lola425 's review for:

The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" by Alan Light

3.0

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Interesting read, particularly if you have any affection at all for Buckley or Cohen. Tracing the path of Hallelujah from obscure track on a maligned record to its ubiquitous use for any TV occasion that requires a "sad montage", Light illustrates how a song can move people in different wats, regardless of whether they are hearing the lyrics or not. No one can deny that Hallelujah is used in ways that are completely counter to any of its numerous interpretations and yet people still love it. I was especially interested in Cohen's process, the many, many verses that he wrote for the song, and which ones are considered definitive and by whom. The only thing that stops me from giving it four stars is that I think it goes on a bit too long in making its point. Other than that, fabulous. Had me up all night searching for and listening to versions of the song. You could lose a week to this.