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{{short description|1984 single by Leonard Cohen}}{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

factoids

HTTPS://WWW.ROLLINGSTONE.COM/FEATURE/HOW-LEONARD-COHENS-HALLELUJAH-BRILLIANTLY-MINGLED-SEX-RELIGION-194516/WEBSITE=ROLLINGSTONE.COMACCESS-DATE=24 APRIL 2021, | studio =| venue =| genre = Folk rock| length = 4:39Columbia Records>Columbia| writer = Leonard Cohen| producer = John Lissauer| prev_title =| prev_year =| next_title =| next_year =| misc =}}"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, originally released on his album Various Positions (1984). Achieving little initial success, the song found greater popular acclaim through a new version recorded by John Cale in 1991. Cale's version inspired a 1994 recording by Jeff Buckley that in 2004 was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".The song achieved widespread popularity after Cale's version of it was featured in the 2001 film Shrek.NEWS, Fetters, Ashley, How Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Became Everybody's 'Hallelujah',weblink 3 November 2015, The Atlantic, Emerson Collective, Washington DC, 2 December 2012, NEWS, Singer backs Welsh 'Hallelujah',weblink 3 November 2015, BBC, 7 November 2008, Many other arrangements have been performed in recordings and in concert, with more than 300 versions known as of 2008.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080607153922weblink">weblink dead, 7 June 2008, A Thousand Covers Deep: Leonard Cohen Covered by Other Artists, Arjatsalo, J., Riise, A., & Kurzweil, K., 6 November 2012, The Leonard Cohen files, The song has been used in film and television soundtracks and televised talent contests. "Hallelujah" experienced renewed interest following Cohen's death in November 2016 and re-appeared on international singles charts, including entering the American Billboard Hot 100 for the first time.{{TOC limit|3}}

History

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}}Cohen is reputed to have written around 80 to as many as 180 draft verses for "Hallelujah"—a number affected by the accounting question that he had many versions of the same line. Cohen is said to have claimed 150 draft verses, a claim substantiated by his notebooks containing manifold revisions and additions, and by contemporary interviews.NEWS, Zuel, Bernard, Why Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah endures 56 years since it was written,weblink The Sydney Morning Herald, July 11, 2022,weblink July 15, 2022, live, In a writing session in New York's Royalton Hotel, Cohen is famously said to have been reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, filling notebooks, banging his head on the floor.NEWS, Laura, Barton, Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll,weblink The Guardian, 18 December 2008,weblink July 2, 2022, live, Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine, creators of the 2022 documentary film (Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song), said that Cohen took about five years to write the song, and reconfigured it numerous times for performances.NEWS, Rapold, Nicolas, Trying to Capture the Life and Lyrics of That Wry Sage Leonard Cohen,weblink The New York Times, July 1, 2022,weblink July 1, 2022, live, Unlike some other songs that became anthems, "Hallelujah" initially was on an album that was rejected by Columbia Records,WEB, McMillan, Matthew, We wanted people to understand Leonard Cohen, the man: Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller on Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song (interview),weblink The Upcoming,weblink September 19, 2022, September 19, 2022, live, was largely ignored after an independent label released it, was not widely covered until John Cale's 1991 version, and did not reach the Billboard charts until Cohen's death in 2016.NEWS, LeDonne, Rob, 'More than a song': the enduring power of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah,weblink The Guardian, June 29, 2022,weblink July 3, 2022, live, Reflecting on the song's initial rejection, Cohen related that Columbia told him that "we know you are great, but don't know if you are any good".NEWS, Brooks, Richard, Hallelujah! Leonard Cohen's almighty struggle with rejected song that became a classic,weblink The Guardian, September 17, 2022,weblink September 17, 2022, live, Following his original 1984 studio-album version, Cohen performed the original song on his world tour in 1985, but live performances during his 1988 and 1993 tours almost invariably contained a quite different set of lyrics. Numerous singers mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes; for example, in place of Cohen's "holy dove", Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright substituted "holy dark", while Canadian singer-songwriter Allison Crowe sang "holy ghost".

Musical composition and lyrical interpretation

"Hallelujah", in its original version, is in {{music|time|12|8}} time, which evokes both early rock and roll and gospel music. Written in the key of C major, the chord progression of C, F, G, A minor, F matches those referenced in the song's famous first verse.AV MEDIA,weblink The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall, 1 November 2008, BBC, WEB, Hallelujah By Leonard Cohen – Meanings And Thoughts,weblink So the fourth and the fifth are the F and the G notes or chords., When at age 50 Cohen first recorded the song, he described it as "rather joyous", and said that it came from "a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way, but with enthusiasm, with emotion." He later said "there is a religious hallelujah, but there are many other ones. When one looks at the world, there's only one thing to say, and it's hallelujah".WEB, Light, Alan, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah": Music's Greatest Work in Progress,weblink Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork,weblink March 7, 2021, November 11, 2016, live, Journalist Larry Sloman, who knew Cohen well and interviewed him often, described the song as one part biblical, one part the woman that Cohen slept with last night,WEB, Cunningham, Nick, Oscar FYC: Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song by Dan Geller & Dayna Goldfine,weblink BusinessDocEurope.com,weblink December 17, 2022, December 13, 2022, live, citing an unidentified critic saying that Cohen was most interested in "holiness and horniness". }}His original version, recorded on his 1984 album Various Positions, contains allusions to several biblical verses, including the stories of Samson and Delilah from the Book of Judges ("she cut your hair") as well as King David and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you").WEB, 21 Nov 2023, Hallelujah By Leonard Cohen – Meanings And Thoughts,weblink Its All About All, It happened one late afternoon, "that David arose off his bed, and was walking around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof, he saw a woman bathes, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon" (2 Samuel 11,2), WEB,weblink 2 Samuel 11 - NIV Bible - In the spring, at the time when kings go off to, Biblestudytools.com, 2017-07-21, Cohen's lyrical poetry and his view that "many different hallelujahs exist" is reflected in wide-ranging covers with very different intents or tones, allowing the song to be "melancholic, fragile, uplifting [or] joyous" depending on the performer: The Welsh singer-songwriter John Cale, the first person to record a cover version of the song (in 1991), promoted a message of "soberness and sincerity" in contrast to Cohen's dispassionate tone; the cover by Jeff Buckley, an American singer-songwriter, is more sorrowful and was described by Buckley as "a hallelujah to the orgasm";MAGAZINE,weblink Hallelujah â€” Jeff Buckley, Rolling Stone, Wenner Media LLC, New York City, 9 December 2004, 11 January 2008, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20060509121355weblink">weblink 9 May 2006, Crowe interpreted the song as a "very sexual" composition that discussed relationships; Wainwright offered a "purifying and almost liturgical" interpretation; and Guy Garvey of the British band Elbow made the hallelujah a "stately creature" and incorporated his religious interpretation of the song into his band's recordings. Noting its inclusion in the 2001 animated movie Shrek and performance in numerous singing competition reality shows, New York Times movie reviewer A. O. Scott wrote that "Hallelujah is one of those rare songs that survives its banalization with at least some of its sublimity intact".NEWS, Scott, A. O., 'Hallelujah' Review: From Leonard Cohen to Cale to Buckley to Shrek,weblink The New York Times, June 30, 2022,weblink July 4, 2022, live, Bob Dylan included the song in some of his set lists in the late 1980s.Canadian singer k.d. lang said in an interview shortly after Cohen's death that she considered the song to be about "the struggle between having human desire and searching for spiritual wisdom. It's being caught between those two places."NEWS,weblink k.d. lang 'nervous' singing Hallelujah for Leonard Cohen, Friend, David, 14 November 2016, The Hamilton Spectator, Metroland Media Group, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 16 November 2016, Former Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page, who sang the song at Canadian politician Jack Layton's funeral, described the song as being "about disappointing [other] people".NEWS, David, Friend,weblink Powerful, essential, cliche: The complex life of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', 11 November 2016, The Times Colonist, Glacier Media, Victoria, British Columbia, 16 November 2016, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161117144854weblink">weblink 17 November 2016, The GuardianBROOKS TITLE=HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG REVIEW – A THOROUGH, RESPECTFUL DOCUMENTARY NEWSPAPER=THE GUARDIAN ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20220919184352/HTTPS://WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM/FILM/2022/SEP/18/HALLELUJAH-LEONARD-COHEN-A-JOURNEY-A-SONG-REVIEW-A-THOROUGH-RESPECTFUL-DOCUMENTARY URL-STATUS=LIVE, | align = right| width = 315px| border = 1px| fontsize = 100%| bgcolor = #f0f0ff| title_bg = #f0f0ff| title_fnt = #202060| qalign = left| salign = right}}The song was the subject of a 2012 book, (The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah'); author Alan Light said that Cohen's "approach to language and craft feel unlike the work of anybody else. They sound rooted in poetry and literature because he studied as a poet and a novelist first." The book served as the basis for the 2022 documentary film (Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song); the film's co-creator said that Cohen "addressed the deepest of our human concerns about longing for connection and longing for some sort of hope, transcendence and acknowledgment of the difficulties of life."Financial Times arts and culture columnist Enuma Okoro wrote that "the lyrics and the tone of the song seem to sway between hymn and dirge, two musical forms that could serve as responses to almost everything that happens in our lives: songs that celebrate and acknowledge the blessings and provisions of our lives, and songs that bemoan our losses, our heartbreaks, and our deaths". Okoro noted that the word (wikt:hallelujah|hallelujah) is composed of two Hebrew words that mean "praise God", adding that Cohen said people have been "singing it for thousands of years to affirm our little journey".NEWS, Okoro, Enuma, Hallelujah and Leonard Cohen's 'secret chord',weblink Financial Times, August 19, 2022,weblink August 20, 2022, live, "The word itself, Hallelujah, composed of the two Hebrew words, hallel (praise) and yah (an abbreviated form of Yahweh, God), literally means to praise God."

Charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"!Chart (1985–2016)!Peakposition! scope="row"| Australia (ARIA)WEB,weblink ARIA CHART WATCH #395, auspOp, 19 November 2016, 19 November 2016, 19 November 2016,weblink dead, | 59{{Single chart|Austria|13|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=24 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Canada|17|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|access-date=22 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Czechdigital|65|year=2016|week=46|rowheader=true|access-date=24 November 2016|refname="cohen czech"}}{{Single chart|Finnishdownload|4|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=20 November 2016}}! scope="row"| France (SNEP)WEB,weblink Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP (Week 46, 2016), Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique, fr, 19 November 2016, | 1{{Single chart|Germany|27|songid=24711|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=18 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Ireland3|55|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|access-date=19 January 2020}}! scope="row"| Italy (FIMI)WEB,weblink Classifica settimanale WK 46, Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, it, 19 November 2016, | 66{{Single chart|Dutch100|27|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=20 November 2016}}! scope="row"| New Zealand Heatseekers (RMNZ)WEB,weblink NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart, Recorded Music NZ, 21 November 2016, 18 November 2016, | 1{{Single chart|Portugal|69|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=30 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Scotland|30|date=2016-11-18|rowheader=true|access-date=19 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Slovakdigital|58|year=2016|week=46|rowheader=true|access-date=24 November 2016|refname="cohen slovak"}}{{Single chart|Spain|3|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=29 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Sweden|16|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=20 November 2016}}{{Single chart|Switzerland|2|artist=Leonard Cohen|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=21 November 2016}}{{Single chart|UKsinglesbyname|36|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|access-date=20 November 2016}}! scope="row"| US Billboard Hot 100MAGAZINE,weblink Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Hits Hot 100 for First Time, Billboard, Trust, Gary, 21 November 2016, 22 November 2016, | 59{{Single chart|Billboardrocksongs|20|artist=Leonard Cohen|rowheader=true|access-date=18 November 2016}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=2016|certref=}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Hallelujah|award=Gold|relyear=1984|certyear=2023|id=13001|access-date=October 4, 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Leonard Cohen|title=Hallelujah|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=2713-2139-1|access-date=November 25, 2022}}{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

Cover versions

Since 1991, "Hallelujah" has been performed by more than 300 singers in many languages. Statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the Australian Recording Industry Association, and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, show that, by late 2008, more than five million copies of the song sold in CD format.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} It has been the subject of a BBC Radio documentary, a book, and been in the soundtracks of numerous films and television programs.Appleyard, Bryan (9 January 2005)."Hallelujah! â€” One Haunting Ballad Has Been the Soundtrack to Many Lives Recently. But Why? Bryan Appleyard on Leonard Cohen's Uber-Song". The Times. Retrieved 13 February 2010. Different interpretations of the song may include different verses, out of the more than 80 verses Cohen originally wrote.In an April 2009 CBC Radio interview, Cohen said he found the number of covers of his song "ironic and amusing", given that his record label refused to release it when he first wrote it; however, he then claimed the song could benefit from a break in exposure:I was just reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it and the reviewer said – "Can we please have a moratorium on 'Hallelujah' in movies and television shows?" And I kind of feel the same way ... I think it's a good song, but I think too many people sing it.CanWest News Service (10 April 2009). weblink" title="archive.today/20130222145413weblink">"Leonard Cohen's Victory March: But Please, No More Hallelujahs". Retrieved 12 July 2009.NEWS,weblink I'm blessed with a certain amnesia, Jian, Ghomeshi, The Guardian, 10 July 2009, 10 July 2009, Conversely, in early 2012, while promoting his then-current album, Old Ideas, Cohen stated he was not tired of the song being covered:There's been a couple of times when other people have said can we have a moratorium please on "Hallelujah"? Must we have it at the end of every single drama and every single Idol? And once or twice I've felt maybe I should lend my voice to silencing it but on second thought no, I'm very happy that it's being sung.NEWS, Dorian, Lynskey,weblink Leonard Cohen: 'All I've got to put in a song is my own experience', The Guardian, London, England, 19 January 2012, 19 January 2012,

John Cale

John Cale's cover first appeared on I'm Your Fan (1991), a Leonard Cohen tribute album, and later on his live album Fragments of a Rainy Season (1992). Cale's version has vocals, piano, and different lyrics that Cohen had only performed live such as "I used to live alone before I knew ya" and "All I ever learned from love was how to shoot at someone who outdrew ya". Cale had watched Cohen perform the song and asked Cohen to send him the lyrics. Cohen then faxed Cale 15 pages of lyrics. Cale claims that he "went through and just picked out the cheeky verses."NEWS, McCormick, Neil,weblink Leonard Cohen: Hallelujah!, 14 June 2008, The Daily Telegraph, 10 May 2010, Cale's version forms the basis of most subsequent performances, including Cohen's performances during his 2008–09 world tour. Cale's version is used in the film Shrek (2001), but Rufus Wainwright's version appears on (Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture|the soundtrack album). Cale's also appears on the first soundtrack album for the TV series ScrubsWEB,weblink Music from Scrubs - Original TV Soundtrack | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, 24 April 2021, AllMusic, MAGAZINE,weblink Top Ten Music Moments on NBC's Scrubs - Staff Top 10, Stylus Magazine, 2017-07-21, 12 January 2012,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120112061027weblink">weblink dead, and as the ending song of the Cold Case episode "Death Penalty, Final Appeal".

