The recent death of Leonard Cohen has caused me to reflect on a few things. I was reminded of something I wrote that was published by the South Bend Tribune on June 15, 2010. I wrote:
"Over the last few months, I've
discovered an alarming trend that I feel is a problem and a blight
not just on our culture, but on our society as a whole. Something
desperately needs to be done about it.
"I'm speaking, of course, of other artists covering Leonard Cohen's 1985 song, 'Hallelujah.'
"There’ve been many covers of it over the years and until about a year and a half ago, I even claimed I'd never heard a bad one.
"I’m a big fan of some of the artists (like Willie Nelson) and completely ambivalent to others (like Rufus Wainwright). Bon Jovi I've never really liked (although I think they've gotten better with age). Yet I enjoyed every version of 'Hallelujah' I'd heard.
"Then Il Divo came along. Not only did they butcher the song in ways that made actual butchers jealous, but they had the unmitigated audacity to do it in Italian.
"Since then it seems as though anyone with a pretty voice has taken it upon themselves to record this song, especially if it's a group of four or more classically trained male tenors.
"Because of her performance of it at the Olympics this year, k.d. lang has had a tremendous surge in record sales. Everybody thinks it's something new — which is really funny to me because she recorded it six years ago.
"I'm speaking, of course, of other artists covering Leonard Cohen's 1985 song, 'Hallelujah.'
"There’ve been many covers of it over the years and until about a year and a half ago, I even claimed I'd never heard a bad one.
"I’m a big fan of some of the artists (like Willie Nelson) and completely ambivalent to others (like Rufus Wainwright). Bon Jovi I've never really liked (although I think they've gotten better with age). Yet I enjoyed every version of 'Hallelujah' I'd heard.
"Then Il Divo came along. Not only did they butcher the song in ways that made actual butchers jealous, but they had the unmitigated audacity to do it in Italian.
"Since then it seems as though anyone with a pretty voice has taken it upon themselves to record this song, especially if it's a group of four or more classically trained male tenors.
"Because of her performance of it at the Olympics this year, k.d. lang has had a tremendous surge in record sales. Everybody thinks it's something new — which is really funny to me because she recorded it six years ago.
"A friend and colleague recently
said that only two people should be allowed to do this song: Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley — and Buckley is dead! Even though I do like
k.d. lang's version, I'm beginning to think he's right.
"There are just too many covers of 'Hallelujah' now and, with the exception of Willie Nelson, they all seem to try to model themselves after Buckley's version.
"What's most disturbing is that the song is used in countless movie and television productions — but not Cohen's version. If this is because they can't get the rights, fine. But I strongly suspect it's because Cohen's voice isn't as pretty as Rufus Wainwright's.
"Cohen is the Canadian Bob Dylan — he writes amazing songs, yet he can't really sing. The most beautiful thing about this is that, somehow, this makes the songs even better. An almost world-weary soulfulness comes out of his voice that makes up for the lack of proficiency.
"But, then again, I'm drawn to artists that had a career before Simon Cowell was around to tell us what was 'good.'
"Most of my favorites would never make it on 'American Idol' — Cohen is one of the big ones. And 'Hallelujah' is the greatest ’80s rock power ballad ever — one that puts all the hair-metal bands of that era to shame. It's not supposed to be sung with a pretty voice. It's supposed to be ragged."
"There are just too many covers of 'Hallelujah' now and, with the exception of Willie Nelson, they all seem to try to model themselves after Buckley's version.
"What's most disturbing is that the song is used in countless movie and television productions — but not Cohen's version. If this is because they can't get the rights, fine. But I strongly suspect it's because Cohen's voice isn't as pretty as Rufus Wainwright's.
"Cohen is the Canadian Bob Dylan — he writes amazing songs, yet he can't really sing. The most beautiful thing about this is that, somehow, this makes the songs even better. An almost world-weary soulfulness comes out of his voice that makes up for the lack of proficiency.
"But, then again, I'm drawn to artists that had a career before Simon Cowell was around to tell us what was 'good.'
"Most of my favorites would never make it on 'American Idol' — Cohen is one of the big ones. And 'Hallelujah' is the greatest ’80s rock power ballad ever — one that puts all the hair-metal bands of that era to shame. It's not supposed to be sung with a pretty voice. It's supposed to be ragged."
What was amazing to me was that a year prior to my writing that, Cohen himself asked artists to stop covering his song (you can read more at http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/leonard-cohen-asks-for-brief-halt-to-new-covers-of-hallelujah-20090710). Apparently no one listened to either me or the writer of the song himself. By the end of 2010 I discovered at least two new recordings of the song —one of them by Susan Boyle who released it on her Christmas album. A friend of mine actually told me that this was the biggest selling Christmas song in the UK. Not a bad feat for a song that not only is not a Christmas song, but was written by a Jewish Buddist (Jewddhist?).
After Cohen's death, I posted to Facebook a plea to musicians everywhere to not record more unnecessary covers of the song. My pleas have apparently fallen on deaf ears as I've already heard it on yet another Christmas album (to reiterate: THIS IS NOT A CHRISTMAS SONG!!!!). In all fairness, I'm sure that the recording was done before Cohen passed, but that's no excuse. I made my initial plea for a moratorium on this six and a half years ago and Cohen (to reiterate: he's the song's composer) made the same plea the year before. If they're not going to listen to me, the least they could do is listen to the man who wrote the damn song!
You would think that after the hundredth, or even the fiftieth, recording that any artist worth their salt would think that any more covers of this song would really be white noise. Apparently, I'm wrong on that front. In the years since I wrote my piece for the Tribune, I would conservatively estimate that at least fifty more artists have recorded the song.
The sad thing is that, in my humble opinion, it's not even Cohen's best work. Since his death, his 1988 song "Tower of Song" has become my new jam. It was already one of my favourites to begin with, but it's now taken on new meaning for me since his passing (you can check out a live performance at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WirxqAn7Ck8 if you don't believe me). After listening to his new album, You Want it Darker (a stunningly beautiful work of art), "Tower of Song" managed to bring me to tears.
Not that I expect any musicians out there to listen to me (and I'm sure those of you who know me are tired of me bitching about it), but once again I ask anyone with an ounce of musical talent to not record the song, although I'll be the first to admit to understanding the urge to do so. If you feel compelled to cover a Leonard Cohen song--as opposed to, say, God forbid, writing and recording something new that no one has ever heard before--pick something else. I might recommend "So Long, Marianne," "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," "Everybody Knows," "Who By Fire," or "Ain't No Cure For Love"... just to name a few.
Please, I beseech you, leave this song alone for a change. Give its author some dignity.
