Dueling hallelujahs

This song and its cover are doing battle. The most famous version of �Hallelujah� is by Jeff Buckley, an American singer-songwriter who died when he was 30 and here’s his version. His version didn’t do much when it first appeared but that changed this year when �Hallelujah� was covered on American Idol. People loved the song so much they went out and bought the Buckley version from 1994, and it lept to #1 on the Itunes chart. Now another reality show from the U.K. is having a similar version. This was the most recent version by a UK singer and it’s expected to be a #1 song here over Christmas, but some Jeff Buckley fans prefer his version so their campaign is pushing his version back up the UK charts. Here’s John Cale, the founding version of the Velvet Underground with his version, which inspired the Jeff Buckley version. (Has anyone taken it to a different level?) Here’s a Brooklyn band which did a folk version, and then there’s this Catalan version. All these covers makes you think everyone should have a go at it.