FULL 15 versus to Leonard Cohen Halleluja!

[me+me+me]

HI! i've been looking absolutely EVERYWHERE for the full 15 versus to Halleluja, and i would be sooo grateful (and amazed) if someone could tell me where to find them!
thanks

Chrissie ^_^

[starmack]

Certainly not on the "Various Positions" CD on which song first appeared in mid 1980s.

Never knew there were 15 verses. Will search though. Good luck too

[me+me+me]

^^ thank you! yeah its seriously hard to find! UGH i might end up having to write to the guy! ><

[theonlyone]

Not relevent to your questions but did you ..
read his book Beautilful Losers ...

[me+me+me]

No i havn't! in fact this is one of the only ways i've heard of him! XD but whats it about?

[Abdulmajid]

I am a huge Leonard Cohen fan and to be honest I am unaware this exists.

The only answer I can guess is it may appear as a poem only in one of his various poetry books.

He uses very different lyrics when he sings the song live and perhaps the two different versions make 15 verses combined?

[me+me+me]

um , no i'm almost certian it exists, i've read interveiws and things from other people, and they say there was originally 15 verses, it may have appeared in one of his poetry books, but i know it exists and the versus are all different ^^

[theonlyone]

So google it ..I gave my book to a charity
shop ..a hard book to read ..this is very
early Cohen ...

[me+me+me]

oh lol well, ok then.. couldn't you just explain it to me quickly? my inernet is amazingly slow at the moment? ^_^

[theonlyone]

just goes to show we are not all
numptys on AB....

[james412]

Different cover versions of "Hallelujah", and different performances by Leonard Cohen himself, sometimes include different lyrics from those in Cohen's original 1984 recording. However, although individual words do change between various versions, most of the variation may be due to selection from Cohen's complete lyrics rather than additions by the cover artist. In a 2001 interview with The Observer, John Cale said:

"After I saw [Cohen] perform at the Beacon I asked if I could have the lyrics to "Hallelujah". When I got home one night there were fax paper rolls everywhere because Leonard had insisted on supplying all 15 verses."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallelujah_%28Leo nard_Cohen_song%29

[DaSwede]

Hi Chrissie. The Word (magazine) did a great interview with Leonard Cohen for their July issue 2007 where he actually says he has 80 verses for it and that for his own recording he "just took the six verses out of the many that establish some kind of coherence for the song." He says it took at least five years to write it, and he mentions having "several thick notebooks full of verses"...

...so yes I'm thinking perhaps you should write him a letter... You have found his official web site I presume, and there's another one which is very good, I think it's Finnish or something, but approved by Leonard himself.... ...wait...

here it is I haven't searched it for you; I suspect the full verses are to be found in Leonard's notebooks only.

[me+me+me]

Ok! thank you soo much for your advice!! yeah i think i might just write him!! but i'm not sure if he'd trust me with the 15 versus! but thank you soo much everyone! ^^

[King Normie]

A quick "Google" Search for "lyrics, leonard cohen, Hallelujah" gave me 172,000 hits. A quick peek at the first 2 pages revealed from 5 to 8 verses.

Yer on yer own for the next 17,000 pages.

[starmack]

Just checked in book "Various Positions," a biography of The Great Man Himself by Ira Nadel and of all the songs on that album "Hallelujah" didnt even rate a mention!

Indeed, Cohen was once asked if, of all the songs ever written in the world there was one he wished he had written, which one would it be. His answer was "'If It Be Your Will'...and I did write it." It's on the same album, a duet with Jennifer Warnes.

That is my memory of that album which I bought on its release... the song "Hallelujah" just didnt feature in reviews etc. In fact Cohen's record company, CBS, didnt even bother releasing the album at all in America.

Will keep searching.