The Holy or The Broken Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Hallelujah story

 The Holy or The Broken Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Hallelujah story

  By Alan Light

The complete title is The Holy Or The Broken Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and The Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah. Now that’s a mouthful. But now that I’ve read it I like to think of being called: The Holy or the Profane How Bono Single-handedley Slaughtered, Butchered and Served Up Cold the song Hallelujah. 

I was aware that Leonard Cohen had written this song and I have, of course, heard several versions of it including the one by Jeff Buckley. How could you be an adult after 94 and not have heard it? It is not a song that is high on my list of favorites but it exists and the story behind it is much more fascinating than I could have imagined. But is it enough to hold together a book?

As I do with all songs or artists I read about, I listen to their music while reading the book. I have no idea how many renditions of the song I have heard but was far, far too many. Although, there was one surprise in the bunch. Rufus Wainwright did a wonderful job on his take on the tune.  

Obviously, the book is about Jeff Buckley's version but Mr. Light explores every conceivable version by a major artist. I happen to be a fan of Cohen's version as it contains more humor than the Buckley take. Light is clearly a fan of Buckley and his interpretation of the song.

Alan Light takes us deep into the construction of the song including, what seems like, over a hundred different verses of the song. Sure I’m joking about the number but it was high. It seems Cohen was never completely finished with the song. Yes, he recorded a version but he would change and add some in some of his live shows.

The version by Buckley has sort of become the standard way of singing the song and that changes the meaning of the song. The Broken Mr. Buckley turns his stripped-downed version into a sexual hymn.  

While recording very short histories of Cohen, Buckley, and the song we learn of all the versions that have ever been created. Maybe not but it seems like it. Sadly, I listen to many of them during my reading of the text.

As I mentioned earlier, I always listen to music related to what I’m reading. I listened to many, many, oh so many versions. So I feel I can say with total confidence that Bono butchered his version of Hallelujah. This must be the single worst thing Bono has ever recorded.  It is actually painful to listen to which is sad because this is Bono Vox. The voice of U2.

This is such a slim volume and it does have some padding in it. It might have made a good read as a long magazine article. Leave out the fluff and you would have a much shorter and snappier read. That would mean leaving out some of the references to Dylan. Dylan and Cohen are often compared by music lovers and they get talked about together here. Is this comparison just? Maybe within the confines of this one song. But beyond that Cohen has just never impressed me like Dylan. 

Mr. Leonard Cohen’s tune has become ubiquitous in society. But it is usually the Buckley version that folks try to perform. Seldom does anyone top the religious and sexual fever that Buckley sings of. Not everyone fails. JJ Cale turned in a wonderful version.

It’s fun to learn that this song was a failure, no one cared that Cohen had released the song. No one cared until Buckley recorded it. Many folks believed that it was written by Jeff Buckley because he inhabited the song. It almost feels like a story from his life. There are some other decent versions out there like Rufus but not many. 

As great and omnipresent as the song Hallelujah is it is still just one song. It is barely enough to hold together the book. Barely. I would argue that are better songs for a book treatment but if you love this song by anyone then grab this book. You’ll enjoy it.

If you happen to like the Bono version . . . Well, Mr. Paul Hewson has an apology you need to hear. Bono knows he messed up. Oh, he knows. . .