While Leonard Cohen’s work was always admired by a certain strata of folkie and lit major, he didn’t exactly tear up the pop charts. In 1991, a number of artists collaborated on a tribute album called I’m Your Fan, each covering a different Cohen track. (R.E.M. was the only household name on there, offering their take on “First We Take Manhattan.”) John Cale, the Welsh-born, former member of The Velvet Underground whose decades of outstanding solo work rarely breaks out of the public radio arena, recorded a stripped-down and even sadder version of “Hallelujah.” Ten years later it was used in a “dark moment” when Mike Meyers’s foible-prone ogre Shrek blows his stack. (Incidentally, Rufus Wainwright re-recorded it for the soundtrack album.)
“Hallelujah” is, of course, a beautiful song, and after its curious appearance in Shrek, attention was drawn particularly to Jeff Buckley’s version from the 1994 album Grace. That recording was eventually released as a single in 2007, and in 2008 Jason Castro performed the song on American Idol to great attention.
Others who have covered it include k.d. lang, Bob Dylan, Regina Spektor, Willie Nelson, and Bon Jovi. It’s shown up in Lord of War, Sing (yes, a second animated film), The West Wing, Scrubs, General Hospital, The O.C. and Sense8.
The song might be a little too perfect, as it seems appropriate for occasions both celebratory and solemn. There was also Kate McKinnon’s version as Hillary Clinton after the 2016 election.
We’ll need to wait until next year to see if “Hallelujah” makes it into #TheSnyderCut.
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