About book The Holy Or The Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, And The Unlikely Ascent Of "Hallelujah" (2012)
This unusual book is about a single song, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and its remarkable history as a pop phenomenon. The song was originally written and recorded by Cohen in 1984; it was covered by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame in 1991; it’s most popular recording was done by Jeff Buckley in 1994 on his album Grace. Since then it has been covered numerous times by artists ranging from k.d. lang and Rufus Wainwright to Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, and Michael Bolton. It was used on notable occasions, such as to accompany TV footage of the 9/11 attack in the days following 9/11/2001, and earlier in the same year in the movie Shrek, to provide the musical background for Shrek’s pining for his beloved Fiona. It has been a staple of TV musical competition shows such as “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol.” Light does a remarkable job of following the mad career of this particular song in its many manifestations around the world in the 30 years of its existence; he convincingly argues that it has been a phenomenon without peer in its re-inventiveness and widespread dispersion in contemporary culture. Also, it has appealed to both religious and non-religious persons in its ambiguous and complex lyrics which range from faith to doubt, from despair to joy and then back again. The book is readable and well documented. For those especially interested in this song, it is worth reading. An excellent book for such a narrow subject. Alan Light traces the popularity of the song from its creation and initial obscurity through its eventual social saturation. With wit and occasional snark Light turns what could have been a dry, forgetful study into a very interesting tale of a trail of lucky breaks, chance meetings, champions, and tragedies that keep returning "Hallelujah" to the forefront of a (nearly) worldwide consciousness.
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