Jeff Buckley

factoids

| recorded = Late 1993–94, at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York| studio =| venue =Folk music>alternative rock}}| length = 6:53Columbia Records>Columbia| writer = Leonard CohenAndy Wallace (producer)>Andy Wallace| chronology = Jeff Buckley| prev_title = Forget Her| prev_year = 2004| next_title =| next_year =| misc =}}Jeff Buckley, inspired by Cale's earlier cover, recorded one of the most acclaimed versions of "Hallelujah" for his only complete album, Grace, in 1994. It was released as a single in 2007, ten years after Buckley's death.

Critical reception

In 2004, Buckley's version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The same year Time called Buckley's version "exquisitely sung," observing "Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but ... Buckley treated the ... song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain ... It's one of the great songs."NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070708212256weblink">weblink dead, 8 July 2007, Keeping Up the Ghost, Josh Tyrangiel, 12 December 2004, Time (magazine), Time, 14 February 2010, In September 2007, a poll of fifty songwriters conducted by the magazine Q listed "Hallelujah" among the all-time "Top 10 Greatest Tracks" with John Legend calling Buckley's version "as near perfect as you can get. The lyrics to 'Hallelujah' are just incredible and the melody's gorgeous and then there's Jeff's interpretation of it. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I've ever heard."JOURNAL, 10 Most Perfect Songs Ever, Q, 255, 50,weblink October 2007, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100517060608weblink">weblink 17 May 2010, In July 2009, the Buckley track was ranked number three on the 2009 Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, a listener poll held every decade by the Australian radio station Triple J.WEB,weblink Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009, Web list, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 14 February 2010, In 2017, The International Observer named Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" the greatest song of all time.WEB,weblink 100 Greatest Songs of All Time, Intobserver.com, 2017-05-07,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20170716222322weblink">weblink 16 July 2017, dead, On 2 April 2013, it was announced that Buckley's version of the song will be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.WEB,weblink Hallelujah, the 2013 National Recording Registry Reaches 400, Library of Congress, 2 April 2014,

Commercial performance

Buckley's version was not an instant hit, nor did Buckley live to see the full measure of the reception his recording would ultimately have; he died in 1997. The album on which it appeared did not go gold in the US until 2002, nine years after its release. In fact, like Cohen's original, the Buckley version was not released as a single until much later, and it did not chart until 2006, posthumously for Buckley. In March of that year, Buckley had his first national top 10 best-seller when "Hallelujah" was at number seven in Norway. In 2007, it made the top 3 on the Swedish charts. In March 2008, it topped Billboard's Hot Digital Songs in the US after a performance of the song by Jason Castro in the seventh season of American Idol.NEWS,weblink Jeff Buckley's 'Hallelujah' Becomes America's Number One Digital Song, PR Newswire, 13 March 2008, 6 November 2012, The sudden resurgence of interest provided both Gold and Platinum status, the RIAA certifying the digital track on 22 April 2008.WEB,weblink Gold & Platinum Search Results, 22 April 2008, RIAA, 14 February 2010, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150329084033weblink">weblink 29 March 2015, It has sold 1,144,000 digital copies in the US as of May 2010.NEWS, 'Before He Cheats' tops 3 million, and other 'Idol' download news,weblink Brian Mansfield, Idol Chatter, USA Today, 26 May 2010, It also hit number one in France in March 2008.

Usage in media

The Buckley version has been widely used in film and television dramas, including the movie Lord of War,NEWS, Murray, Nick, How Pop Culture Wore Out Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah',weblink The New York Times, September 19, 2016,weblink July 6, 2022, live, the series The West Wing, Crossing Jordan, Without a Trace, The O.C.,WEB, Ranking the Top 8 Uses of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah",weblink 2022-08-06, Nerdist, en-US, Third Watch, LAX, and Justiça.WEB, Belleze, Carolina, Manuela Aquino, Porque a minissérie "Justiça" será a nova "Verdades Secretas",weblink M de Mulher, Editora Abril, 25 August 2016, pt, 23 August 2016, 20 September 2016,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160920224032weblink">weblink dead, "Hallelujah can be joyous or bittersweet, depending on what part of it you use", Time quoted Buckley's publisher as saying. The magazine opined that its liberal use in some cases was "a tacit admission that neither the writers nor the actors could convey their characters' emotions as well as Buckley."On 20 April 2013, Buckley's version of the song was played at Fenway Park during a tribute honoring the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing before the Red Sox played their first home game following the tragedy.WEB, Mastrodonato, Jason, Boston stronger: Sox pay tribute to victims,weblink MLB.com, 22 April 2013, 23 April 2013,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130423114224weblink">weblink dead,

Charts

{{col-begin}}{{col-2}}

Weekly charts{|class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"

!Chart (2006–16)!Peakposition!scope="row"|Australia (ARIA)WEB,weblinkweblink" title="webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120715140000weblink">weblink dead, 2012-07-15, Australian Recording Industry Association / webarchive.nla.gov.au, 21 September 2012, The ARIA Report – Week Commencing ~ 25 June 2012 ~ Issue #1165, {{cbignore|bot=medic}}70{{single chart|Austria|38|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}!scope="row"|Canadian Digital Songs (Billboard)WEB,weblink AllMusic, 20 January 2012, Jeff Buckley – Charts & Awards – Billboard Singles, |2!scope="row"|European Hot 100 SinglesMAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 20 September 2012, European Hot 100 Singles – Week of January 03, 2009, {{Dead link|date=November 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}|10{{single chart|France|64|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}!scope="row"|France Downloads Chart (SNEP)WEB,weblink Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique, 20 January 2012, Le Classement des téléchargements Single – Semaine du 15/03/2008, fr, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120128163737weblink">weblink 28 January 2012, |1{{single chart|Finland|14|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Ireland2|8|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=19 January 2020}}{{single chart|ItalyFIMI|45|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|year=2014|week=15|chartid=1789}}{{single chart|Dutch100|3|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|New Zealand|22|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|Norway|7|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|Sweden|5|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|Switzerland|38|artist=Jeff Buckley|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}!scope="row"|UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)WEB,weblinkweblink" title="archive.today/20130204042634weblink">weblink dead, 4 February 2013, Official Charts Company, 20 January 2012, Artist Chart History – Jeff Buckley, |2!scope="row"|US Digital Songs (Billboard)MAGAZINE, {{BillboardURLbyName, jeff buckley, Digital Songs, | magazine = Billboard | access-date = 20 January 2012 | title = Jeff Buckley Album & Song Chart History – Digital Songs}}|1{{col-2}}">

Year-end charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"

!Chart (2008)!Position!scope="row"|Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)WEB,weblink Årslista Singlar – År 2008, Sverigetopplistan, sv, 11 May 2020, |100{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=25 December 2014|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|certyear=2014|number=2}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Belgium|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=20 May 2013|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2013|relmonth=2}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|access-date=23 January 2021|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|certyear=2019|number=2}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Denmark|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|award=Platinum|relyear=2007|relmonth=5|certyear=2023|certmonth=09|id=12990|access-date=4 October 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|award=Gold|relyear=2007|certyear=2023|access-date=17 February 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2017|id=5212|access-date=2 January 2018|award=Platinum}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|access-date=20 January 2012|award=Gold|relmonth=2|source=archive}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2009|access-date=20 January 2012|award=Gold}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|access-date=21 March 2023|award=Platinum|id=2713-2833-1|certyear=2018|salesamount=|salesref=}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Jeff Buckley|title=Hallelujah|relyear=2007|certyear=2019|access-date=2 July 2019|award=Platinum|number=2}}{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=yes}}

