St Vincent says talent show covers of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ are “the worst thing in the world”
nme.comSt Vincent has said talent show covers of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ are “the worst thing in the world”.In a new interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 that you watch below, the musician talked about her love of Cohen’s”masterpiece” and how much she disliked covers of the song which were popular on shows like American Idol and X Factor.
St Vincent explained: “Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the best songs ever written, period. It’s an absolute masterpiece, it took them however many years to write.
The song itself is about the complication that it is to be alive, and the agony and the ecstasy and all of the inherent conflict therein.”“You know how, for a period of time, it became a song that people would cover on American Idol?
They’d sing it and just be like ‘hallelujah, haleluuuujah.’ It’s just the worst thing in the world.”The song has been covered by many artists over the years, including Bob Dylan, Rufus Wainwright, KD Lang and Jeff Buckley.“That is the worst thing in the world” Safe to say St Vincent isn’t a fan of people covering Hallelujah.
Read more on nme.com