Hallelujah on UK X-Factor (all threads merged here)

[gingermop]

You all missed a classic treatment of the subject from the Daily Star:

Hallelujah - Len's song is one big orgasm
From Daily Star - 16/12/2008
NEWS

by NIGEL PAULEY

ALEXANDRA Burke may have been hit with a love ban, but her millionselling single is all about the joys and pain of sex.

Her breathtaking version of Hallelujah is set to be the biggest X Factor single ever - but fans are asking: "What's the story?"

Internet sites and fan forums have been flooded with theories about the meaning of the lyrics by poet and singer Leonard Cohen. Many are convinced the song is about memories of love-making and the past joy of orgasm with a lost love.

Hallelujah is Hebrew for "Praise God" - but most Cohen fans reckon it is a veiled reference to a doomed romance.

Cohen, now 74 and known for his depressing songs, spent two years composing Hallelujah in the 1980s for his Various Positions album.

He reportedly went through 80 verses before perfecting the final version.

The most overtly sexual line is: "And remember when I moved in you, The holy dove was moving too."

But, there's also an reference to S&M with: "She tied you to a kitchen chair, She broke your throne and she cut your hair, And from your lips she drew the hallelujah."

The song has been covered by Bob Dylan, 67, Welsh-born John Cale, 68, Bono, 48, Willie Nelson, 75, and most notably, Jeff Buckley.

Buckley, who drowned in 1997, aged 30, described his version as an homage to "the hallelujah of the orgasm".

In 2001, Cale's version featured in the hit movie Shrek - in a scene in which the green ogre pines for Princess Fiona - though 35-year-old Rufus Wainwright's version is on the soundtrack album.

Simon Cowell's spokeswoman said yesterday: "Maybe people should just enjoy Alexandra's blistering version of the song, rather than over-analyse the lyrics."

[scorp]

Latest news - early evening UK time: Lenny at 34 in singles chart and expected to climb.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7786171.stm

C'mon, UK people: download Hallelujah.

[UrPal]

You all missed a classic treatment of the subject from the Daily Star:

Hallelujah - Len's song is one big orgasm
From Daily Star - 16/12/2008

Well thanks for clearing that one up - or should I say mopping that one up!

And there was me thinking it was a qualified and realistic celebration of the multi-faceted experiences of life: its defeats as much as its triumphs.

I'm not too surprised Cowell's people would prefer that not too much attention is paid to the lyrics. I was wide-eyed hearing discomforting lines like "all I ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you" sung with such positive and certain conviction on the X factor show. Oh happy day!

The song doesn't exactly deliver the glad tidings message you'd expect for ready marketing at this time of year.

Still, it probably better fits our more downtrodden times.

An agnostic christmas carol with venomous teeth then?

Excellent that its been such a publicity coup for LC all the same.

[bluefluff]

@stargazer6:
All true, alas - I was there! Off to download LC's now, having just read that it's bubbling under the 30.. I'd been focused on the JB campaign till now. Seriously hope Leonard is getting the writer's royalties!

[stargazer61]

Mr L C being talked about in the Daily Star....what is going on here??? Hallelujah seems suddenly to have exploded from all orifices (so to speak!!!). It appears to be impossible to open a newspaper, turn on the radio, or go onto forums without hearing or seeing Halleluh being discussed, debated, or argued over. The momentum continues to grow. Hope someone has told Mr. C. because, even if he doesn't earn a penny from any royalties, (I am still confused over the question of royalties) surely he will afford himself at least a small grin at the insanity of it all!
What a wonderful year he has had!

[Paula]

Well I have just given my 69p to the massive profit Sony will make from this. What a palarver had to download software have no idea where it is on my computer so can't play it.

Happy Christmas Leonard even if you don't get the royalties I hope you get a warm feeling from the fact that Hallelujah will probably be number 1 and 2 and there might be three versions in the British Charts of the song and Christmas No 1's in Britain are remembered every year including "Ernie (the fastest millman in the West)".

Also this whole episode has finally helped me to spell Hallelujah without too much of a struggle.

The last two Christmas no 1 spots went to someone called Leon and then to someone called Leona and now this year it will go to someone called Leonard albeit sung by someone called Alexandra (leaving)

[stargazer61]

Hi Paula!

