The whole story behind this gem together from the man himself Leonard, who wanted to change his name to September [Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל,] once and on another ocasion he spent 5 years living in Mount Baldy Monastery as a Buddhist monk in 1994]. In his mid-70s toured the world for 5 years because he was broke and I got so see live on April 2013, at the Radio Cty Hall on his knees singing this beautiful anthem. -Hallelujah-
John Cale's version
“French Magazine Les Inrockuptibles asked him to contribute to I’m Your Fan, a somewhat odd tribute to Cohen. In the days before a digital download was readily available, Cale had to do things the old-fashioned way: “I called Leonard and asked him to send me the lyrics and there were a lot of them, fifteen verses,” Cale confirms. “It was a long roll of fax paper. And then I choose whichever ones were really me. Some of them were religious, and coming out of my mouth would have been a little difficult to believe. I choose the cheeky ones.”
how can one not stop crying just listening to Jeff Buckley’s version who made this tune a sacred experience?
“Whoever listens closely to Hallelujah will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth,” Buckley once said. “It’s an ode to life and love.”
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Hallelujah
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These are three versions out of many, many more.
The whole story behind this gem together from the man himself Leonard, who wanted to change his name to September [Elul (Hebrew: אֱלוּל,] once and on another ocasion he spent 5 years living in Mount Baldy Monastery as a Buddhist monk in 1994]. In his mid-70s toured the world for 5 years because he was broke and I got so see live on April 2013, at the Radio Cty Hall on his knees singing this beautiful anthem. -Hallelujah-
John Cale's version
“French Magazine Les Inrockuptibles asked him to contribute to I’m Your Fan, a somewhat odd tribute to Cohen. In the days before a digital download was readily available, Cale had to do things the old-fashioned way: “I called Leonard and asked him to send me the lyrics and there were a lot of them, fifteen verses,” Cale confirms. “It was a long roll of fax paper. And then I choose whichever ones were really me. Some of them were religious, and coming out of my mouth would have been a little difficult to believe. I choose the cheeky ones.”
how can one not stop crying just listening to Jeff Buckley’s version who made this tune a sacred experience?
“Whoever listens closely to Hallelujah will discover that it is a song about sex, about love, about life on earth,” Buckley once said. “It’s an ode to life and love.”
Leonard in his own versions 1994-2013