Leonard Cohen has died at 82

[bi_janus]

Cohen died in Los Angeles.

[vwl]

Hallelujah for what he left us.

[colinian]

Hallelujah sung by Leonard Cohen

https://www.youtube.com/embed/YrLk4vdY28Q

When I grabbed this link the video had 49,350,074 views.

Colin

[vwl]

I know bi_janus doesn't agree, but the best version of Hallelujah is Jeff Buckley's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AWFf7EAc4

I'm not sure of the covers for Suzanne, another great song, but probably not Leonard Cohen himself.

[colinian]

My favorite performance of Hallelujah is by Alexandra Burke here: https://youtu.be/qSgsW9GLerA

She was the 2008 UK X-Factor winner with this song. It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful, too.

Colin

[ChrisR]

The most meaningful to me is Jeff Buckley's take on it for The West Wing, season 3 finale.

[vwl]

For Suzanne, something special:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/flashback-leonard-cohen-andjudy-collins-perform-suzanne-in-1967-20130425

[bi_janus]

I think Buckley's version is remarkable. The greatness of the tune and the lyrics is shown by how many singers have covered the song. Among the unusual and wonderful covers is by Ari Hest. VWL and I had a discussion of this subject because I wrote in one of my stories that Antony Hegarty (now known as ANOHNI) had recorded it; this was a subtle suggestion, because although I wished that he (at the point I wrote, she used the pronoun, he) had; to this point she has not. Of all that he wrote, "Night Comes On" and "Bird on a Wire" are my favorites.