Seems you had the same experience as me in being initiated in the process of downloading! I've now found that everything I had on Windows Media player is now also itunes (don't know why, I didn't ask it to; didn't even know I had itunes!). To make matters worse, I wasn't paying attention and downloaded Halleluh twice!

I'm sure Leonard will be smiling a few wry smiles if/when he finds out about all the fuss that is being made about Hallelujah in the UK.

[Andrew McGeever]

I still want to know..
who gets the money from this?
The "physical" single is released in a couple of hours from now. The label is "Syco".
Who owns this "label"? Simon Cowell?
I want Leonard to gain everything he possibly can from this latest unfolding of one of the greatest songs written in the last 50 years.
Maybe Tom Sakic can help here.....Tom, can you unravel the monetary and legal complexities ?

Andrew.

[scorp]

Hi Paula!

Seems you had the same experience as me in being initiated in the process of downloading! I've now found that everything I had on Windows Media player is now also itunes (don't know why, I didn't ask it to; didn't even know I had itunes!). To make matters worse, I wasn't paying attention and downloaded Halleluh twice!

I'm sure Leonard will be smiling a few wry smiles if/when he finds out about all the fuss that is being made about Hallelujah in the UK.

what site did you download it from? i 'll download it tonight or tomoz. might use the hmv site.

[scorp]

Well I have just given my 69p to the massive profit Sony will make from this. What a palarver had to download software have no idea where it is on my computer so can't play it.

(leaving)

if you have windows go to start, then search then click on 'all files and folders' and type in 'hallelujah' in the fsearch field. that'll show you where it is. i'm presuming the file will have 'hallelujah' in it. when you find it via the search you should be able to activate it by clicking it ... and then maybe you can save it to a location of your choice [even 'in 'my pictures' if that's easier]

[Mabeanie1]

I have never done an "official" download before - but we all have to do our bit for the cause ..

I used hmv.com but it made me download "HMV Jukebox" software before I could access my goodies, even though they are only MP3 files.

This is a truly delicious moment in history. Who would have thought it - three versions of Hallelujah in the UK charts! I'm surprised Cliff Richard hasn't rushed out his own version of the song - he's always after the Christmas number one and I would have thought he might find the song just up his "Christian" street.

Wendy

[stargazer61]

what site did you download it from? i 'll download it tonight or tomoz. might use the hmv site.

I used Amazon......for no other reason than I use Amazon for other purchases.

[scorp]

what site did you download it from? i 'll download it tonight or tomoz. might use the hmv site.

I used Amazon......for no other reason than I use Amazon for other purchases.

when i searched on amazon.co.uk using "leonard cohen hallelujah" i just saw a list of his albums. where did you download it from on amazon?

i can see the song as an mp3 on amazon.com but buying off that site might not affect the UK charts. or will it?

[stargazer61]

when i searched on amazon.co.uk using "leonard cohen hallelujah" i just a list of his albums. where did you download it from on amazon?

i can see the song as an mp3 on amazon.com but buying off that site might not affect the UK charts. or will it?

Ooo'er! I downloaded the MP3 version from amazon.co.uk; I presumed it counts on the UK charts. Perhaps someone else can enlighten us. I don't want to have to download more software!
Life was so much simpler when all you had to do was to go into your local record shop and hand over 6/8d for a single!

[scorp]

when i searched on amazon.co.uk using "leonard cohen hallelujah" i just a list of his albums. where did you download it from on amazon?

i can see the song as an mp3 on amazon.com but buying off that site might not affect the UK charts. or will it?

Ooo'er! I downloaded the MP3 version from amazon.co.uk; I presumed it counts on the UK charts. Perhaps someone else can enlighten us. I don't want to have to download more software!
Life was so much simpler when all you had to do was to go into your local record shop and hand over 6/8d for a single!

i'm sure that is ok as it's co.uk i found the mp3 download store on it, then searched LC's Hallelujah. Found this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_dmu ... &x=16&y=15

i see from the chart that Jeff Buckley has two versions in the amazon.co.uk charts . one at no 2 - and one number 19 that is the 'album version'. i wonder what nthe no 2 one is. anyone know? The chart is here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MP3-Music-Downl ... d_i=468294

scroll down a little to see it. but that chart must be out of date; alexandra is nowhere to be seen!