ldquo;A venerated creator. An adored; tragic interpreter. An uncomplicated; memorable melody. Ambiguous; evocative words. Faith and uncertainty. Pain and pleasure.rdquo; Today; ldquo;Hallelujahrdquo; is one of the most-performed rock songs in history. It has become a staple of movies and television shows as diverse as Shrek and The West Wing; of tribute videos and telethons. It has been covered by hundreds of artists; including Bob Dylan; U2; Justin Timberlake; and k.d. lang; and it is played every year at countless eventsmdash;both sacred and secularmdash;around the world. Yet when music legend Leonard Cohen first wrote and recorded ldquo;Hallelujah;rdquo; it was for an album rejected by his longtime record label. Ten years later; charismatic newcomer Jeff Buckley reimagined the song for his much-anticipated debut album; Grace. Three years after that; Buckley would be dead; his album largely unknown; and ldquo;Hallelujahrdquo; still unreleased as a single. After two such commercially disappointing outings; how did one obscure song become an international anthem for human triumph and tragedy; a song each successive generation seems to feel they have discovered and claimed as uniquely their own? Through in-depth interviews with its interpreters and the key figures who were actually there for its original recordings; acclaimed music journalist Alan Light follows the improbable journey of ldquo;Hallelujahrdquo; straight to the heart of popular culture. The Holy or the Broken gives insight into how great songs come to be; how they come to be listened to; and how they can be forever reinterpreted.
#1456550 in eBooks 2012-03-09 2012-03-09File Name: B007CFSR7E
Review
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A great book on many levelsBy A. CokeI enjoyed this book on many levels. Hard to summerize. it has great stories about people. history and purpose. Its purpose is broad and specific at the same time. Trying to come to grips with what constitutes cosmopolitanism. jazz. art. and culture. Feld uses specific stories and personal experience to try and answer the questions.Having seen the films and heard the CDs (Im playing on one of them) I felt enlightened by many of the back stories and historical narratives. After reading the book I had a better understanding of these people. their world and my own. I read a physical copy of the book but I could strongly recommend an electronic version to be able to quickly reference the Internet and follow the many ideas and footnotes that abound throughout.