Rufus Wainwright

(File:Oliver Mark - Rufus Wainwright, Berlin 2010.jpg|alt=Rufus Wainwright by Oliver Mark, Berlin 2010|thumb|Wainwright in 2010)Canadian-American musician and singer Rufus Wainwright had briefly met Jeff Buckley and recorded a tribute song to him after his 1997 death. That song, "Memphis Skyline", referenced Buckley's version of "Hallelujah", which Wainwright would later record, though using piano and a similar arrangement to Cale's. Wainwright's version is included on the album (Shrek: Music from the Original Motion Picture), although it was Cale's version that was used in the film itself.MAGAZINE,weblink How Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Became Everybody's 'Hallelujah', The Atlantic (magazine), The Atlantic, 13 July 2016, The Shrek soundtrack, containing Wainwright's cover, was certified 2× Platinum in the United States in 2003 as selling more than two million copies.Wainwright, his sister Martha Wainwright, and Joan Wasser performed the song in the 2005 film (Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man).In 2016, Wainwright recorded a version of the song with a chorus of 1,500 singers at a disused power station in Toronto.WEB,weblink Choir! Choir! Choir! / Rufus Wainwright + 1500 singers sing HALLELUJAH!, YouTube, 30 June 2016, ">

Charts{|class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!Chart (2007–2010)!Peakposition! scope="row" |UK Singles (Official Charts Company)WEB,weblink officialcharts.com, 21 September 2012, Chart Archive – Rufus Wainwright – Hallelujah, 97! scope="row" |US Hot Rock and Alternative Songs (Billboard)MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 27 June 2020, Rufus Wainwright - Chart History, 16! scope="row" |US Rock Digital Songs (Billboard)MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 21 September 2012, Chart Search Results – Rock Digital Songs 2010-06-05, 11

k.d. lang

In 2004, k.d. lang recorded a version of "Hallelujah" on her album Hymns of the 49th Parallel. She has since sung it at several major events, such as at the Canadian Juno Awards of 2005,WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-21, live, K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, YouTube, 3 April 2007, 1 September 2010, {{cbignore}} where it "brought the audience to its feet for a two-minute ovation."Nonesuch Journal (17 December 2008). "Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah,' a Highlight of K.D. Lang Performances, Hits the 'X Factor'. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Lang also sang it at the 2006 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame when Cohen was inducted into the Hall of Fame."2006 Events," {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213015020weblink |date=13 December 2010 }}. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Cohen's partner, singer Anjani Thomas, said: "After hearing k.d. lang perform that song at the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 2006 we looked at each other and said, 'well, I think we can lay that song to rest now! It's really been done to its ultimate blissful state of perfection'."Wears the Trousers Magazine. (8 July 2008). Anjani Thomas 'Sometimes you just get very lucky'." {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905072850weblink |date=5 September 2009 }}. Retrieved 17 April 2009. Lang sang it at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, before a claimed TV audience of three billion.WEB,weblink k.d. lang Performs 'Hallelujah' at Opening Ceremony of Vancouver Olympics, Nonesuch, 13 February 2010, Lang's rendition of the song has been used several times in figure skating, notably by American skater Mariah Bell and Brazilian skater Isadora Williams.WEB, Associated Press, Mariah Bell becomes oldest US women's figure skating champion since 1927,weblink The Guardian, 12 August 2023, 8 January 2022, WEB, The Olympic Journey of Student Figure Skater Isadora Williams,weblink Montclair State University, 12 August 2023, Montclair, 23 February 2023, Lang again performed the song at the 2017 (Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen) concert."Watch Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen on Wednesday, January 3 on CBC". CBC Arts, 29 December 2017.{{col-begin}}{{col-2}}">

Charts{|class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!Chart (2010)!Peakposition{{Single chart|Australia|13|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Canada|2|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|artistid=306260|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Denmark|40|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Dutch100|23|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Norway|11|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Sweden|12|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Switzerland|21|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Billboardhot100|61|artist=K.D. Lang|song=Hallelujah|artistid=306260|rowheader=true}}{{col-2}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=K.D. Lang|title=Hallelujah|access-date=20 September 2012|relyear=2010|type=single|digital=true|award=Platinum|certyear=2011}}{{Certification Table Bottom|noshipments=yes}}{{col-end}}

Alexandra Burke

factoids

| released = 17 December 2008| recorded = 2008| studio =Contemporary R&B>R&B, pop| length = 3:39Syco Music>Syco| writer = Leonard Cohen| producer = Quiz & Larossi| chronology = Alexandra BurkeHero (Mariah Carey song and The X Factor Finalist 2008)>Hero| prev_year = 2008Bad Boys (Alexandra Burke song)>Bad Boys| next_year = 2009{{YouTube"Hallelujah"}}}}}}On the 13 December 2008 finale, for the fifth series of the reality television show The X Factor, head-to-head finalists Alexandra Burke and group JLS each performed it as their final song before the winner's vote. Burke was voted the overall winner, and her condensed cover version of the song was immediately recorded and released as a prize for her victory. It reached Christmas number one on the UK Singles Chart on 21 December 2008.Burke herself was not initially enamoured with the choice of song, saying "It just didn't do anything for me" and "I could not see a way to put my twist on it." After finding a way to perform it to her liking, however, she later realised "what a smart choice of song Simon Cowell made by picking Hallelujah. He managed to judge the mood and has selected the song of the year. I have grown to love it. Everyone seems to love it.”NEWS, Hamilton, Sean, Alexandra Burke: I hated Hallelujah when I first heard it,weblink May 6, 2024, The Mirror,

Chart battle with other versions

The release of Burke's cover created interest in the previous versions of the song, including a Buckley fan campaign to take Buckley's cover to the top of the Christmas chart and therefore deny Burke the top spot.WEB,weblink Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen fans unite on Facebook to keep reality show version of 'Hallelujah' off British chart, National Post, 1 September 2010, {{dead link|date=May 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The campaign was fuelled by Buckley fans' dislike of The X Factor{{'}}s commercialism and the song's arrangement,"The Fight for a 'Hallelujah' Christmas Victory". The Times. 18 December 2008.'Hallelujah' Hits Number One and Two Slots in Christmas Charts. The Times. 22 December 2008. as well as their desire to introduce younger people to Buckley's version.NEWS,weblink Mark, Lawson, Warring Hallelujahs, The Guardian, 19 December 2008,

