Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's suicide
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the posthumously published novel *A Confederacy of Dunces* are used as parallel examples of how great art can languish in obscurity for years, only to resurface through luck, timing, and the right champions. Commenters weigh in on the many competing versions of “Hallelujah” — from Cohen and John Cale to Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang and others — to explore how interpretation, context, and personal taste shape what becomes “definitive.” Underneath the debate is a broader concern about gatekeepers, the randomness of success, and how much unseen work of similar quality may never find its audience.
Versions of “Hallelujah” and Taste
- Multiple versions are debated: original studio and live performances, John Cale’s, Rufus Wainwright’s, Jeff Buckley’s, k.d. lang’s, and others.
- Some find Buckley’s version “sublime”; others call it overcooked or even “trash” and strongly prefer the original songwriter’s own performances.
- A recurring theme: people often favor the first version they encountered (e.g., via Shrek), and taste is explicitly framed as subjective, not something that can be “won” in argument.
Covers, Editing, and “Owning” a Song
- Many note that most later covers follow Cale’s edited verse selection rather than the original lyrics.
- Cale’s role is likened to a crucial editor who “shaped” the song into its canonical form, contrasted with editors/publishers who block rather than enable.
- Parallel examples: “Hurt” (Nine Inch Nails vs. Johnny Cash), “The Mercy Seat,” and “My Body Is a Cage” where some listeners feel later covers have effectively taken ownership.
Genius, Luck, and Gatekeepers
- Several comments push back on blaming individual record execs/editors, arguing this ignores survivorship bias and the huge unseen corpus of great but unpublished work.
- Others emphasize that talent isn’t enough; timing, luck, and champions matter, and many great works are probably lost.
- One commenter shares a moving example: a late spouse’s powerful war writings are widely praised by readers yet still can’t find a publisher.
Meaning, Theory, and Religious Use
- Detailed musical-analysis posts unpack the “secret chord” line and the “fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift” as literal descriptions of the chord progression.
- Another video-based theory links the “third chord” to biblical imagery of a “third cord” in marriage; some find this fascinating, others think it overfitted.
- Disagreement on whether the song is uplifting, hedonistic, religious, or even blasphemous. Some are baffled that it’s used as straightforward worship music; others argue its mix of biblical narrative and broken love is precisely what makes it deeply religious.
Reactions to A Confederacy of Dunces
- The book is cited as another case of initially rejected work later canonized.
- Some find it brilliant; others describe it as “trainwreck reality TV” with an intolerable protagonist and say they disliked or hated it, even on reread.