Hallelujah- Which is the best version?

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 03:34 PM

jeff buckley's version is fine, john cale's version is my fave, but kathryn williams does a lovely version on her album of covers, the name of which escapes me at present.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:10 PM

yeh, who is this Lola, and why is she on this thread? :))

Rosie - yes, I think your summary is right - and it's so rare to find lyrics that are passionately erotic, as opposed to just raunchy/in-yer-face sexual. But did you notice - that verse was omitted from all the X-factor versions? (at least it was on TV) - hypocritical or what?

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Zen
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 04:50 PM

It's a terrific song. Leonard's own version is my favourite closely followed by kd lang's.

Good to see it doing well and the subject of discussion.

Zen

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Folkiedave
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:19 PM

Les Barker.

To Handel's Tune - Harvey Andrews.......

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Peter the Squeezer
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 05:37 PM

I go along with Liz.

Handel every time.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:39 PM

Sue - a) family teatime viewing ("that's funny Mum he said 'I moved in you', you can't move in someone else can you Mum? Mum?")
b) female singers

Both good reasons for not choosing the bloody song in the first place, of course (if the risks of submitting a classic song to the tender mercies of X-Factor finallists weren't enough on their own). But what do I know.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:44 PM

I think I would go for Lordi's Hardrock Hallelujah...

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 06:46 PM

Pip

a) Yes, but my point there was that other pop songs aren't censored like that and keep their raunchy/suggestive bits...

b) Female singers shouldn't sing that song? why's that?

Sue

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Noreen
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:03 PM

Doubt it was censored as such, Sue- I believe Mr Cohen wrote at least eighty verses... and has released at least two almost totally different versions of the song, so there are plenty to choose from.

I shouldn't think Simon Callow chose this song for its words anyway...

wiki / Hallelujah_(Leonard_Cohen_song)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:09 PM

Um, mainly because the verse alludes to the experience of penetrative sex from the male perspective, Sue.

Cowell, Noreen - although I'd love to hear Simon Callow's version...

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Rog Peek
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:24 PM

Leonard Cohen's every time!

Rog

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Noreen
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:28 PM

Ha! Yes, I typed too hastily- thanks, Pip.

Btw, the discussion about the wiki entry for this song is worth a read (click the discussion tab after loading the wiki page I linked to above), dealing with the relative importance of the latest cover version of this song in the greater scheme of things...

I'm going to bed now before I make some greater blunder!

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 17 Dec 08 - 07:58 PM

Pip - not necessarily....that verse could be interpreted many ways....think about it (starting with kd lang)...... :)

Noreen - yeh, but the verses Alexandria sings are the most commonly sung ones, bar the erotic verse....

But exciting news!...there's a Facebook campaign to persuade people to download the Buckley version instead of X-factor one, to take over the no.1 slot, or at least come in at no 2 or 3.... see this link (sorry blue clicky wouldn't accept the URL)
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/theampersand/archive/2008/12/15/a-secret-chord-jeff-buckley-leonard-cohen-fans-unite-to-keep-reality-show-version-of-hallelujah-off-british-chart.aspx


Sue

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,chris
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 01:49 AM

Hi
suegorgeous, unfortunately I can't remember the actresses name who played the character 'Lola' in the TV program (Casualty or Holby City- UK tv) but she sang the song during a xmas screening- quite moving
chris

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 04:42 AM

Somehow or other I seem to have had the rare fortune to have got through most of my life without very once encountering Hallelujah - knowingly at any rate. The first time I knowingly encountered it was on Nick Cave's No More Shall We Part back in 2001, where Kate & Anna McGarrigle take their part in the heady mix. As part of that particular confection it was by no mean remarkable but made a certain sense on the merits of context alone as a passable Nick Cave song. I might add that my acquaintance with the album was casual rather than obsessive, which is to say, I did not sit down & scrutinise the CD cover. Then, all of a sudden, it seemed to be everywhere - radio, folk clubs, TV documentaries, and I'm thinking - all this fuss over a Nick Cave song?

