Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Leonard Cohen
This song has mystified me for quite some time now. I first heard it on an episode of “The West Wing,” (final episode of the 3rd season) where they all accompany the president to a lengthy Shakespeare play about Henry VI, and C.J.’s body guard and love interest (played by Mark Harmon) is killed during a quickie mart robbery. I was so taken with the music, I had to find out who it was, and I’ve been nearly obsessed with it ever since. It was the Jeff Buckley version from his Grace album (used in that episode) that I fell in love with back then. I will get in the mood and just play it over and over and over and over while I work on the computer. (I do that with certain other music, too, depending on my mood, but at least I use headphones, if anyone else is around.)
I was a bit surprised a couple of years ago to hear an edited version in the Shrek movie. More recently, I went on YouTube and listened to some other renditions from people like k.d. lange and Cohen himself. I still think Buckley nailed it best in the Grace version, but maybe it’s just because that’s the one I’m used to hearing, so I naturally prefer it.
The song has been covered by nearly 200 artists and is said to have sold 5 million copies. My favorite version is Cohen’s from Live in London. There are more than 80 verses, but most sing those few made famous in the first recording, by John Cale in 1991. (Even Cohen sings those verses.)
According to Wikipedia, it’s Cale’s version in the movie Shrek but Rufus Wainwright’s on the soundtrack album.
Like much of Cohen’s lyrics, no one is quite sure what it means. I have an idea though.
You should check out Brandi Carlile’s version. It’s wonderful.
I’ll have to admit I had never heard of this. I’ve only listened to a couple and I like them.
You mentioned the number of artists who covered this song.
FYI the song that has the rep of being the most covered is:
Cucurrucucu paloma written by Tomas Mendes for a movie of the same name that came out in the early 1950’s.
This is a clip from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHq1PnEQZ6k
This is a version with better audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHW-q8oD3gE
I have a collection of these that now includes 110 different versions.