Commercial performance

Burke's version broke a European sales record after selling more than 105,000 digital downloads in just one day, breaking the previous record set by Leona Lewis. The song sold 576,000 copies in its first week, becoming the fastest-selling single released by a woman in the United Kingdom and the 2008 Christmas number one, while Buckley's cover charted at number two and Cohen's original version at number 36 on the same chart.On 28 December 2008, the UK Singles Chart listed Burke's version as the biggest-selling single of the year,NEWS,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081218173003weblink">weblink dead, 18 December 2008, X Factor Winner Alexandra Burke Sets New Chart Record with "Hallelujah", Singh, Anita, 15 December 2008, The Daily Telegraph, 16 December 2008, NEWS,weblink Duffy and Burke Top 2008 Charts, BBC, 29 December 2008, 29 December 2008, with NME announcing sales of more than one million copies since its release.WEB,weblink Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' Joins 'Million-Selling' Singles List, 9 January 2009, NME, 10 January 2009, This also made Burke the first ever female British artist to have a million-selling single in the UK.NEWS,weblink Alexandra is first million-seller, 9 January 2009, BBC News, BBC Online, 1 August 2017, It has sold 1.330 million as of August 2016, making it the biggest-selling X Factor winner's single to date.WEB,weblink The winner takes it all? The biggest selling X Factor winner's singles revealed, Sedghi, Ami, 26 August 2016, Official Charts Company, 26 August 2016,

Charts{|class"wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

!Chart (2008–17)!Peakposition{{single chart|Austria|53|artist=Alexandra Burke|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|Billboardcanadaac|15|artist=Alexandra Burke|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{single chart|Czech Republic|27|year=2009|week=36|rowheader=true}}! scope="row" |European Hot 100 SinglesMAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 20 September 2012, Chart Search Results – European Hot 100 Singles 2009-01-10, {{Dead link|date=November 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}6{{single chart|France|175|artist=Alexandra Burke|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}{{Single chart|Ireland2|1|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=19 January 2020}}{{single chart|Scotland|1|artist=Alexandra Burke|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|date=2008-12-21}}! scope="row"| Slovenia (SloTop50)WEB,weblink SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart, slotop50.si, 18 July 2018, 18 July 2018,weblink dead, 25{{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|1|artist=Alexandra Burke|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true}}">

Year-end charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center"

!Chart (2008)!Position!scope="row"|Ireland (IRMA)WEB,weblink 2008 Year End Charts, Irish Recorded Music Association, 17 December 2011, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20101123224953weblink">weblink 23 November 2010, | 2!scope="row"|UK Singles (OCC)WEB,weblink 2008 UK Singles Chart, ChartsPlus, 25 April 2015, | 1">

All-time charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center"

!Chart!Position!scope="row"|Ireland (IRMA)WEB,weblink Top 20 of All Time, Irish Recorded Music Association, IRMA, 15 August 2016, | 14

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|artist=Alexandra Burke|title=Hallelujah|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2008|certyear=2022|access-date=21 December 2022}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Alexandra Burke|title=Hallelujah|type=single|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=2008|access-date=6 January 2023|certyear=2022|salesref=|id=2713-1936-1}}{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

Pentatonix

factoids

}}}}(File:Pentatonix 2015.jpg|thumb|Pentatonix, 2015)The a cappella group Pentatonix covered the song in the quintet's 2016 album, A Pentatonix Christmas. On 21 October 2016, Pentatonix also released a music video for their cover filmed in the California Mojave Desert.MAGAZINE,weblink Mitchell, Peters, Pentatonix Cover Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' in Moving Video, Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 22 October 2016, 29 November 2016, WEB,weblink TheLyricsTho, Pentatonix - Hallelujah, 29 December 2020, 28 January 2021, 1 February 2021,weblink dead,

Weekly charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style"text-align:center"

!scope="col"|Chart (2016–2024)!scope="col"|Peakposition{{Single chart|Austria|1|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=5 January 2017}}{{Single chart|Flanders|22|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=31 December 2016}}{{Single chart|Wallonia Tip|14|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=10 December 2016}}{{Single chart|Billboardcanadianhot100|16|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=10 December 2016}}{{Single chart|Czechdigital|83|year=2016|week=49|rowheader=true|access-date=14 December 2016}}! scope="row"| France (SNEP)WEB,weblink Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés - SNEP (Week 44, 2016), Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique, fr, 19 November 2016,weblink" title="archive.today/20161107125034weblink">weblink 7 November 2016, dead, | 20{{Single chart|Germany|4|songid=1603385|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=30 December 2016}}{{single chart|Billboardglobal200|38|artist=Pentatonix|rowheader=true|access-date=3 January 2024}}{{Single chart|Hungarysingle|2|year=2016|week=43|rowheader=true|access-date=7 March 2018}}! scope="row"| Italy (FIMI)WEB,weblink Classifica settimanale WK 52, Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana, it, 31 December 2022, | 18! scope="row"| Lithuania (AGATA)WEB,weblink 2023 52-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100), AGATA (organization), AGATA, lt, 29 December 2023, 4 January 2024, | 86{{Single chart|Dutch100|62|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=30 December 2023}}! scope="row"| Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100)WEB,weblink OLiS – oficjalna lista sprzedaży – single w streamie, OLiS, pl, 4 January 2024, Select week 22.12.2023–28.12.2023., | 76{{Single chart|Slovakdigital|53|year=2016|week=49|rowheader=true|access-date=14 December 2016}}{{Single chart|Spain|23|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=29 November 2016}}! scope="row"| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)WEB,weblink Veckolista Singlar, vecka 52, 2023, Sverigetopplistan, 30 December 2023, | 40{{Single chart|Switzerland|7|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=26 December 2016}}{{Single chart|Billboardhot100|23|artist=Pentatonix|song=Hallelujah|rowheader=true|access-date=28 December 2016}}!scope="row"|US Holiday 100 (Billboard)NEWS,weblink Pentatonix Chart History (Holiday 100), Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 19 October 2019, | 2! scope="row"| US Rolling Stone Top 100MAGAZINE,weblink Top 100 Songs, Rolling Stone, 20 December 2019, 31 December 2019, 31 December 2019,weblink dead, | 68">

Year-end charts{|class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center"

!Chart (2016)!Position! scope="row"| Hungary (Single Top 40)WEB,weblink Single Top 100 - eladási darabszám alapján - 2016, 10 October 2021, Mahasz, | 71

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top}}{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Australia|award=Platinum|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2020|relyear=2016|access-date=19 March 2020}}{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Canada|award=Platinum|number=3|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2022|relyear=2016|access-date=20 July 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=Denmark|award=Gold|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|certyear=2019|relyear=2016|id=8696|access-date=13 November 2019}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=France|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=13 December 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|award=Gold|number=3|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=4 September 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Italy|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2019|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|id=7548|access-date=31 December 2019}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2016|certyear=2018|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=18 December 2018}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|award=Silver|relyear=2016|certyear=2023|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|id=2713-5800-1|access-date=4 December 2023}}{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|award=Gold|relyear=2016|certyear=2017|artist=Pentatonix|title=Hallelujah|access-date=18 April 2017}}{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=yes|nosales=yes|noshipments=yes}}

