Hallelujah

"Hallelujah" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen originally released on his 1984 studio album Various Positions. "Hallelujah" has been covered more than 120 times (counting only recorded, not live, versions) and featured in the soundtracks of numerous movies and television shows. American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley recorded one of the best-known covers of "Hallelujah" for his 1994 studio album, Grace. Buckley, not wholly satisfied with any one take, recorded the song more than twenty times. Grammy Award-winning music studio engineer Andy Wallace took three of these recordings to create a single track. The result is a sparse-sounding production of vocals and electric guitar, influenced by John Cale's version. In 2004, Jeff Buckley's version was ranked #259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In September 2007, a poll of fifty songwriters conducted by Q Magazine listed "Hallelujah" among the all-time "Top 10 Greatest Tracks" with John Legend calling Buckley's version "as near perfect as you can get". Buckley's first #1 came posthumously in March 2008 when "Hallelujah" topped Billboard's Hot Digital Songs following a performance of the song by Jason Castro on American Idol.

[Verse 1] Well I heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don't really care for music, do ya? Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth The minor fall and the major lift The baffled king composing "Hallelujah" [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah [Verse 2] Well, your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya And she tied you to her kitchen chair And she broke your throne and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah [Verse 3] Well, baby, I've been here before I've seen this room and I've walked this floor You know, I used to live alone before I knew ya And I've seen your flag on the marble arch And love is not a victory march It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah [Verse 4] Well, there was a time when you let me know What's really going on below But now you never show that to me, do ya? But remember when I moved in you And the holy dove was moving too And every breath we drew was Hallelujah [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah [Instrumental] [Verse 5] Maybe there's a God above But all I've ever learned from love Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya And it's not a cry that you hear at night It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah [Chorus] Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah