Hallelujuah - A History of

It all started in 1984 when Leonard Cohen the Canadian singer song writer released the song on his album Various Positions. The song took over a year for Cohen to write and at the time he wrote 80 verses before finally cutting it down to the final version.

Since 1984 the song has been covered over 170 times. What is it about this song that has proved to be so appealing to so many people. Is it the powerful lyrics that inspire and resonate of spritualism and symbolism.

Cohen's Version



In 1994 Jeff Buckley released his cover version. What is now seen as the most definitive version screams of depth and passion and embodies the original version with a real soul. Buckley's version has been voted as one of the best songs ever by Rolling Stone magazine at 259 in its ranking of 500.
Buckley recorded 20 versions of the song in the studio before he was satisifed , eventually 3 different versions were used together.

Buckley posthumously achieved his first number one when his version of "Hallelujah " reached the top of the charts in March 2008.





Another recognisable version is that of Rufus Wainwright, brought to the publics attention after being used in the film Shrek in 2001.




This version features Askil Holm, Espen Lind and Alejandro Fuentes and Kurt Nilsen, winner of World Idol beating out more favoured rivals Kelly Clarkson and Will Young.



In 2008 The X Factor selected Hallelujah as its winner's song. In the Final Boyband JLS and Alexandra Burke both sang versions in a bid to claim the final votes of the public.

JLS



Alexandra




Alexandra won the public vote and her version was released on digital downloads at midnight on the 13/12/08. It has already become the fastest selling download song and is set to become number 1 for the prestigious christmas number 1. The release of The X Factor winner song has sparked interest in the previous versions. With the midweek chart reports showing Buckley's version at number 3 and Leonard Cohen's original also in the top 40. There is a strong possibility that Burke and Buckley could be number 1 and 2 at the weekend.