emily lynch

“Hallelujah”

Here’s a video I did a while ago of me covering this song, but I thought I’d dig it back up for a little blog feature today. 

For some reason this song always makes me think of the holiday season (probably because it was in one of the Shrek movies that I saw one Christmas day-ha!), thus the reason for the timing of the post. Sadly, most people ONLY recognize it as the song that was on Shrek! That’s okay though. :) It’s timeless.

Let me give you a little background of how this song came to be so popular.

“Hallelujah” was written by Leonard Cohen and originally released on his studio album Various Positions in 1984. It was re-recorded and made famous by John Cale, which led to the later done by Jeff Buckley. Many different versions of the song were recorded and the lyrics and meaning shifted a bit with each artist. The song was originally written with many biblical references by Cohen that turned into other interpretations. John Cale’s cover in 1991 promoted a sense of “soberness and sincerity”. Buckley’s version turned into a “very sexual” composition about relationships. Rufus Wainwright did an interpretation of the song that was deemed “purifying and almost liturgical”. 

Most people recognize the tune as the famous Jeff Buckley version from his 1994 album Grace. The song has been performed and/or recorded by many other famous artists including Bob Dylan, Allison Crowe, Brandi Carlile, Willie Nelson, Bon Jovi,  Justin Timberlake, Damien Rice, Alexandra Burke, Kate Voegele, Paramore, and many others. 

Hope you enjoy!!!

xo,

em