So according to Alan Light who wrote The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah' in 2013, Cohen spent 5 years, 'banging his head on the floor, because he couldn't solve this song.' He eventually completed Hallelujah and it was released in 1984 as part of his album, Various Positions. It is said that Leonard Cohen was a perfectionist when it came to writing his songs. There are many arguments as to who sang the greatest rendition of the now incredibly famous song but according to the best cover was done by Jeff Buckley although there is definitely a version for every person’s tastes amongst the many covers. Hallelujah has been covered by more than 300 other artists from Bono to Bob Dylan and many in between in almost every genre. The song became extremely popular in mainstream media through television shows and movies. Thereafter Hallelujah continued to gain adoration around the world.

Nonetheless, neither the album nor the song took on much popularity until Jeff Buckley tragically drowned in the Wolf River in Tennessee. In 1994 Buckley covered Hallelujah on his album, Grace. Buckley first heard the song in 1992 when he was at a friend’s house and listened to John Cale’s cover of Hallelujah. Soon after Jeff Buckley covered the song. Cale had called up Cohen to get the lyrics and took the 15 verses, chose the ones he identified with and then covered the song. First was John Cale who covered the song on I’m Your Fan, a tribute album to Cohen released in 1991.

Two artists greatly helped with the popularity of the song.

Hallelujah lay comatose amongst Cohen’s vast repertoire for over 10 years.

The executives did not even want to release the album as they were expecting and wanted something more pop-orientated but eventually it was released in Europe in 1984 and only in the United States a year later. When Cohen presented Various Positions to label executives at Columbia, they did not see Hallelujah as anything that was special. His previous releases LP, Death of a Ladies’ Man, and album, Recent Songs were both extreme disappointments. Leonard Cohen’s career was at its lowest point and he had been out of the spotlight for a long time when he released Hallelujah on his album, Various Positions. Hallelujah was written by Canadian singer, songwriter, poet, and novelist Leonard Cohen. Hallelujah has become one of the most well-known songs around the world, however, many people do not know who wrote it because of the song’s fascinating history and how it came to be famous.

Words to the song hallelujah by kd lang