Leonard Cohen wrote this song so amazingly perfectly that it's sort of singer proof. Anyone, even us amateurs can create an emotional moment singing this. And there's plenty of versions on the web, including the one my oldest son Miles turned me on to and I posted years ago, i.e. Rufus Wainwright's version. But I found this one recorded in Canada several years ago and it moved me to tears. Might do the same for you. And if you watch it all the way to the end and your eyes are still dry, watch it again, the second time's the killer:
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ANOTHER WAY TO PLAY
2000 American Book Award winner
1997 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award "for Excellence in Literature"
just another ex-jazz-musician/proto-rapper/Jersey-Irish-poet-actor/print-junkie/film-raptor/beat-hipster-"white Negro"-rhapsodizer/ex-hippie-punk-'60s-radical-organizer's take on all things cultural, political, spiritual & aggrandizing
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4 comments:
Meanwhile, this video is a big hit in Ireland, subverting the darkness in the original lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYKwqj5QViQ
Meanwhile2, K.D. leaves off the last two verses, which is too band, IMO:
You say I took the name in vain
I don't even know the name
But if I did, well, really, what's it to you?
There's a blaze of light in every word
It doesn't matter which you heard
The holy or the broken Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
Good points Terence, thanks...
Dad, I don't think I turned you onto Rufus' version. It was probably John Cale (a favorite) or Jeff Buckley (also amazing).
Tpw, Those are powerful verses and they are often omitted, not sure why. They get right at the heart of what I love about Cohen's idea of what a Hallelujah can be.
Miles, you turned me on to the Rufus Wainwright version after you saw him perform it live in GB at the Mahawe and were surprised at how much it impressed you and the impact it had on the audience...My guess is you also turned me on to the Cale and/or Buckley versions as well....
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