I *love* the Ari Hest version that you put on one of the CDs that you sent me.

He's a neat guy. That's pretty much a clear cover of the Buckley version, as is the Wainwright version, but I haven't encountered another style with such emotion.

Close. Pablo Picasso.

Damn. I couldn't find the song title, so I extrapolated.

I know that a verse in the Buckley version isn't in the k.d. lang version, but I don't know if it was added or not. (It's the one with the line "Remember when I moved in you, and the holy dove was moving too, and every breath we drew was hallelujah". At least, I think that's how it goes.) I have several versions of this one too.

Couldn't find it, so I looked it up myself. This was the original Cohen version:

Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord That david played, and it pleased the lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her She tied you To a kitchen chair She broke your throne, and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah You say I took the name in vain I don’t even know the name But if I did, well really, what’s it to you? There’s a blaze of light In every word It doesn’t matter which you heard The holy or the broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn’t much I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you And even though It all went wrong I’ll stand before the lord of song With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah

and this is the Buckley version:

Originally contained in leonard cohen’s various positions

I heard there was a secret chord That david played and it pleased the lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? Well it goes like this: The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift The baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the moonlight overthrough ya She tied you to her kitchen chair She broke your throne and she cut your hair And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Well, maybe I’ve been here before I’ve seen this room and I’ve walked this floor I used to live with leonard before I knew ya I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch But love is not a victory march It’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

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 you drew was hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

And maybe there’s a God above But all I’ve ever learned from love Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya Well 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

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, halle... It’s not what you’re told It’s not her face It’s not his touch In the room you both share Where he’s gone when he loved When your time and your memory fills your dreams When you’re honest and together Together no more No more Hallelujah, until you’re nothing Hallelujah, baby, until she’s everywhere Hallelujah, until together you are somewhere I’d lost Hallelujah, hallelujah

(bonne nuit... bonne nuit... I love you... I love you... we love you... thank you)

So it looks like Buckley added three verses and rearranged another.

::glances upwards:: That formatting isn't mine, so sorry.

Wow. I had no idea it was that different. I just went to iTunes to listen to a snippet of the Cohen version, and honestly, didn't much care for it. I know, he's the original, I'm a blasphemer. But the arrangement I just heard had a choral arrangement in the background. To me (and this may make no sense) that song feels too personal to have more than one person singing it. The Buckley version sounds like one man, alone and broken.

Finishes drinking coffee so she makes more sense.

I used to live with leonard before I knew ya

I swear I thought that line was "I used to live *alone* before I knew ya."

I swear I thought that line was "I used to live *alone* before I knew ya."

Me too. But i also thought this:

The baffled king composing hallelujah

was, "the barefoot king composing hallelujah."

I think I still like my versions better.

I swear I thought that line was "I used to live *alone* before I knew ya."

Yeah, me too. I'm pretty sure it is. Also, "the holy dove was moving too"--I've always heard it as "the holy dark", but I could be wrong. eta: heh, lots of different mishearings. I think I like my version best too.

I'm not sure I've ever heard the Cohen version, but there are two verses that aren't in the Wainwright version (the one I'm most familiar with), and now I wish they were. The Wainwright version also doesn't have the last verse ("It's not what you're told, it's not her face") from the Buckley version.

The version in my head has the singer living alone, and the king baffled.

I'm pretty sure it's "holy dove" in the Cale version....

someone have an open italics tag?

eta: SA, maybe?

SA "Buffista Music II: Wrath of Chaka Khan" Nov 29, 2004 8:11:24 am PST

eta: Displays correctly on IE, but Firefox is stuck on italics.