The minor fall and the major lift

It's amazing what a song can do.  Music can accentuate joy, provide solace, express things which we are not able to do ourselves at the time.  Great art can provide empathy as well or better than any person, even the person who created it, is possible to give.  The great Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is a very well-documented example of this.  It is perhaps one of the most covered songs of the past twenty years, probably because of the way it moved the artists who later decided to give their own version a try.  Jeff Buckley has the definitive version, his angelic voice reigns over the religious/sexual themed lyrics as though he and the song were paired by fate.

I have loved this song for years now, but its cathartic nature became very real to me recently when the only thing I could do to get out of the way I was feeling was play this over and over on my housemate's nylon-stringed guitar that has to be retuned every five minutes.  It came out as a prayer and a plea and left me feeling more in touch with the nature of existence like nothing else at the time could do.  

Below are some of my favorite versions I've come across.  Along with Cohen and Buckley is a great one from David Bazan aka Pedro the Lion, a ukelele version from Zach Condon of Beirut, Regina Spektor accompanied by a cello and John Cale's great, emotive performance with his piano.  There's also a live Buckley version, which is different, longer, and of course, beautiful.

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah

David Bazan - Hallelujah

Beirut - Hallelujah

Regina Spektor - Hallelujah

John Cale - Hallelujah

Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah (live)