Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen

Not to mention Rufus Wainwright who re-introduced a whole new generation to both it and Leonard Cohen in "Shrek."

KD Lang, Jeff Buckley, John Cale and maybe a few others bring wonderful versions of this song. Some others bring Mediocre versions and a lot of others are shouldn't have tried (in public ..) . But Cohen stands way above them all. Even at age 75 his version goes deeper in my hart and soul than any other. Also check out his other songs. This man is the 'master of song'.

IMO the composer is generally a more important person than the performer. This is why Cohen is kind of beyond comparison - because without him the song wouldn't exist. His performance may well be worse than Buckley's one, but this doesn't change the fact that he is the person that the song owns the most

arh come on. Cover versions can be better, not in many cases, but it is possible.
Personally I think that Jeff Buckleys version kicks this version.
Rolling Stones magazine ranked Jeff Buckleys version in top 200, where Leonard Cohen is not to be seen at all in the top 500. Buckley transformed a great song into a masterpiece. Respect to Leonard Cohen, but even more respect to Jeff Buckley.

booooooo
its not a matter of which is BETTER, two different styles and two completely different songs.  From an apostate perspective they're all beautiful

i just gave K.D. Langs version a listen and i have to say that was horrible! She totally butchered this wonderful song.

blake983 its bad when your OPINION is wrong.. thats not even possible .. but in this case .. ya .. your wrong..

did cohen right the original?

yeah he wrote it, using the write word helps though ;)