelujah". |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: evansakes Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:34 AM Key change?? My arse!! I've now heard the version by the X factor woman....awful awful awful. How anyone in their right mind can take this sensitive and passionate lament and turn it into a paint-by-numbers power ballad is beyond comprehension. Well it goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall and the major lift The clumsy and superfluous modulation (Chorus, altogether, arms raised, lighters lit, cut to Cheryl Cole in floods of tears and a gobsmacked Simon Cowell etc etc) Favourite version....Jeff Buckley gets totally inside the song for me. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: mattkeen Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:44 AM Buckley's is absolutely beautiful & the best But I do agree that it prob a song for an older person than Buckley was. Enter Keith Richard stage right............. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Rasener Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:47 AM Pretty blinkered there Twickfolk. If my daughters were to hear you slagging off Alexandria Burke, they would just think you were an old fart, and don't know what you are talking about. How can you say she is aweful. Can you do better. Are you so good that yopu can pass judgement like that? Gets my goat that people can so easily say that somebody is aweful, when in actual fact they don't suit your taste. Seems to be most applicable in the blinkered world of the folk scene. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: evansakes Date: 17 Dec 08 - 08:43 AM No I can't do better but that isn't the point. Funnily enough I used to do Hallelujah ten or more years back....I might not be a Caruso (or a Burke :-) but I like to think I got the point of the song across a little more effectively than Alexandria's bombastic version. Her version IS awful in my opinion because it totally fails to serve the song. Hallelujah is a simple and poetic lament (almost a psalm) with a soaring and beautiful melody which gets totally dismembered by someone who is (let's face it) simply a glorified karaoke singer who has won a vacuous competition. It will be number one at Christmas simply because Burke has had hundreds of hours of free advertising in recent weeks and is tabloid fodder ad nauseam. 99% of the people who watch aren't discerning enough to separate the wheat from the chaff. Like all X Factor types Burke suffers from terminal Mariah-itis. For me anyone's abilities as a singer aren't defined by how many decorations you can make to a melody. Or perhaps I mean desecrations? These "singers" (apologies for paraphrasing dear old Jake) "will never sing two or three notes when a couple of thousand will easily do". That in itself is enough to make it awful in my opinion. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: George Papavgeris Date: 17 Dec 08 - 08:52 AM Spot on Gerry. If it doesn't serve the song, any cover ain't worth the millions spent in advertising it. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,chris Date: 17 Dec 08 - 10:39 AM Lola from either Casualty or Holby City a number of christmas's ago took a lot of beating for me chris |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: George Papavgeris Date: 17 Dec 08 - 10:44 AM OK Chris, but is this the place to discuss Lola's sacrifice on your behalf? |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Rasener Date: 17 Dec 08 - 11:25 AM Well I told my daughters about the dislike of Alexandria Burke's version. They couldn't beleive it, but just commented "Ah well she will be number 1, that's good enough". Problem is, that my daughters think folk is boring and so out of date. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: George Papavgeris Date: 17 Dec 08 - 11:27 AM Folk or you, Les? Face up to it. I know the answer in my case! |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Teribus Date: 17 Dec 08 - 11:33 AM "That's 2 against 73,000." You mean we've got them surrounded Doug?? |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Rasener Date: 17 Dec 08 - 11:34 AM Well I like her version George and listen a lot to their music and like a lot of it (Radio1 for me). I realise having taken them to enough folk gigs that they are just not interested. So whilst I listen to their music, they get ratty if I put folk music on. I still likes me folk music though :-) And tehy still love their Dad, at least I think so. Of course they do, when I take them all over the place in the car, give em money etc etc. For the rest, I might as well not be there :-) |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST Date: 17 Dec 08 - 12:24 PM Jeff Buckley every time! |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: Sttaw Legend Date: 17 Dec 08 - 12:33 PM If it was not for the X Factor it would not even be up for discussion, well done Simon C. They all sing it very well in their different styles and it pleases their individual audiences. |
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Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version? From: GUEST,Chris Murray Date: 17 Dec 08 - 01:11 PM I think that Leonard Cohen's own version is the best as he sings it how he meant it to be sung. I do, however, like Jeff Buckley's and kd lang's versions while a friend swears by Bob Jovi's. There's a horrible version by Bono on 'Tower of Song' - a CD of Cohen covers. The main thing is that Leonard will be getting lots of lovely royalties from the X-factor version - thanks, indeed, to Simon Cowell. |
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