Now I know better, or worse; and truth to tell I wouldn't care if I never heard the bloody thing again.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Alex
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 05:40 AM

Simon Ritchie's amazing squeezebox version and very different to all the others.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 07:05 AM

As I only really knew Leonard Cohen's original and Simon Ritchie's, I just listened (or struggled through) a whole bunch of other Hallelujahs. I made the acid test "Does the performer actually understand: Love is not a victory march, it's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"?

John Cale, Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright probably do. I was mildly disappointed by k d lang, but maybe it was because she appeared to be performing in some sort of sleazy night club and pitched the performance accordingly. I'm so trying desperately to rid my mind of that execrable X-Factor clip. I'm quite sure that if you asked that "Alexandra" what the song was about all you'd get would be a blank stare.

My order of preference remains Cohen himself, and Simon Ritchie.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 08:39 AM

There's always Bob Dylan's version, which I reckon passes that acid test pretty well. Sort of "bloody but unbowed".

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 09:07 AM

Yes, I think Bob Dylan's take probably does. He makes it sound like some add-on verses to Like A Rolling Stone.
Yes, you really shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 09:23 AM

Of course Bob Dylan doesn't actually sing that line, but he doesn't really need to.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,LDT
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 09:51 AM

Tell you a version I would have love to have heard....a Nirvana version..I bet they would have done it well. (And if they have done a version, can you give me the link?)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 11:02 AM

Hi Kids: For me it's KD Lang, hands down. For Style, Class, Voice, Articulation, Emotion, and Delivery. It is a rendition that will be remembered. I see Leonard Cohen saying, "Thanks K.D.!" Buckley's is O.K., but not in the same league. Since K.D.'s video has been posted, I'll put up Buckley's for comparison...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqsW9x0Wk74&feature=related
He seems to be struggling with it, maybe some of you hear that as "emotion", not me. And, there are parts in there that make me cringe. I'll pass on Buckley...
BR

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: evansakes
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 11:52 AM

Today's Guardian asks the same question...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/18/popandrock-christmas

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Rasener
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 03:11 PM

Guest Bob, I am with you on that one.

Mind you, I still like the X Factor one very much.

Oh to have an open mind LOL :-)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Nicholas Waller
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 04:01 PM

And The Times gets involved (cover story, T2).

There's a useful section on the various versions and where you might have heard them (Shrek, the OC) and where to play it - for the Bono version, they suggest "in court, to Bono and a judge and jury".

I saw Nathalie Nahai (someone I want to call Nath Alien Ahai) do a rather effectively intimate version at The Old Down in Somerset a year or so ago. I don't think the YouTube version you can see online does much justice to the live impact.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,santa
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 04:11 PM

Has anyone listened/compared Buddy Kaye and Jules Loman's Christmas Alphabet (published in 1954)? I reckon Leonard Cohen must have heard it and been influenced by the melody.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 04:37 PM

I wonder if Rolf Harris has done one with a wobble board...

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 04:43 PM

I like the John Cale version and Leonard Cohen but the absolute worst has got to be Kathryn Jenkins on her album 'Sacred Arias'!! She sings it in operatic style rhyming Hallelujah with dooo yoooo!

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: paula t
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 07:04 PM

Sarah and Kathryn are a bit fed up because they have been singing it for a while, and now they think everyone will accuse them of copying the X Factor!

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 07:10 PM

Apparently over 100 vocalists have covered the song.

I can't wait for Buckley's version to top Alexandra's in the charts!

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 08:17 PM

Hi Kids: After I left PolyGram and went to work for C.M.S. Music, we had an expression, which was, "He likes it..." What that meant was that the guy who "liked it" was a complete jerk, but that he had the money to pay, didn't have any taste, but was willing to write the cheque. So who were we to stop him?

What I've learned from this thread is that a lot of people can't hear. This HELPS me in my own projects for it supports the theory of "The Long Tale" by Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of WIRED Magazine who purports that most music that is able to reach the marketplace will find it's niche. It may not be the "best" version, but it is a version that some people are willing to pay for. i.e. "They like it..." This makes me money...

Thanks...BR

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 08:49 PM

So... a lot of people on this thread are complete jerks(?)...is what it sounds like you're saying...

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 18 Dec 08 - 11:38 PM

Bob's friend, Weebl.












(Sorry!)

~ Becky in Tucson
mother of Dan, the W&B fan...

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,frank
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 07:01 AM

I searched the net and found what I think is the best version after listening all versions including the x-factor one. In my humble opinion I think Bow Jenkins does the best version and its on I tunes. here is her website if you interested: http://www.bowjenkins.com

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 08:15 AM

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nnHksDFHTQI

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Santa
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 09:05 AM

I don't quite understand why I haven't heard this song before, but was sent to Mudcat to get the words on behalf of a friend of Mrs Santa, who thought that it had to be a better song than X-factor had made it. So I've been playing some of the You-tube videos. Not yet found Alexandra's version, possibly happily so. There's a young lass recently started coming to the club, she doesn't know much folk music but knows that songs should be sung as if they mean something to the singer. She was quite dismissive about X-factor - nearly as good as the Guardian today (but as I haven't heard it yet, I shouldn't really comment, should I?)

Just to join the crowd in pressing my own opinions: Katherine Jenkins was quite good, if a bit soulless, but the kdlang one was awful. Pure ham and over-acting. She'd got to be taking the piss.

I'm not sure I've found the "best" version yet, it's not Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Allison Crowe, although Kate Voegele's ok-ish. Quite liked Rufus Wainwright but the John Cale one was pretty good, for the reasons mentioned above. Now suffering from over-exposure, so will go away and listen to the Buckley and Cohen versions again tonight.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Gadaffi
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 09:16 AM

Simon Ritchie on 'Squezebox schizophrenia.' No competition.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 09:36 AM

Dear Sue(gorgeous), how are you(a rhyme, and it's early in the morning.) Yo. Uh, weeeeell, let's call it musically challenged to be politically correct. A close friend of mine(my sweetie) loves this particular CD of ethnic music where the mandolin player is SERIOUSLY out of tune. I listen to it with her because she loves the music, which is good, but the guy is out of tune. So who am I, a mere MAN...
to tell her what she likes is flawed? She's having a good time, so I just shut up about it, just like I'm going to do right now...And, this lessens the chances of her putting a pillow over my face during the night...BR

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,Bob Ryszkiewicz
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 11:16 AM

And, just for fun...Bon Jovi - Respect...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMRPfCRV2xI
Faithful to the original, done by real Pros who know what they're doing...nice
BR

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,santa
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 12:14 PM

The more I listen to this song the more I think Cohen took his melody from Buddy Kaye and Jules Loman's Christmas Alphabet (published in 1954). The first four bars are identical.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Beer
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 12:23 PM

Three Cheers for Leonard.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Ruth Archer
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 01:18 PM

Casa Crumpet's verdict is Jeff Buckley - except it doesn't include the "Even though it all went wrong" verse, which is one of my favourites.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Santa
Date: 19 Dec 08 - 02:13 PM

Just to clarify: Guest: Santa isn't me.

Having replayed the Kate Voegele version, I need to add something. Its OK.... until she gets into over-emphasising the hallelujahs.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 12:56 PM

The spoof version heard on The Now Show on Radio 4 (about 5 minutes from the end)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 01:05 PM

I thought it was about a racetrack in Hialeah,,,,,,,,, Florida....

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 01:33 PM

And Buckley's version is now no. 3 in the I-Tunes chart (and no.30 in the Official Singles Chart - where Alexandra doesn't yet appear...)

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 20 Dec 08 - 01:57 PM

Just in case you'd like to download Jeff Buckley's version and/or support the campaign - here's the Facebook link (which has several download links on the page)

Jeff Buckley campaign Facebook page

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Kampervan
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 04:20 AM

Well, the Bishop of Croydon, a man who certainly seems to have spent a lot of time listening to Leonard Cohen and his works, was in no doubt on Radio 4 this morning. He was of the opinion that Alexandra Burke had 'murdered' Hallelujah.
His preference was for either the Buckley or the Cale version.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 01:51 PM

Latest news - Buckley's in at no.2 in the UK Singles Chart! just below Alexandra. New chart just out.

Subject: RE: Hallelujah- Which is the best version?
From: ard mhacha
Date: 21 Dec 08 - 01:52 PM

Hallelujah i`m a bum.