Other cover versions

}}Bob Dylan was among the first to perform Cohen's song in concert with his earliest noted performance being in Montreal on 8 July 1988.NEWS,weblink Hallelujah – a song with a life of its own, Elisa, Bray, The Independent, 5 December 2008, 12 July 2009, Other notable singers who have covered "Hallelujah" include Brandi Carlile, Regina Spektor, Willie Nelson, Susan Boyle, Tim Minchin, Myles Kennedy, and Bono. Bono's version, which is mostly spoken, was included in Tower of Song, an all-star tribute to Cohen in 1995. Bon Jovi has covered the song several times in concert, including on their 2008 Live at Madison Square Garden DVD.WEB,weblink The Outside Organisation – Clients – entertainment – Bon Jovi – Live At Madison Square Garden DVD and Blu-ray Released November 23rd, Outside-org.co.uk, 25 January 2010, 1 September 2010, In 2006, the Norwegian quartet of Espen Lind, Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm released a cover of the song. After debuting at number 8 on the Norwegian VG-lista, the single reached number one in January 2007.WEB,weblink norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal, Norwegiancharts.com, 24 April 2021, The song remained listed on the Norwegian top 20 for 37 (non-consecutive) weeks between 2006 and 2007.WEB,weblink Hallelujah by Espen Lind featuring Kurt Nilsen, Alejandro Fuentes and Askil Holm - Music Charts, Acharts.co, 24 April 2021, The song also appears on the 2006 album Hallelujah Live, credited to Lind with Nilsen, Fuentes and Holm, which also reached the top of the Norwegian VG-lista."Hallelujah." Music Business in Norway, p. 15. Retrieved 12 July 2009.International group Il Divo released a Spanish-language adaptation with different lyrics on their album The Promise (2008), which topped the charts in the UK. The song was performed by recording artist Damien Rice at the 2008 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions when Cohen was inducted. That same year Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins recorded a classical-crossover version for her album Sacred Arias. Kate Voegele performed it in character as Mia Catalano in the US teen drama One Tree Hill. Also appearing on an album, her version made the Hot 100 Billboard charts and reached number 53 in the UK shortly after airing of the episode there.WEB,weblinkweblink" title="archive.today/20120721155001weblink">weblink dead, Blog nicht gefunden, 21 July 2012, 24 April 2021, Also in 2008, the Welsh band Brigyn released a version in Welsh.Singer backs Welsh 'Hallelujah' BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2011. In 2009 Swedish artist Ebba Forsberg released a version sung in Swedish.The song has become a staple of television talent shows. Jason Castro, an American Idol season 7 contestant, performed a version on 4 March 2008,WEB,weblink "Hallelujah" for Idol, E!, 14 March 2008, 19 September 2011, which propelled Jeff Buckley's version of the song to the top of the Billboard digital song chart.MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard Digital Song May 28, 2008, Billboard, 19 February 2011, 24 February 2011,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110307034324weblink">weblink 7 March 2011, live, NEWS, Wilde, Jon,weblink Which Hallelujah is the highest?, The Guardian, UK, 12 March 2008, 24 February 2011, His version was included in his self-titled debut album and his second studio album, Who I Am. Lisa Hordijk, winner of the 2009 Dutch X Factor, released "Hallelujah" as her debut single, which went double platinum and remained at the top of the Dutch charts for ten weeks."Baffled King Regretting 'Hallelujah'" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914124849weblink |date=14 September 2017 }} Eurosavant. Retrieved 12 July 2009.A 2009 hit by Orthodox Jewish singer Ohad Moskowitz, "Bo'i Kala", featuring the words of the traditional tune accompanying a Jewish bride to the chuppah, is a musical adaptation of "Hallelujah".WEB,weblinkweblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924175518weblink">weblink dead, 24 September 2015, Cantering Ahead, Greer Fay, Cashman, The Jerusalem Post, 16 March 2012, 16 October 2014, HighBeam Research, WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-21, live, Ohad Moskowitz - Boi Kala (Hallelujah) (video), 25 February 2010, 19 March 2017, YouTube, {{cbignore}}On 22 January 2010, American musicians Justin Timberlake, Matt Morris, and Charlie Sexton performed a live cover version of "Hallelujah" during the Hope for Haiti Now telethon in support of those affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. A recorded version was released the following day on the Hope for Haiti Now soundtrack album and reached a peak of number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard Hot 100 February 13, 2010, Billboard, 7 September 2017, On 16 April 2010, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the Richard Eaton Singers conducted by Jack Everly premiered a new arrangement for orchestra and chorus by Claude Lapalme.A Chorus of Hits – Program Information {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226052640weblink |date=26 February 2012 }}. Edmonton Symphony Orchestra website. Retrieved 16 April 2010. Also in 2010, the Maccabeats of Yeshiva University released Voices from the Heights, with an a cappella version of "Hallelujah" set to the Hebrew words of the Shabbat liturgical poem "Lecha Dodi".NEWS,weblink The Washington Post, Harmony group's Hanukkah anthem lights a fire on Web, Monica, Hesse, 4 December 2010, 20 March 2017, WEB,weblinkweblink 2021-12-21, live, The Maccabeats: Making Jewish Music Fun, Arutz Sheva TV, 18 January 2011, 20 March 2017, {{cbignore}}Canadian singer Kelley Mooney was asked by her parish priest to perform the song for Easter mass but she discovered the lyrics were inappropriate, so she wrote new lyricsNEWS, Sometimes it really pays off to just go with your instincts, Cormier, Brian, Times & Transcript, 23 April 2014, D7, about the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. In 2008, after two years of trying, she received permission from Cohen to perform the song with new lyrics. Her performance in 2010WEB,weblink Hallelujah for Kelley Mooney, Sisters in Song, 26 May 2014, with a children's choir received 1.4 million views on YouTube and also appeared on GodTube.NEWS,weblink P.E.I. singer's Hallelujah closes in on 8 million views, CBC News, 22 April 2014, 31 March 2024, Mooney released a CD Tomorrow in 2011 which included her version of Hallelujah, and her version was number three on the Billboard Christian digital downloads chart in 2014,NEWS, What's happening in Metro Moncton?, This Week Online, 20 November 2014, A3, the same year the video reached 6.5 million views on GodTube as of Easter.Steven Page performed the song live at the state funeral of Canadian Opposition Leader Jack Layton on 27 August 2011."An Anthem to Remember". CBC News Network, 27 August 2011.Raul Esparza performed the song live at the Kennedy Center's 11 September Memorial Concert on 8 September 2011.WEB, Kennedy Center Announces 9/11 Commemorative Event,weblink NBC News, 4 December 2017, 18 August 2011, In May 2012, Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet presented the World Premiere of The Doorway – Scenes from Leonard Cohen, created and choreographed by Jorden Morris – with "Hallelujah" performed by Allison Crowe (voice and piano) and ballerinas Sophia Lee and Jo-Ann Gudilin dancing alternate dates."Leonard Cohen's music comes to life at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet", CBC News, 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.On the 17 December 2012 episode of The Voice, the song was covered in tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green.WEB,weblink VIDEO: 'The Voice' opens with touching tribute to Newtown, Connecticut, shooting victims, Murray, Rheana, nydailynews.com, 18 December 2012, 2020-04-04, American actor, comedian and musician Adam Sandler performed an off-color parody of "Hallelujah" in December 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of (12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief), with Paul Shaffer on piano. Sandler's version contained numerous references to Hurricane Sandy and contemporary events in local culture, sports and politics.MAGAZINE, Alan, Light,weblink Why Adam Sandler's 12-12-12 Parody of Leonard Cohens Hallelujah Was Long Overdue, Rolling Stone, Wenner Media LLC, New York City, 13 December 2012, 18 February 2013, Singer Tori Kelly recorded a cover of "Hallelujah" for the animated film Sing and has done two notable live performances of the song: during the "In Memoriam" portion of the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards, and alongside Luis Fonsi during the 2017 (Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief) telethon.WEB, Legaspi, Althea,weblink Emmys 2016: Watch Tori Kelly's Touching 'Hallelujah' for 'In Memoriam', Rolling Stone, Wenner Media LLC, New York City, 18 September 2016, 21 July 2017, WEB, Unterberger, Andrew,weblink Justin Bieber Introduces 'Hand in Hand' Prayer, Tori Kelly & Luis Fonsi Perform 'Hallelujah', Billboard (magazine), Billboard, Eldridge Industries, Los Angeles, California, 12 September 2017, 19 December 2017, In August 2020, Cohen fans were incensed when Kelly's recording was played after Donald Trump's speech at the Republican National Convention.WEB, Joe, Taysom, Leonard Cohen fans fuming after Donald Trump's speech is followed by 'Hallelujah' twice,weblink Far Out Magazine, 28 August 2020, 11 December 2020, A legal representative for the Cohen estate said they had "specifically declined the RNC's use request" for "one of the most important songs in the Cohen song catalogue". She added that the estate might have approved the use of Cohen's "You Want It Darker".WEB, Jordan, Hoffman, Leonard Cohen's Estate May Sue Donald Trump for Unauthorized Use of 'Hallelujah',weblink Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair, 29 August 2020, 11 December 2020, On 12 November 2016, an episode of Saturday Night Live opened with cast member Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton performing a rendition of the song in tribute to both Cohen and Clinton. The preceding week had seen both Cohen's death and Clinton's loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election.WEB, Lee, Moran,weblink Kate McKinnon As Clinton Sings Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' On 'SNL', The Huffington Post, Huffington Post Media Group, New York City, 13 November 2016,weblink June 28, 2019, live, Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington sang "Hallelujah" during his eulogy to Chris Cornell at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on 26 May 2017.MAGAZINE, Liza, Shcherbakova,weblink Hear Chester Bennington Sing 'Hallelujah' at Chris Cornell's Funeral, Billboard (magazine), Billboard, Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, New York City, 20 July 2017, 20 July 2017, The American alt-right conspiracy theorist and comedian Owen Benjamin used the music of "Hallelujah" with new lyrics in his song titled "How They Rule Ya" in support of freeing British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was held at the time for contempt of court charges for violating a press gag order, encouraging vigilante action against and illegally filming some of the defendantsWEB,weblink Tommy Robinson 'encouraged vigilante action' with Facebook video outside court, judges say, 2019-07-09, The Independent, en, 2019-12-16, in the trial of the Huddersfield grooming gang. Released on 12 June 2018 under the alternative title "Free Tommy Robinson", it charted in the UK iTunes Charts.WEB,weblink iTunesCharts.net: 'Free Tommy Robinson' by Owen Benjamin (British Songs iTunes Chart), Itunescharts.net, 24 April 2021, Robinson as a tribute and gratitude to Owen Benjamin, upon his release led the crowd outside the Old Bailey to a rendition of the song written by Benjamin.WEB, Ezra, Leevant,weblink Indy100: Far-right activists re-write 'Hallelujah' to celebrate Tommy Robinson and sing it outside court. Yes, really., The Independent, The Indy 100, Independent Print Ltd., London, England, 23 October 2018, 29 April 2019, 20 February 2019,weblink dead, At a national remembrance in January 2021 for those killed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Yolanda Adams sang a slightly modified two verses of "Hallelujah", changing "Maybe there's no God above" to "I know that there's a God above". A number of American Jews criticized the performance, as they had a usage of the song at the end of the 2020 Republican National Convention, for ignoring the song's lyrics about sexuality and questioning one's faith.WEB, Grisar, PJ, Jews plead, once again: Listen to the lyrics of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah',weblink 2021-02-01, The Forward, 20 January 2021, en-US,

