Leonard Cohen Fed Up with "Hallelujah" Covers; "Too Many People Sing It"

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Jul 10, 2009

Well, it seems Leonard Cohen is as sick of "Hallelujah" covers as we are. In a recent interview with the CBC, the 74-year-old Canadian crooner voiced his grumbles about others reinterpreting and often cashing in on his 1984 song.

"I was reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it, and the reviewer said 'Can we please have a moratorium on 'Hallelujah' in movies and television shows?' and I kind of feel the same way," Cohen said. "I think it's a good song, but too many people sing it."

However, Cohen did say that he was pleased with the chart battle that went down in the UK late last year and that the song was chosen as the winner's single on last year's X Factor.

"I was happy that the song was being used, of course," he said. "There were certain ironic and amusing sidebars, because the record that it came from, which was called Various Positions, [was a] record Sony wouldn't put out.

"They didn't think it was good enough. It had songs like 'Dance Me To The End of Love', 'Hallelujah', 'If It Be Your Will'. So there was a mild sense of revenge that arose in my heart."

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