Hallelujah

One of Leonard Cohen's most popular songs, "Hallelujah" is his magnum opus, crafted over a period of five years. The word "hallelujah" is Hebrew for "glory to the lord." The idea of the song is, there are lots of different hallelujahs, and they're all valid, even the ones that are cold and broken.

The most famous version of this song is Jeff Buckley's cover. He included it on his 1994 album Grace, but his version wasn't widely heard until after his 1997 death when he drowned at age 30. His death renewed interest in the song, bringing it to the attention of many artists, many of whom performed it in tribute to Buckley. Over the years, the song brought a great deal of attention to Cohen as well, but it took a while. Peak "Hallelujah" was probably some time around 2012; by that time it had been recorded by hundreds of artists and performed by many church choirs. Artists to cover it include k.d. lang, Rufus Wainwright (as heard in the movie Shrek), Bono, Regina Spektor, Damien Rice and Tori Kelly.

The song is loaded with religious imagery, with references to David, Bathsheba ("You saw her bathing on the roof") and Samson ("She broke your throne and she cut your hair"). Cohen explained that the song is "a desire to affirm my faith in life, not in some formal religious way but with enthusiasm, with emotion."