Inclusions in film, television and events

{{div col|colwidth=17em}}

• American Idol
• America's Got Talent
• Basquiat
• Cold Case
• Criminal Minds
• Crossing Jordan
• COVID memorial service (Washington, 2021)
• Dancing with the Stars
• Elizabeth II's 2022 memorial ceremony in OttawaNEWS, Crawford, Blair, 'The essence of equanimity': Ottawa ceremony honoured a Queen who reigned for nearly half of Canada's history,weblink Ottawa Citizen, September 19, 2022,weblink September 19, 2022, live,
• ER
• General Hospital
• Hope for Haiti Now concert
• House
• I Can Only Imagine
• Zack Snyder's Justice LeagueMAGAZINE, Breznican, Anthony, Justice League: The Shocking, Exhilarating, Heartbreaking True Story of TheSnyderCut,weblink Vanity Fair, 216,
• LAX
• Longmire
• Lord of War
• Numbers
• The O.C.
• Olympics opening ceremony (Vancouver)NEWS, Friesen, Paul, Opening Ceremony timeline,weblink Toronto Sun, February 13, 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20100506013614weblink">weblink May 6, 2010, dead,
• One Tree Hill
• Saint RalphWEB, The Saint Ralph Soundtrack,weblink Toronto Mike, 12 February 2007,
• Saturday Night Live
• Scrubs
• Sense8
• Shrek
• ''Sing
• The Sing-Off
• So You Think You Can DanceMAGAZINE, Romano, Nick, Leonard Cohen dead: Hallelujah on TV, from The West Wing to The O.C. and more,weblink Entertainment Weekly, November 11, 2016,weblink February 11, 2021, live,
• Third Watch
• Trauma
• ''True BloodMAGAZINE, Pastorino, Olivier, The 10 biggest rock titles used in movies and series,weblink Le Mag du Ciné, April 1, 2017,weblink August 2, 2021, French, live,
• Watchmen
• The West Wing
• Without a Trace
• The X Factor
• ''The Young PopeNEWS, Gaughan, Liam, The Most Overused Songs in Movies and TV,weblink Dallas Observer, January 13, 2021,weblink January 8, 2022, live,
• (12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief)

{{div col end}}

Accolades and achievements

• The BBC commemorated the 25th anniversary of the first recording of "Hallelujah" with an hour-long radio documentary, The Fourth, The Fifth, The Minor Fall, broadcast on 1 November 2008, in which the song's history and numerous cover versions were presented and discussed.
• The song was named one of the top ten greatest tracks of all time in a poll of songwriters conducted by the British music magazine Q.{{citation |url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Hallelujah-Song-of-Leonard-Cohen-4001473.php|title= 'Hallelujah': Song of Leonard Cohen |first= Aidin |last=Vaziri |publisher= San Francisco Chronicle|date= 4 November 2012 |access-date=6 November 2012 }}
• Rolling Stone magazine listed the song as one of the 500 greatest songs.
• In the February 2009 issue of Blender, "Hallelujah" was named that month's "Greatest Song Ever" (a monthly feature).WEB,weblink Blender Magazine, Greatest Songs Ever: "Hallelujah, 22 January 2012, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20141217024806weblink">weblink 17 December 2014,
• In 2005, "Hallelujah" was named the tenth-greatest Canadian song of all time in Chart magazine's annual readers' poll.
• On 21 December 2008, "Hallelujah" became the first song in 51 yearsNEWS, Jamieson, Alastair,weblink Hallelujah, the Leonard Cohen song recorded by X Factor television show winner Alexandra Burke, has become both the Christmas number one and number two best-selling single., 21 December 2008, The Daily Telegraph, to hold the top two positions on the UK Singles Chart; The X Factor winner Alexandra Burke's and American singer Jeff Buckley's covers were the two highest-selling songs in the week beginning 15 December 2008. Leonard Cohen's version was number 36 in the same chart.NEWS,weblink 'Hallelujah' Set for Chart Trinity, 16 December 2008, BBC News, 21 December 2008,
• In 2014, "Hallelujah" was ranked number 1 in Rolling Stone{{'s}} "Best Leonard Cohen Songs" readers' poll.MAGAZINE,weblink Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Leonard Cohen Songs, 26 November 2014, Rolling Stone, 19 August 2020,
• Far Out and American Songwriter ranked the song number three and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Leonard Cohen songs.WEB,weblink Leonard Cohen's 10 greatest songs of all time, Tom, Taylor, Far Out (magazine), Far Out, November 7, 2021, April 27, 2023, WEB,weblink Top 10 Songs by Leonard Cohen, Alli, Patton, American Songwriter, March 8, 2023, April 27, 2023,
• Cohen's original version was ranked number 74 on the 2021 edition of "Top 500 Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone magazine.MAGAZINE, 2021-09-15, The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,weblink 2022-07-02, Rolling Stone, en-US,

