Many versions have been recorded of this little song by Leonard Cohen (200 artists/versions and counting) and yet one will be hard put to pinpoint which one is the most beautiful. In my biased view however, I like Jeff Buckley’s interpretation the most. I could be influenced by the fact that posthumously (yep dear old Jeff is dead, drowned in fact) his version of the song was number in the Billboard Charts in March 2008. Or maybe it’s the thought that his version was described as ‘hallelujah of the orgasm’ which formed my opinion. In any case, the song is freaking beautiful that I can’t help but do a little background investigation on its lyrical interpretation.
The lyrics were not exactly the greatest in history but pair it with the melody conjured by Cohen and it becomes a different animal altogether. Of course as the title suggest the song is biblical. And there were quite a few verses that were taken from the good book. My favorite stanza was this (hehehe).
And remember when I moved in you
The holy dove was moving too
And every breath we drew was Hallelujah
Now it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to decipher the meaning behind those lines. La lang. Thought I’d highlight these three lines.
Too bad that Jeff had to kick the bucket so soon though, he could have created a few more unforgettable songs. In his only album ‘Grace’ this is the song that I like most (next to Hallelujah of course).