The Ultimate Cover - "Hallelujah"

This is probably my favorite song. It is so hauntingly beautiful, it is often painful for me to listen to. Rarely has a song touched my soul the way it does.

"Hallelujah" has been covered by everyone (there are over 300 known versions), and it was recently the subject of the book "The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" (2012) by Alan Light. I am generally not a lover of the cover, but I honestly like most versions of this song. And I think most of the covers are better than the original. But you be the judge.

The original version - by the man himself, Leonard Cohen. It was first released in 1984. Considering how much of an anthem that this song has become, the Cohen version wasn't ever even on the radar.

Then this man gave it its first taste of fame. And it is a gorgeous cover. Thank you, Jeff Buckley.


I LOVE this one by Rufus Wainwright. So does everyone else who watched Shrek.

But this one is pretty great too. The lovely and strange, Regina Spekter.

Who am I kidding? I even like the Timberlake version. Truly I do.

So, got any other good versions for me? What's your vote?