09-19-2006, 10:49 AM
>What songs bring tears to your eyes?
Someone mentioned Jeff Buckley, his cover of 'Hallelujah' would come close for me. Theres the haunting guitar in the beginning, and one part near the end of the song where he just does the hallelujah chorus. I wouldn't say I cried, but it definitely raised the hair on the back of my neck. He imbued an already great song with one of those rare power in music. The ability to make the audience silent and listens.
'Hallelujah' for me is one of those songs that can be (and in a lot ways it is) cliche'd, but it is a cliche because it does have a certain power and truth to it. Which is kind of weird considering the song can be fairly ambiguous, depending on how it's sang and which lyric combinations chosen. It can range from a spiritual hymn, a love\break up song complete with overt sexual metaphor and melodrama, a redemptive wail to a cynically detached despair.
While I like the original Leonard Cohen version for his unique voice and delivery, I can't help the feeling that a few of his renditions is only a few sly winks and notes away from a bad casino lounge 'croonery'. Even that wouldn't be too out of place I guess. This is one of those songs to me that has enough room for interpretation to include both the profound and the profane.