Light, Alan. The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah.” Atria: S. & S. Dec. 2012. 272p. ISBN 9781451657845. $25.
Yet when iconoclastic rocker Leonard Cohen first wrote and recorded the song “Hallelujah,” it attracted little attention or airplay, not even making it onto his own “Best of” album. How did one unknown song become an international anthem for human triumph and tragedy, one which each successive generation feels they have discovered and claimed as uniquely their own?
Through in-depth interviews with the people who were actually there, Alan Light—one of the foremost music journalists working today—follows “Hallelujah”’s improbable and epic journey straight to the heart of popular culture. The Holy or the Broken not only gives insight into how great songs come to be, but how they come to be listened to and forever reinterpreted.
Ok maybe I am biased but I think this will be a fascinating read and I will be pre-ordering in the hope it will have arrived in my letterbox by the time I return from seeing Leonard in Canada
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Alexis
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Holy halloween hangovers! This author must have seen 'em coming...$25.00 for a book on "Hallelujah" when you can buy Sylvie Simmons book for a few dollars more (and her two pages on the subject seemed to be stretching it). In my personal opinion, here - off the top of my head - is everything I think you need to know about "Hallelujah":
"Hallelujah" was first heard on Leonard's "Various Positions" LP in 1985...I believe it was the opening track on side 2. It combined a droll humour with religiosity and was based on the story of David and Bathsheba (get yer Bibles out!). At some point in the Eighties Leonard added an extra verse that gave the song a more secular and passionate feel. We were introduced to this at his live concerts. It appropriately combined the aforemenioned droll humour with genuine suffering and spiritual yearning. The first name recording of the song (the extended version) was by John Cale and appeared on the punk LC tribute album "I'm Your Fan". For many years, Cale used it as an encore, and the song's inclusion added an unforseen spiritual dimension to his work, considering that most of his songs were of a much darker nature. It remains the best and generally most worthwhile cover version. It should also be noted that Bob Dylan at one time played a rather nondescript live version of the song.
"Hallelujah" got wider recognition in the 1990's when Jeff Buckley recorded it on "Grace". It gained an added poignancy when Jeff followed his father Tim to an early afterlife. Buckley's ethereal choir boy version was very affecting, but something had already been lost from the original intent of the song (it was turning into a more conventional hymn). At this stage the song was also released into the wider collective - something that would ultimately affect the fate of the song as well as Leonard's future career. The first female version I believe was by Julie Felix. She sang the word "Hallelujah" in a rather odd way, but this version had the value of adding the female component to the holy trinity of Cohen, Cale and Buckley (and Julie had, after all, gained her credentials by introducing Leonard to the U.K. on her BBC TV show in the Sixties). Another moving version was by a young Swedish singer, Sofia Petterson, whose boyfriend (a member of the Stockholm Strings and Horns) died in the tsunami of 2004 after playing on Brian Wilson's "Smile". The song reached an even wider and younger audience when Rufus Wainwright's version was used on the Shrek CD.
The last marginally credible version of the song (I've only heard it once) was by K.D.Lang. Bono also recorded an attrocious hip hop version on (yet another) Leonard sampler, "Tower of Song". This could feasibly have killed the song forever, but it went on to be recorded by umpteen squillion other people - most successfully by Alexanda Burke who had a Christmas No. 1 with it, after her version won the X-Factor. By now, the words "how to shoot at someone who outdrew you" had become "how to shoot somebody who outdrew you". Nonetheless, the public's embracing of the song, clearly reflected a deep spiritual need. Since Leonard had apparently lost the rights to the song, and Simon Cowell now had shares in it, it helped to make him even more filthily rich. Since then, even Leonard has been quoted as saying that the song should be given a rest. Despite it all, he re-claimed "Hallelujah" by giving it one of his best ever interpretations at his first concert at the O2 in 2008 (recorded on "Live in London"). Ultimately, the song says it all - though it's doubtful if any Leonard followers still have much inclination to hear it, except when they hear him sing it in concert.
So will there be a demand for a whole book on the song? Possibly yes, considering the daily outpouring of overkill, repetition, trivia, and general "Leonard wanking" that one finds on the internet. I may even buy it myself when it reaches a remaindered price of £3.00, as another Leonard biography titled "Hallelujah" has recently done!
All good things, John E
Last edited by John Etherington on Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:09 am, edited 6 times in total.
John Etherington wrote:The song reached an even wider and younger audience when Rufus Wainwright's version was used in the first Shrek movie.
Thanks for that summary of the history of Hallelujah, John. A minor correction though. If I'm not mistaken, a John Cale recording of Hallelujah appears in the actual Shrek movie soundtrack. At least that's my recollection of the movie I've watched in the past - it features quite prominently towards the end of the film so I can even sort of bring it to mind in the intermingling of animated images and a distinctive Welsh singing tone as I type. For some reason this was replaced by Rufus Wainwright's version on the audio CD release of the soundtrack. Presumably because Rufus' vocal was considered more commercial than John's.
You're right - I wrote that from memory, and thought it was the other way round (i.e. Wainwright in movie and Cale on CD). I've corrected it above, to avoid confusion.
Now that I've read your synopsis, I don't need to buy the book - thank you.
Warmest regards,
Mary
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thank you so much for the read on hallelujah history.
I was on the nov 8 concert in San Jose HP hall.
Leonard was great, great, great, everything was absolute perfection!
“The reason I did ‘Hallelujah’ was because of the song, and not because of Leonard,” he told MTV’s 120 Minutes alternative video show. “But you can’t help but admire him.”
- thank you.
