Hallelujah
Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
(6:52)1,817,367 plays (260,136 listeners)
singer-songwriter, beautiful, rock, cover, acoustic… see all
Videos for this track
See more
About this track
“Hallelujah” is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen originally released on his 1984 studio album Various Positions. “Hallelujah” has been covered more than 120 times (counting only recorded, not live, versions) and featured in the soundtracks of numerous movies and television shows.
The original recording is noted for containing biblical references in the lyrics, alluding to David’s harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (I Sam 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof (2 Sam 11:2). The line “she broke your throne and she cut your hair” is a reference to the source of Samson’s strength from the Book of Judges chapter 16. The third verse mentions “the name” (Tetragrammaton). In these instances, the lyrics are overtly sexual. Jeff Buckley called his own rendition of the song an homage to “the hallelujah of the orgasm”.
American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley recorded one of the best-known covers of “Hallelujah” for his 1994 studio album, Grace. Buckley, not wholly satisfied with any one take, recorded the song more than twenty times. Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer Andy Wallace took three of these recordings to create a single track. The result is a sparse-sounding production of vocals and electric guitar, influenced by Cale’s version.
The original recording is noted for containing biblical references in the lyrics, alluding to David’s harp-playing used to soothe King Saul (I Sam 16:23), and his later affair with Bathsheba after watching her bathe from his roof (2 Sam 11:2). The line “she broke your throne and she cut your hair” is a reference to the source of Samson’s strength from the Book of Judges chapter 16. The third verse mentions “the name” (Tetragrammaton). In these instances, the lyrics are overtly sexual. Jeff Buckley called his own rendition of the song an homage to “the hallelujah of the orgasm”.
American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley recorded one of the best-known covers of “Hallelujah” for his 1994 studio album, Grace. Buckley, not wholly satisfied with any one take, recorded the song more than twenty times. Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer Andy Wallace took three of these recordings to create a single track. The result is a sparse-sounding production of vocals and electric guitar, influenced by Cale’s version.
Albums featuring this track
Similar Tracks
| Track | Duration | Listeners | |||
 |
Ryan Adams - Wonderwall full track | 4:07 | 84,761 | ||
| Damien Rice - Delicate | 5:06 | 178,558 | |||
| Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter | 4:42 | 189,116 | |||
|
|
Iron & Wine - Such Great Heights | 4:10 | 186,545 | ||
|
|
Gary Jules - Mad World | 3:03 | 264,607 | ||
| Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You | 2:43 | 127,385 |
Shouts
-
recklessangreal wrote:
Wonderful..
-
Chaot_91 wrote:
Great song!!
-
Raisin-Girl wrote:
Interested in learning guitar step by step ? Basic lessons, and once you've improved, you get to learn harder stuff !!!!! Wanna give it a try ??? Join Guitar for Dummies group !!! In case you don't own your guitar yet, we have a whole buying guide (all price ranges, all types of guitars, all reliable models). Anyone can play guitar, so do you.
-
monstergirl wrote:
♥
-
theeviltenor wrote:
god damn.
-
stop_jackin_it wrote:
Notice how he exhales at the start.
-
StudleyUK wrote:
Not streamable on Last.fm any more? That's almost as emotional as this song.
-
elikum wrote:
הללויה
-
leithy wrote:
great to sleep to
-
redonyou wrote:
the best version hands down
-
Dan78tn wrote:
un altro pianeta!
-
cerii wrote:
<3
-
sound1232 wrote:
i prefer the Rufus Wainwright version
-
bluestockings wrote:
love
-
FreddyAndersson wrote:
♫
-
LadyGalahad wrote:
Coming back to this song after a while it sounds kind of weak and unimpressive. And feels like it goes on for too long, too
-
CapeOfGoodNope wrote:
blinded by the light is just the same
-
c-less wrote:
i've seen this room and i've walked this floor..
-
Foreveryoung__ wrote:
Leonard Cohens version: 199,912 plays, Jeff Buckleys version: 1,741,131 plays... I guess it doesn't happen frequently that a cover has so much more plays than the original..
-
mojigato wrote:
5:44 --> Goosebumps
Listeners
-
rxchy
Listening now
-
Akirschh
Listening now
-
jpx52
Listening now
-
dan_partee87
Top Listener
-
wakachamo
Top Listener
-
xzhh
Top Listener
Recent Activity
- OminousInane and Bakis loved Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah. 4 minutes ago
- mariomash added Hallelujah to mariomash’s library. 3 hours ago
- mjh21, jalopy22 and juhast loved Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah. 4 hours ago
- Catarina_ccm added Hallelujah to Catarina_ccm’s library. 6 hours ago
- DarthStench loved Hallelujah. 6 hours ago
- emilyelove and mequickwantslow added Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah to their libraries. 7 hours ago
- maeveoneill loved Hallelujah. 10 hours ago
- SideFlower added Hallelujah to the playlist STREAM REQUEST PLAYLIST. 10 hours ago
- Twiggy87, AgonY-, Zinder_92 and 3 other people loved Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah. 11 hours ago
- Jodadi, johnrwalker and adatuna added Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah to their libraries. yesterday morning
Related Journals
-
My iTunes Library
by cstclair |
29 Aug 2008 | 
Add comment
-
Update One: The Soundtrack
by Yogodisco |
30 Jul 2008 | 4 comments
-
50 Questions.
by MCR-Whore |
24 Jul 2008 | Add comment
