Best Cover Version Of Cohen's "Hallelujah"

[orson198305]

Ok let fighting commence, what a great song it is, but who's cover do you prefer? it's been covered by so many artists (I could not list them all).

Well i voted for Jeff Buckley, do you disagree? Then explain yourself!!

 

[orson198305]

This was meant be a poll, but i pretty much fucked it up, here's a reminder of coverors;

Jeff Buckley
John Cale
Bono hahahaha
Rufus Wainwright
Dylan

etc

Sorry

 

[32-20-Blues]

Basically, the covers are irrelevant. Cohen's original is genius. Buckley is just so fucking ubiquitous these days. Christ, I hope I die young so people will conveniently disregard the fact that I was at best an average songwriter.

There, I said it.

Come get me America.

 

[hand in glove]

Hands down the Jeff version is the best. That was pieced together but by several takes mind you, i can't remember the exact amount something like 7 takes? But either way its my favourite version.

Such a perfectionist that man.

 

[rayc]

I have to agree that Cohen's original is best - better than his live version too.
BUT of the covers there are 2 that are
Worthy of Recognition (in order of merit):

The John Cale LIVE version
&
The John Cale STUDIO version.

To use al old antipodean term...

Jeff has Buckley's chance.
(colloquial reference meaning NO CHANCE at ALL - even though , truth be told the afforementioned Buckely - an escaped convict - did have a slim & rather delayed opportunity to return to freedom - after 30 years living in the bush with an aboriginal tribe he returned to town & was granted his freedom having been "lost" for longer than his sentence.)

We also have another interestingly appropriate term to "Jeff" something. Named after a former state premier (Gov.), Jeff Kennett, who had a tendency to stuff things up.
On that basis the Jeff Buckely version is a) stuffed & b) no chance.

 

[orson198305]

Basically, the covers are irrelevant. Cohen's original is genius. Buckley is just so fucking ubiquitous these days. Christ, I hope I die young so people will conveniently disregard the fact that I was at best an average songwriter.

There, I said it.

Come get me America.

The cover versions are very relevant, cohen wrote many more verses than you hear from his studio recording. Other artists have used different verses to create something different. One of the great things about the song is it's ability to be taken one way or the other. Atmosperically, i think jeff buckley's version is better. Are you disregarding all cover versions because someone else wrote the song? Disregarding Cobains "the man who sold the world". etc

 

[32-20-Blues]

The cover versions are very relevant, cohen wrote many more verses than you hear from his studio recording. Other artists have used different verses to create something different. One of the great things about the song is it's ability to be taken one way or the other. Atmosperically, i think jeff buckley's version is better. Are you disregarding all cover versions because someone else wrote the song? Disregarding Cobains "the man who sold the world". etc

No, not because somebody else wrote the song; in no way would that preclude an appreciation for any version in my mind.

What bothers me is that Buckley polished up a fairly difficult piece of music and in some way watered it down. I have played Cohen's original for people who had never heard it, and they intensely disliked it because they had become so conditioned to Buckley's delivery.

Ireland has a massive, boring, singer songwriter scene. Nowadays, nobody is anybody until they have thrown their version of this into the ring. You can go out for a night and without fail hear this played five or six times, badly. I suppose it's a case of familiarity breeding contempt.

I am well aware of the fact that Cohen wrote many more verses than he actually sings, some of which are, in my opinion, better than the ones he chooses to include on the studio version.

Basically, it's a re-telling of the biblical Bathsheeba as temptress motif that was also alluded to in the novel 'Far From the Madding Crowd'.

 

[orson198305]

Do you not see anything of beuty (dyslexia strikes again) in buckley's version though? I'm posative the increased audience in jeffs park is not solely down to the fact of having a pretty face & polished recording for the gen. public to attach to. They are very different versions.

 

[TelePaul]

Do you not see anything of beuty (dyslexia strikes again) in buckley's version though? I'm posative the increased audience in jeffs park is not solely down to the fact of having a pretty face & polished recording for the gen. public to attach to. They are very different versions.

