John Cale - Hallelujah

yeah i definatley get your point the violins are a bit overwhelming

I don´t like this version so much... its the first time, that I didn´t enjoy this song, the violins stressed me... OMG! ....sometimes less is more....

This is a nice version, but I prefer the Jeff Buckley version--I'm not crazy about the violins. The first time I heard the Buckley version (on WFUV) my ears perked up, my eyes stung and I knew I was listening to one of the rare, truly moving performances. I'm glad that more people know this song, which is SO special, but I'm afraid it is becoming very commercial. I thought the jazzier, rougher LC version was well-suited to "Watchmen" though.

Buckley remains the best singer who has ever lived. His version is clearly the best vocally and emotionally.

Cale wasn't the first to cover it, Dylan was.

good try. but this song is not for you man

I have to admit, I like Cale's version because I heard it first on "Scrubs" Season One, Episode Four. However, as someone else mentioned, k.d. lang's Juno Awards version is the best of all. The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame version is too, when Cohen being inducted and k.d. performs this. When she's done she goes and bows to him, and kisses his hands and he kisses hers in return. It's awesome. Listening to Cale's version though, is good too.

Greatest version I've heard, so far. Buckley did a nice job, but his version sounds anemic compared to this, and k.d.'s is just kinda smarmy.

@chewbacca0901 Absurd, of course John Cale's is the best version.

He is the only singer who truly sounds like he's live it... which count, a lot, unless you are the biggest ABBA fan ever.

The rest are bubble gum tributes to living, in a half baked attempt to be "deep"!

@outsidechange Forgive me... You obviously are the World's foremost expert on music. I suppose you find the ORIGINAL by Leonard Cohen "souless." I bow to your greatness!