The Bolt

Jeff Buckley had not only quite the large vocal range, but he also knew how to use his voice as a true instrument, infusing subtle inflections and interesting dynamics that really make the song come alive:

Of course I respect Leonard Cohen performing his own song, and I certainly do like his version. But after hearing Buckley's version, I was moved. I listened a few more times to figure out the chords (C, Am, F, G, and the occasional Em) and I was playing the song myself on piano that night and guitar the next day.

My oldest daughter made me chuckle when she overheard me playing and remarked, "hey that's the song from Shrek!" I had forgotten that indeed that song was performed by John Cale on the Shrek soundtrack. That spurred me to take the time to try and catalog some of the renditions of Cohen's song, and listen to them to see how they stacked up against the performance by Buckley. I'll save you a bit of searching in case you're interested in doing the same:

• Leonard Cohen (version 1)
• Bob Dylan (version 1)
• Leonard Cohen (version 2)
• Jeff Buckley (version 3)
• Kathryn Williams (version 3, verses 1-4)
• Bono (version 4)
• Leonard Cohen (version 5)
• Alexandra Burke (version 5, verses 1-3)
• Damien Rice (version 3, omit verse 3)
• Allison Crowe (version 3)
• Bon Jovi (version 3)
• Rufus Wainright (version 3)
• Sheryl Crow (version 3)
• K.D. Lang (version 3, omit verse 4)
• John Cale (version 3)
• Kurt Nilsen and friends (version 5, verses 1-3)
• Canadian Tenors and Celine Dion (version 5, verses 1,4 and 6 only)
• Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris (version 5, verses 1-3)
• Kate Voegele (version 3)
• Lee DeWyze (version 3, verses 1 and 3)

For an explanation of the version numbers, please see The Versions of Hallelujah. There are many other versions by many other artists (even other languages like Swedish), but I think I have at least the major ones. If you want to see a more complete list, go to leonardcohenfiles.com. Songfacts also lists some interesting trivia notes on Hallelujah.

The end result of quite a few hours of searching and listening was the confirmation of the greatness of Jeff Buckley's performance. It is pure joy to watch and listen to him pour himself into this song. I now join the masses of fans who remain sad that Jeff Buckley is no longer with us.