I’ll stand before the Lord of Song with nothing on my lips but Hallelujah
Perhaps this is some form of sacrilege to post this on Easter, but if you aren’t going to church today, maybe you can spend some time with Bono as he ruminates about Hallelujah (with the help of Leonard Cohen, of course).
I recently came across this most excellent cover that Bono contributed to the Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen compilation in 1995.
At this moment in the evolution of U2 we were right smack-dab between Zooropa and Pop. While it is hard for me to nail down one era of U2 that is my “favorite,” I really liked both of those albums, as well as the pop-modernism of Achtung Baby (ok, that’s actually probably my favorite).
This song is a hybrid of the swanky falsetto of “Numb” and the smoooooth spoken word portions of “If You Wear That Velvet Dress.” It’s awesome.
Take a close listen and tell me how come it sounds soooo dirty the way he enunciates the last word of this line: “And from your lips she drew the hallelujah.” Makes me kind of guffaw and say “Ha haaaa!” in that delighted naughty way. Also, you practically have to wear your wraparound Bono shades when you listen to this. It’s THAT cool.
Hallelujah – Bono
Name: Heather Browne
oh lord, now you’ve gone and made me have dirty thoughts today….yay bono!
later
c — April 16, 2006 @ 7:59 pm
I’m a sucker for Old School U2 — can you imagine how cool this cover would be if Bono sang like “Running to Stand Still?”
Still, a nice find.
Thanks
szg — April 17, 2006 @ 4:32 pm
I don’t think it is inappropriate on Easter, but then I am a Pagan, and mostly we f*** like bunnies on Easter. Did you see that they used the John Cale version on Cold Case last night? My favorite, although the one by Alison Crowe and Arooj are also good. Maybe I like the female versions because I am female. Is it a sacrilege to say that the worst version is Leonard Cohen’s original?
Anonymous — April 18, 2006 @ 4:56 am
Are you KIDDING? This is the worst Cohen cover I’ve ever heard. Even Leonard Cohen singing sounds better than this.
matthew — April 19, 2006 @ 10:38 pm
Thank you! I’m in a Hallelujah addiction phase right now.
Dinah — April 21, 2006 @ 11:38 am