Hallelujah is the new black

[s1m0n]

Large collection of covers + a BBC radio doc about that song.

http://rapidshare.com/users/J6C7J

01 - Alexandra Burke @320
02 - Leonard Cohen @vbr190
03 - John Cale @192
04 - Jeff Buckley @128
05 - Bob Dylan @96
06 - Leonard Cohen (Live) @320
07 - Katherine Jenkins @128
08 - Leonard Cohen (Live) @128
09 - John Cale (Live) @192
10 - Kathryn Williams @160
11 - Rufus Wainwright @192
12 - Allison Crowe @128
13 - Sheryl Crow @192
14 - Damien Rice @160
15 - K.D. Lang @128
16 - Regina Spektor @96
17 - Aroof Aftab @128
18 - David Bazan @vbr190
19 - Eric Beverly @128
20 - Erik Flaa @192
21 - Gordon Downie @128
22 - I Am Lost At Sea @128
23 - Imogen Heap @320
24 - John Jerome @128
25 - Late Tuesday @192
26 - Susanna And The Magical Orchestra @128
27 - The Junebugs @192
28 - Tony Lucca @128
29 - Gavin Degraw @128
30 - Chris Botti @192
31 - Kate Noson @128
32 - Lucky Jim @128
33 - Euan Morton & Denise Summerford @128
34 - Keren Ann @128
35 - Jack Lukeman @128
36 - Clare Bowditch @160
37 - Ari Hest @128
38 - Beirut @256
39 - Elisa @192
40 - K's Choice @56
41 - Dresden Dolls @192
42 - Street To Nowhere @192
43 - Naomi Hates Humans @192
44 - Noam Pelled @192
45 - Macbrolan @160
46 - Damien Rice @96

The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall @128

Saturday 01 November
7:00pm - 8:00pm
BBC Radio 2

[Hotblack]

IIRC that show was narrated by Guy Garvey of Elbow.

[Innocent Bystander]

Considering the popularity of "Hallelujah" on this forum, I was heartened to see it pop up in a Mudcats discussion of "Songs that should never be sung at Folk Clubs". And not even by me.

[The Weekenders]

Not to be sniping, but it makes you wonder if Hallelujah was less popular, would it still be okay to sing at folk gatherings? I still find the murky definition of what constitutes "Folk Music" to be confusing. I have heard of Leonard Cohen referred to a a "Canadian folk singer." Because I have not followed his career, I don't know if he paid his dues, so to speak, a la Dylan, singing during the folk music revival before penning his own tunes....

But his tunes remain, to me, in a rarified category of songs written for the sake of the poetry and art and very non-commercial. I know that supposedly, most songwriters aspire to that, but I have my doubts about many. To have one song rise into the commercial market might help the dude pay his bills, and for that, I am grateful.

In my previous job, going back ten years or so, the alpha in my office used to play LC's greatest hits. Because I was completely unfamiliar with him at the time, I was struck at his uniqueness.

I remember musing on this issue of "folk music" at the time. I think Hallelujah is the only one that really took off. Does he have any other tunes that have been covered to any extent? I know, I could Wiki it, but.....

[fearfaoin]

I know "Suzanne" was pretty thoroughly covered in the 60s.

[MikeS]

I've heard "Bird on a Wire" done by Johnny Cash, Jennifer Warnes, k. d. lang, Willie Nelson, Fairport Convention, Rita Coolidge, Tim Hardin, the Neville Brothers, and Dave Van Ronk. There are probably some others but that's, by my judgment, a pretty fair rogue's gallery.

[The Weekenders]

Thanks. I'll search for some sound samples of those. Both of the titles sound familiar.

[jim stone]

Judy Collins covered Suzanne and also The Song Of Isaac,
which begins:

'The door it opened slowly
And my father he came in.
I was nine years old.
And he stood so high above me
And his blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold.
He said: 'I've had a vision
And you know I'm strong and holy.
I must do as I've been told.'
So we started up the mountain.
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.'

It was in part a song about the Vietnam war.
It continues in part.

'You who build these alters now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
For you've never had a vision
And you never have been tempted
By the Devil or the Lord...'

Nobody else I've ever read wrote like this.
A fundamentally Jewish poetic voice,
at white heat.

'And if you call me brother
Forgive me if I ask,
According to whose plan?
For when all has come to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will love you if I can...

[jsluder]

I've heard "Bird on a Wire" done by Johnny Cash, Jennifer Warnes, k. d. lang, Willie Nelson, Fairport Convention, Rita Coolidge, Tim Hardin, the Neville Brothers, and Dave Van Ronk. There are probably some others but that's, by my judgment, a pretty fair rogue's gallery.

The Bobs also covered "Bird On a Wire" (on the album "Cover the Songs of...", 1994) in what Wikipedia calls a "skate-punk style", whatever that is. It's a fun take on the song, though. (The whole album is worth a listen.)

[mutepointe]

I've been into folk music my whole life but until the Haiti fundraiser, I don't remember ever hearing this song. I've even been a church musician my whole life. Granted, there are more than a few years of my life that have gone up in smoke and I just didn't have the biggest album collection nor were there many folk music radio stations where I grew up but could someone tell me what the definitive version is of this song that I may have heard and what years that I may have heard this song or in what movie soundtracks it may have been. My wife is totally amazed staring at this over my shoulder. Help me.

