Who recorded it first

Hallelujah

Not a Jeff Buckley original — a 1984 Leonard Cohen song

Almost everyone takes ‘Hallelujah’ for a Jeff Buckley original, but Buckley’s 1994 version is a cover — and not even a cover of the original. The song was written and first recorded by Leonard Cohen in 1984 on Various Positions. Cohen’s record went largely unnoticed; John Cale reworked it for piano in 1991, and Buckley learned the song from Cale’s version, not Cohen’s.

The record

Who recorded it first

Original recording
Leonard Cohen, 1984
Written by
Leonard Cohen
First released
December 1984 on Various Positions — ignored on release
Made famous by
Jeff Buckley, 1994 (via John Cale’s 1991 arrangement)

How we traced it

The song was written by Leonard Cohen and first recorded by him in June 1984, released that December on Various Positions. Columbia rejected the album in the US, where an independent label put it out, and the song was largely ignored Wikipedia ↗.

In 1991 the Welsh musician John Cale recorded a stark piano version for the Cohen tribute album I’m Your Fan. Cohen faxed him some fifteen pages of verses; Cale chose a handful, and his arrangement — not Cohen’s original — became the template nearly every later cover follows.

Jeff Buckley recorded his version for Grace in 1994, having learned the song from Cale’s recording rather than Cohen’s. Buckley’s reading grew so beloved after his death in 1997 that many now take it for the original — a cover of a cover, mistaken for the source SecondHandSongs ↗.

SecondHandSongs — the original and every cover
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Fact-check

The attribution problem

This is a layered kind of misattribution: nothing about Buckley’s recording is wrong or fake, and it is arguably the most loved version of the song. The only error is believing he originated it — a 1994 cover, itself modelled on a 1991 cover, mistaken for the source.

The beliefcover, not original

‘It’s a Jeff Buckley song’

Buckley’s 1994 version is a cover. The song was written and first recorded a decade earlier, in 1984, by Leonard Cohen the history ↗.

The originalwrote it and recorded it first

Leonard Cohen, 1984

Cohen’s version, on Various Positions, was ignored on release — the album was rejected by Columbia in the US — which is exactly why a cover could later stand in for the source with nothing to displace.

The bridgethe arrangement Buckley learned

John Cale, 1991

Cale’s stark piano rework for the tribute album I’m Your Fan became the template for later covers. Buckley took the song from Cale, not Cohen, so the version people call the original is one step further removed still.

Written and first recorded by Leonard Cohen in 1984, arranged into its now-standard shape by John Cale in 1991, and made famous — but not originated — by Jeff Buckley in 1994 the record ↗.

Context

Why the cover ate the original

A cover eclipses its original most easily when the original never had its moment. Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ was ignored on release in 1984 — the album was even rejected by his US label — so there was no famous first version occupying the public’s memory of the song. When Jeff Buckley’s recording caught fire years later, it simply became the version, with nothing to displace.

The twist here is a second layer of remove. Buckley did not learn the song from Cohen at all, but from John Cale’s 1991 piano reworking. So the version most people take for the original is a cover of a cover — the writer’s own recording buried two steps down.

The three versions, in order
  • Leonard Cohen writes ‘Hallelujah’ and records it first (1984, Various Positions); it is ignored.
  • John Cale records a spare piano arrangement for the tribute album I’m Your Fan (1991).
  • Jeff Buckley, working from Cale’s version, records his own for Grace (1994).
  • Buckley dies in 1997; his recording grows into the beloved, definitive-seeming version.
  • Cohen’s 1984 original recedes from public memory, and many assume the song is Buckley’s.
The version most people call the original is a cover of a cover — the writer’s own recording buried two steps down.

The writer and original recording artist

Leonard Cohen

1934–2016 · Canadian singer-songwriter and poet

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) wrote ‘Hallelujah’ and recorded it first, releasing it in 1984 on Various Positions — an album Columbia rejected in the US, where an independent label issued it. The song sank without notice at the time; Cohen kept reworking it live for years, and it only became famous through the covers that followed. It is a strange fate for one of the most-recorded songs of its era: the man who wrote it is the one listeners are least likely to name.

The arrangement everyone else follows

John Cale

b. 1942 · Welsh musician, composer, and producer

John Cale (b. 1942), a founding member of The Velvet Underground, recorded a spare piano version of ‘Hallelujah’ in 1991 for the Cohen tribute album I’m Your Fan. Cohen faxed him roughly fifteen pages of verses; Cale picked a handful and built the arrangement that nearly every later cover, Buckley’s included, is descended from. He is the hidden link most listeners never hear about — the reason Buckley’s famous version sounds nothing like Cohen’s original.

Popularly credited as the original

Jeff Buckley

1966–1997 · American singer-songwriter

Jeff Buckley (1966–1997) recorded ‘Hallelujah’ for his 1994 album Grace, and his aching, guitar-led reading became so beloved — especially after his death in 1997 — that it is now the version most people carry in their heads. The quiet twist is that Buckley learned the song from John Cale’s 1991 recording, not from Cohen; his is a cover of a cover. The performance is genuinely his own and genuinely great; the only error is mistaking it for where the song began.