Jeff Buckley is one of the most amazing guitar players ever. Forget his incredible vocal range a moment, his embellishments and inversions within simple chord work are a thing to behold. If you really wanna hear this, check out the special edition of Live at Sin é. Definetely my all time favourite album. Jeff's re-working of the melody is beautiful, and the entire production of Grace as an album is, dare i say it, perfect. Cohen has a distinct voice, so does Jeff Buckley....Buckleys is just more pleasant to listen to! I think that his version of Hallelujah is just one of those songs....you can recall the first time you heard it, and people stop and listen when you put it on the radio.

Cohens is a masterpiece, yes. It's dark and brooding and soaked in the brilliance of the 80s...the chorus swells and synths of the live version, which I would recommend. And eluding to what was said earlier, Cohens version borders on scorn, where Jeff paints a picture of pure loneliness. The differences ae numerous, but subtle. For me...it has to be Buckley. Theres something so pure about one custom Telecaster and a Fender Tube amp...the breath into the mic in the beginning and the stuttered handling of the masterful bridge...blows away the concept of covers being naturally inferior. Thank you Jeff Scott Buckley.

 

[Jahn]

Jeff Buckley's is still my fave cover, but K.D. Lang's version on "Hymns from the 38th Parallel" is very soothing.

 

[timboZ]

I think Jeff's version is awesome.
I saw this chick Brandy Carlisle (she opened for Howie Day) do a great version of it live. I taped the show. Gotta see if I can find it.

On the Christian group side I think Lincoln Brewster version is the best.

 

[demensia]

You guys have to be kidding, I think Cohen's version sounds like absolute dogshit.
He sounds like a god damn 70's porn star trying to sing.

Buckly has the best cover, by far.

I'm going to release a cover of it too... Not that there aren't enough...

 

[TelePaul]

You guys have to be kidding, I think Cohen's version sounds like absolute dogshit.
He sounds like a god damn 70's porn star trying to sing.

Buckly has the best cover, by far.

I'm going to release a cover of it too... Not that there aren't enough...

Okay youre totally seperating the singer from the songwriter. Thats something you can't do when it comes to music. Dont forget, its Cohens creation.

 

[32-20-Blues]

You guys have to be kidding, I think Cohen's version sounds like absolute dogshit.
He sounds like a god damn 70's porn star trying to sing.

And therein lies the genius. Cohen is, after all, as he says himself 'a ladies man'. The erotic, that teeters on the brink of depravity, is lost in Buckley's immature rendition - Christ, he sounds like a whining virgin. Cohen has fucked his way around enough to know what exactly it was like when he 'moved in' his woman. Buckley likes the idea, but hasn't been there.

 

[32-20-Blues]

Okay youre totally seperating the singer from the songwriter. Thats something you can't do when it comes to music. Dont forget, its Cohens creation.

Bollocks to that, of course you can, it's how you judge a song.

 

[TelePaul]

Bollocks to that, of course you can, it's how you judge a song.

You did it yourself in the last post, you inferred the image of ladies man upon Cohen and whining virgin upon Buckley. You yourself have looked beyond the song to further your understanding of Cohens 'genius'.

 

[32-20-Blues]

You did it yourself in the last post, you inferred the image of ladies man upon Cohen and whining virgin upon Buckley. You yourself have looked beyond the song to further your understanding of Cohens 'genius'.

Not quite. If you look at the post you will see that I based my assumption entirely on the song, not on what I knew otherwise about the artists. Thus, what I analysed was what Buckley 'sounds like', not what he actually is like.

 

[grn]

I like Rufus' version best.

 

[TelePaul]

Not quite. If you look at the post you will see that I based my assumption entirely on the song, not on what I knew otherwise about the artists. Thus, what I analysed was what Buckley 'sounds like', not what he actually is like.

"Cohen is, after all, as he says himself 'a ladies man' "

This isn't how he sounds, its what he is....hence the use of such a word.

 

[32-20-Blues]

"Cohen is, after all, as he says himself 'a ladies man' "

This isn't how he sounds, its what he is....hence the use of such a word.

Actually, I was referring to an album title. Thus judging on the basis of work alone.

You really won't win this one.