Very few performers get "Hallelujah" right. What is, really, a nasty, bleak, and bitter song is all too often transformed into a turgid power ballad. And that's unfortunate, because to hear Leonard Cohen's original, you know it wasn't all about grandiose emotion.
Now is a good time, I suppose, to let you in on one of my secret pop culture transgressions: I'm a child of the 90s and I hate Jeff Buckley's take on the Cohen classic. I'm pretty sure this is the one that spawned a thousand terrible "Hallelujahs." So what are some successful versions? John Cale's, from Fragments of a Rainy Season stands heads above most and, at least in my eyes, is the definitive "Hallelujah" cover. That Cale and Cohen have similar "dark" voices is a huge part of that. He doesn't deviate much from the original, and gives it an upscale touch:
Kathryn Williams does a great version, too, keeping it sparse and simple. Lovely:
Yasmin Levy mixes Flamenco, Jazz and traditional Sephardic music to create a modern take:
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