Tuesday, December 16, 2008

that was quick

Just to underline my point about cover versions, I hear the worrying news that X Factor winner Alexandra Burke has released a cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah as her first single.

The most famous version of Hallelujah was by the late Jeff Buckley, though as I understand it his version was heavily influenced by an earlier cover by Velvet Underground co-founder and - heck, why not? - Welshman Of The Day, John Cale. Here's a brief Guardian article about Cale - notable mainly for some brief but highly concentrated utter bollocks in the comments section.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You will be unsurprised, no doubt, that there is a Facebook group dedicated to this very subject...

Ok, technically, it's a Facebook event but then, who cares?

electrichalibut said...

Who indeed. I think the correct response is a sort of Zen-like realisation that the new version doesn't diminish or cancel out the existence of the old one, and not to get too worked up about it. But frothing internet-based outrage is a valid reaction as well, I suppose.

I wonder how many of the Facebook Buckleyites know that his version was a cover as well?

On a tangentially related point, I recall having an argument with my Dad about 20 years ago over who did the original version of Light My Fire. I said The Doors, naturally; Dad said, slightly bizarrely, José Feliciano.