[Bloomfield]

Judy Collins covered Suzanne and also The Song Of Isaac,
which begins:

'The door it opened slowly
And my father he came in.
I was nine years old.
And he stood so high above me
And his blue eyes they were shining
And his voice was very cold.
He said: 'I've had a vision
And you know I'm strong and holy.
I must do as I've been told.'
So we started up the mountain.
I was running, he was walking,
And his axe was made of gold.'

It was in part a song about the Vietnam war.
It continues in part.

'You who build these alters now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
For you've never had a vision
And you never have been tempted
By the Devil or the Lord...'

Nobody else I've ever read wrote like this.
A fundamentally Jewish poetic voice,
at white heat.

'And if you call me brother
Forgive me if I ask,
According to whose plan?
For when all has come to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will love you if I can...

Yeah, well, sort of. It's "The Story of Isaac." The song is explicitly about war, and Cohen used to introduce it at concerts as "a song about those who would sacrifice one generation on behalf of another."

some corrections to the words [in italics]:

You who build these alters now
To sacrifice these children,
You must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
And you never have been tempted
By a demon or a god ...'

'And if you call me brother now
Forgive me if I inquire
Just According to whose plan?
For when it all comes down to dust
I will kill you if I must,
I will help you if I can... [importantly it goes on here:]
For when it all comes down to dust
I will help you if I must,
I will kill you if I can...

And those are just fragments, of course.

About Cohen being a "fundamentally Jewish voice" - I don't know what that means, really, or whether it matters; but still I am not sure it's true. His poetry is full of "fundamentally" Christian imagery and motifs: Christ, the savior, Joan of Arc, Golgotha, sin, forgiveness, yada yada yada.

Trivia: Story of Isaac was covered by The Johnstons. Just mentioning in case you like your fundamentally Jewish voices with an Irish accent.

[jim stone]

I gave the words that Judy Collins sung on her record, which I prefer.
She was very close to LC at the time, they were an item, I believe, so I think he approved.
I won't go further into why I call Leonard Cohen a fundamentally
Jewish poetic voice except to say that a strong
interest in Jesus, sin, forgiveness and so on
is entirely consistent with what I said.

[s1m0n]

I've been into folk music my whole life but until the Haiti fundraiser, I don't remember ever hearing this song. I've even been a church musician my whole life. Granted, there are more than a few years of my life that have gone up in smoke and I just didn't have the biggest album collection nor were there many folk music radio stations where I grew up but could someone tell me what the definitive version is of this song that I may have heard and what years that I may have heard this song or in what movie soundtracks it may have been. My wife is totally amazed staring at this over my shoulder. Help me.

It was from LC's album, Various Positions, which was released in December of 84, except in the USA where it wasn't released at all. Columbia Records foolishly chose that album to give up on him. I bought the Canadian release of VP, and I was blown away by Hallelujah. At the time I had no idea that other people were of the same opinion. It got no airplay and I thought it was this great song that no one but me - and maybe a few like me - had ever heard of, let alone appreciated. However, I wasn't alone. In 94, Jeff Buckley recorded it on his one album, Grace, which did get released in the US and made a bit of a splash. Many people call his version definitive, but I'm not so fond of it.

It's gradually crept up in prestige and public opinion over the years since. In 86, for instance, Jennifer Warnes recorded Famous Blue Raincoat, a collection of LC's songs. She'd sung backup on Various Positions and with Cohen on tour. Interestingly, despite the fact that she'd sung on it, Hallelujah was not among the songs covered on FBR. I assume that in 86, its prestige was still low. As far as I know, that's the last Cohen tribute-type project to ignore it. These days it's mandatory. At least one tribute record has it twice.

It's themes are Cohen's trademark combo of sex and God. It's not usually considered official church music, although Cohen writes real purty about Jesus for a depressed jewish buddhist monk.

~~

Cohen's dues were paid to literature, not folk. He'd published two novels and several collections of poetry before writing songs. As a teenager, he'd been around the Canadian version of the leftist/jewish summer camp scene, in which various non-members of the proletariat taught middle class kids to sing like sharecroppers. He may have played a few Montreal coffee houses, but at the time he was serious about poetry, and was putting much more effort into that. He was hanging out at readings with the big boys and earning their respect.

~~

There are a number of versions of the song. Cohen is said to have written 80 different verses, trying to get it right, and over the years he has not always sung the same ones. Cover artists have often followed suit, selecting and reordering the verses they want to sing.

[mutepointe]

Thanks Simon, no wonder I missed it. Not being MTV material and Canadian is a lot to overcome. I'll listen to the other versions this evening to see if something clicks.

[fearfaoin]

Mutie, you've likely heard the Jeff Buckley
version on TV at some point. According to
Wikipedia, it's been featured since the early
2000's in such shows as The West Wing,
Crossing Jordan, Without A Trace, The O.C.,
House M.D., Criminal Minds, ER, Third Watch,
and LAX. I know I myself have heard it on
Cold Case, one or more CSI incarnation,
maybe Scrubs... and usually at the end of an
episode after a particularly sad or poignant
scene.

Here's his version on youtube


(EDIT: also, John Cale's version was used in Shrek)