Other charted versions

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"! style="width:20%;" rowspan="2"| Covering Artist(s)! style="width:2.4%;" rowspan="2"| Year! colspan="14"| Peak chart positions! style="width:10%;" rowspan="2"| Certifications! style="width:4%;"| AUS Peak positions on the Australian ARIA Singles chart:

• For the version by Karise Eden: WEB,weblink Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Australian Charts – Karise Eden – Hallelujah (song),
• For the version by Pentatonix: WEB,weblink ARIA CHART WATCH 392, auspOp, 29 October 2016, 29 October 2016, 29 October 2016,weblink dead,

! style="width:4%;"| AUT Peak positions on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart:

• For the version by Bon Jovi: WEB,weblink Austriancharts.at / Hung Medien, 30 October 2012, de, Austria Top 40 – Bon Jovi – Hallelujah (song),
• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Austria Top-40 – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song),

! style="width:4%;"| BEL (FL)Peak positions on the Belgian Ultratop 50 Flanders chart:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Charts Vlaanderen – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song), nl,
• For the version by Natalia & Gabriel Ríos: WEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Charts Vlaanderen – Natalia & Gabriel Ríos – Hallelujah (song), nl,
• For the version by Pentatonix: WEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 8 November 2016, Pentatonix – Hallelujah, nl,

! style="width:4%;"| BEL (WA)Peak positions on the Belgian Ultratop 50 Wallonia chart:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Charts Wallonie – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song), fr,
• For the version by Natalia & Gabriel Ríos: WEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Charts Wallonie – Natalia & Gabriel Ríos – Hallelujah (song), fr,

! style="width:4%;"| CAN Peak chart positions on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: MAGAZINE, {{BillboardURLbyName, justin timberlake, Billboard Canadian Hot 100, | magazine = Billboard | title = Justin Timberlake Album & Song Chart History – Canadian Hot 100 | access-date = 21 September 2012}}
• For the version by Pentatonix: MAGAZINE, {{BillboardURLbyName, pentatonix, Canadian Hot 100, | magazine= Billboard | title = Pentatonix – Chart History}}

! style="width:4%;"| DEN Peak positions on the Danish Tracklisten:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink danishcharts.dk. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Danish Charts – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song),

! style="width:4%;"|EU Peak positions on the European Hot 100 Singles chart:

• For the version by Lisa: MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 21 September 2012, Chart Search Results – European Hot 100 Singles 2009-05-30, {{Dead link|date=November 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• For the version by Natalia & Gabriel Ríos: MAGAZINE,weblink Billboard (magazine), Billboard, 21 September 2012, Chart Search Results – European Hot 100 Singles 2010-03-20, {{Dead link|date=November 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

! style="width:4%;"| FRA Peak positions on the French Singles Chart:

• For the version by Bastian Baker: WEB,weblink Lescharts.com. Hung Medien, 21 November 2012, Classements – Bastian Baker – Hallelujah (chanson), fr,
• For the version by Pentatonix: WEB,weblink Lescharts.com. Hung Medien, 8 November 2016, Classements – Pentatonix – Hallelujah (chanson), fr,

! style="width:4%;"| NL Peak chart positions on the Dutch Single Top 100:

• For the version by Lisa: WEB,weblink Dutchcharts.nl, nl, 21 September 2012, Dutch Charts – Lisa (Lois) – Hallelujah,

! style="width:4%;"| NZ Peak chart positions on the New Zealand Singles Chart:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink charts.nz, 21 September 2012, New Zealand Charts – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song),
• For the version by Karise Eden: WEB,weblink charts.nz, 21 September 2012, New Zealand Charts – Karise Eden – Hallelujah (song),

! style="width:4%;"| SWE Peak chart positions on the Swedish Singles Chart:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB,weblink Swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien, 21 September 2012, Swedish Charts – Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton – Hallelujah (song),

! style="width:4%;"| SWI Peak positions on the Swiss Singles Chart:

• For the version by Bastian Baker: WEB,weblink Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, 21 November 2012, Swiss Charts – Bastian Baker – Hallelujah, de,
• For the version by Pentatonix: WEB,weblink Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien, 8 November 2016, Swiss Charts – Pentatonix – Hallelujah, de,

! style="width:4%;"| UK Peak chart positions on the UK Singles Chart:

• For the version by Bon Jovi: weblink
• For the version by Kate Voegele: WEB, Chart Archive – Kate Voegele – Hallelujah,weblink 21 September 2012, officialcharts.com,
• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: WEB, Chart Archive – Timberlake / Morris / Sexton – Hallelujah,weblink officialcharts.com,

! style="width:4%;"| US Peak chart positions on the US Billboard Hot 100:

• For the version by Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris feat. Charlie Sexton: MAGAZINE

,

• For the version by Kate Voegele: MAGAZINE

{edih}

• For the version by Pentatonix: MAGAZINE

{edih}! scope="row"| Bon Jovi 2008| —|! scope="row"| Kate Voegele| 68|! scope="row"| Lisa Lois| 2009| —|! scope="row"| Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris featuring Charlie Sexton 2010| 13|! scope="row"| Natalia and Gabriel Ríos| —|

• {{nowrap|BEA: PlatinumWEB,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, Les Disques d'Or / de Platine – 2010, fr, 21 September 2012, }}

! scope="row"| Karise Eden 2012| —|

• {{nowrap|ARIA: PlatinumWEB,weblink Australian Recording Industry Association, ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Singles, 21 September 2012, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130921054950weblink">weblink 21 September 2013, }}

! scope="row"| Bastian Bakernote_a1| —|! scope="row"| Matthew Schuler| 2013| 40|! scope="row"| Xavier Naidoo| 2014| —|Notes

• A {{Note|note_a1}} Bastian Baker's version of "Hallelujah" did not enter the Ultratop 50, but peaked at number 5 on the Wallonia Ultratip chart.WEB, Bastian Baker – Hallelujah,weblink Ultratop. Hung Medien, 4 January 2013,

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

• BOOK, Light, Alan, Alan Light, 2013, The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah",weblink New York, Atria Books, 9781451657845, registration,
• BOOK, Babich, Babette, Babette Babich, 2013, The Hallelujah Effect: Philosophical Reflections on Music, Performance Practice, and Technology],weblink London, Routledge, 9781138274136,

External links

• 1984 version lyrics, on The Leonard Cohen Files
• 1988 version lyrics, on The Leonard Cohen Files
• BBC: Just whose hallelujah is it anyway? – article on writing and meaning of song
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20131110051530weblink"> The Birth of kd lang's "Hallelujah" out of the 'Spirit of Music' Perfect Sound Forever online music magazine presents... 2011 article, by philosopher Babette Babich
• BBC: Hallelujah! The rise and rise of Leonard Cohen's once-forgotten classic – 2012 report, by writer Alan Light
• Hallelujah Guitar chords on Chordlines

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