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Bluedreamer's Choice No 18
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"Hallelujah" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and originally released on his studio album Various Positions (1984). The song found greater popular acclaim by way of a cover by John Cale, which formed the basis for a later cover by Jeff Buckley. "Hallelujah", in its original version, is a song in "12/8 feel", which evokes the styles of both waltz and gospel music. Written in the key of C major, the chord progression follows the lyric "it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift": C, F, G, A minor, F. In 2004, Buckley's version was ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The same year Time called Buckley's version "exquisitely sung", observing "Cohen murmured the original like a dirge, but ... Buckley treated the ... song like a tiny capsule of humanity, using his voice to careen between glory and sadness, beauty and pain... It's one of the great songs."The Buckley version has been widely featured in film and television dramas, including the series The West Wing, Crossing Jordan, Without a Trace, The O.C., Scrubs, House, Criminal Minds, ER, Third Watch, Ugly Betty and LAX, and the films Feast of Love, The Edukators, Vinterkyss and Lord of War.On American Idol, season 7 fourth place winner Jason Castro performed this song twice in 2008 and it appears on his 2010 eponymous debut album. In season 9, Tim Urban performed the song, earning enough votes to make the finals, and fellow contestant Lee DeWyze performed this song in the Top 3 on May 18, 2010.
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These Top 50 songs are based on my personal choice and are not listed in order
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