"All I ever learned from love . . . "
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is one of my favorite songs of all time. And I realized today that, of all the powerful lines in it, the one that gets me the most is “you don’t really care for music, do you?”
And, after a brief discussion with one of my housemates last night (and to occupy you all until I get this site switch done and get on top of things enough to resume regular posting), I think it’s musical meme time.
So, in the comments, list:
1.) Your favorite version of “Hallelujah”. If you’re not familiar with many versions, there are good ones by Leonard Cohen (the original artist), Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, John Cale, and others. A YouTube search should turn up plenty of versions.
2.) Your favorite lyrical line (or lines).
3.) One artist you’d like to hear covering it that hasn’t.
My answers:
1.) John Cale. More expressive vocals than Cohen’s original, better piano playing than Wainwright’s, and Buckley’s has always sounded mopey to me.
2.) “All I ever learned from love is how to shoot at someone who outdrew you.”
3.) Regina Spektor. She has the perfect voice for it, and definitely has the piano chops to do a very cool piano-accompanied version of the song.
Update: The brilliant, wonderful and all-around fantabulous Heather has informed me that Regina Spektor has, indeed, done a cover of Hallelujah. She also points me to this blog post, which links to a number of other covers, many of which I never knew existed.
In short, Heather is made of pure, uncut win.