‘Hallelujah’, a Dud Turned Classic Song, the Focus of New Cohen Doc

Leonard Cohen seen performing in New York in 2012 Mike Lawrie GETTY IMAGES/AFP
Leonard Cohen seen performing in New York in 2012 Mike Lawrie GETTY IMAGES/AFP
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‘Hallelujah’, a Dud Turned Classic Song, the Focus of New Cohen Doc

Leonard Cohen seen performing in New York in 2012 Mike Lawrie GETTY IMAGES/AFP
Leonard Cohen seen performing in New York in 2012 Mike Lawrie GETTY IMAGES/AFP

Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" pretty much flopped when it came out nearly 40 years ago.

Today, it enjoys cult status and has been performed by everyone from Bob Dylan to Jeff Buckley and Bon Jovi -- even appearing in animated hit "Shrek" -- in a unique evolution detailed in a new documentary film.

The tune rich in religious and erotic references by the Canadian poet, who died in 2016, has made the rounds.

In 2008, a gospel version of the song was performed by Alexandra Burke on the British TV talent show "The X Factor."

That year the song placed 1st, 2nd and 36th in the British music charts: the versions by Burke, Buckley and the original by Cohen himself.

"I do not know of any other song with that trajectory," said music journalist Alan Light, who wrote a book on the song called "The Holy or the Broken," published in 2012.

"This song took 10 years, 20 years, going through all these different versions, around these different corners and then it gains this momentum. The snowball is rolling, and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger," Light told AFP.

He spoke in New York at a showing of the new documentary "Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song," for which was an adviser and producer.

In 2010, the Canadian singer K.D. Lang belted it out at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. And 11 years later "Hallelujah" was performed again at a tribute to victims of the coronavirus pandemic, with President Joe Biden in attendance on the eve of his swearing in.

Light says the song has a beautiful melody and but also lyrics open to interpretation.

"If to you it's a religious song, that's there. If to you, it's a heartbreak song, great, that's there. You can do that," Light said.

"There's no wrong way to do it," he added, noting a ukelele version by US musician Jake Shimabukuro.

Not all agree, however.

In an interview for his book on "Hallelujah," Light recalled how U2 frontman Bono apologized for a 1995 trip-hop version of the song he recorded, in which he talked his way through the lyrics, rather than sang.



Unreleased Beyonce Music Stolen From Car in Atlanta

FILE - Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
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Unreleased Beyonce Music Stolen From Car in Atlanta

FILE - Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Beyonce, left, accepts the Innovator Award during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Computer drives containing unreleased music by US superstar Beyonce and plans related to her concerts were stolen last week in Atlanta, police said Monday, with a suspect still at large.

The items were stolen from a rental car used by Beyonce's choreographer and a dancer on July 8, two days before the pop icon kicked off the Atlanta leg of her "Cowboy Carter" tour, a police incident report said, according to AFP.

Choreographer Christopher Grant, 37, told police that he returned to the car to find its rear-window smashed and their luggage stolen.

Inside were multiple jump drives that "contained water marked music, some un-released music, footage plans for the show, and past and future set list (sic)," the report said.

Also missing were an Apple MacBook, headphones and several items of luxury clothing.

Police investigated an area where the MacBook and headphones had pinged their location, but the report did not mention any items being recovered.

Atlanta Police said in an online statement that a warrant had been issued for an unnamed suspect's arrest, but that the suspect remained at large.

The "Cowboy Carter" tour kicked off in April after the global superstar took home her first "Album of the Year" Grammy for the 2024 album.

The sweeping country-themed work saw Beyonce stake out musical territory in a different genre from much of her previous discography.

The ambitious, historically rooted album also aimed to elevate and showcase the work of other Black artists in country music, whose rich contributions the industry has repeatedly sidelined.

As her stadium tour to promote the album winds down, Beyonce ended her four-night stint in Atlanta on Monday, with two final performances set for late July in Las Vegas.