Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’: Inside its wild journey from rejected song to ‘unstoppable’ classic
“Born in the U.S.A.,” “Purple Rain” and “Like a Virgin,” respectively — there was another classic that never saw the light of day.Leonard Cohen’s towering tune “Hallelujah” was rejected — along with the rest of his “Various Positions” album — by then-CBS Records head Walter Yetnikoff. “He said, ‘Leonard, we know you’re great, but we don’t know if you’re any good,’ ” recalls the late singer-songwriter in the new documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song,” which opens in theaters Friday.But that would turn out to be only a “minor fall” in the song’s long ascent to the pantheon of iconic tunes.