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Hallelujah for Jeff Buckley

Trying to summarize one of the best songs of all time with only a few words is a daunting task to say the least. It goes without saying that Jeff Buckley was a great singer and songwriter that tragically died before his time. It’s ironic that a man who was such a great writer is most well known for a song that he didn’t pen. “Hallelujah” was originally written and performed by Leonard Cohen, but that’s not the version that Buckley used as his starting point. Instead, he chose to base his recording on John Cale’s version of the song from a Leonard Cohen Tribute album.

Hearing this song for the first time is a moving experience. Buckley’s voice captures the essence of sorrow, and the echo effect on the vocals further enhance the emotion. Buckley has said that the song is about the “hallelujah of the orgasm,” but that seems less and less the case upon each listen. His tone does come off as sensuous at times, but more often than not, it’s just plain sad. You may disagree with every word of my analysis of the song, but that doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that this song is truly one of the greatest ever, sung by a man who died far too soon.

STREAM: Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

Posted by Cory Roop on Mar 24, 2008 @ 12:00 am