Your Faith Was Strong, But You Needed Proof

Roger Bourland has posted seven YouTube performances of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah": Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Sheryl Crow, Allison Crowe, kd lang, Rufus Wainwright, and John Cale.

All seven are compelling, but huge John Cale fan that I am, I intended to post the Cale version below, proclaiming it the most deeply felt. Then I heard kd lang sing it.

COMMENTS
Monty's picture

Besides her gifted voice, and that's an understatement, she has what separates the truly great singers from the other top 10% in that she can make any song...her song. No matter who did it first and how much you like the original, you gotta have her version. She is far and away my favorite actively performing female vocalist. She ain't no slouch ripping a country song, neither.

Jon Iverson's picture

One of the greatest songs ever written - with probably the best musical/lyrical pun of all time in the first verse.

Arnold Robert Abrams M.D.'s picture

Play the relevant cut from k. d. lang's Hymns of the 49th Parallel on Amazon.Then play this version of the song, sung live at Max Sessions:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlXV19TykLY&mode=related&search=Finally replay the cut you have in your blog. It's a truly great example of an inspired live performance.Lastly, it's an example of Holt's law: the better the performance, the worse the recording.

X