Perusing the Internet today, I had my eye taken by the rather shocking news that the winner of this years X Factor will be releasing ‘Hallelujah’ in their attempt to reach the hallowed Christmas Number One.  Two emotions prevailed upon me discovering this:



1: Shock, that The X Factor are covering an ostensibly alternative tune for such an important release.  Also, the fact they would release a song creating a somewhat William Blake-esque link between religion and sexual pleasure seemed to be a bit of an almighty risk for them when you consider the target audience.



2: Disappointment that they, the very embodiment of everything that there is to despise about the music industry, are covering a tune long treasured by myself and countless others. Admittedly this affection is almost singularly for the Jeff Buckley version and not the Leonard Cohen original. But this is one of the rare cases where the cover is better than the original, where the coverer makes the song their own, as if they had penned it in the first place.  The Buckley legend has been grotesquely flogged since his untimely death over a decade ago, with a wave of ill-informed live releases and dodgy studio recordings, but if you forget these and ask most fans for the defining song of Buckley, the one shining beacon of his talent and voice, it would probably be ‘Hallelujah.’



Upon reflection, my sense of shock dispersed as fast as it came.  Of COURSE they are releasing this song! What a chorus; instantly memorable, impossible to forget and with a religious overtone around this most holy time of year.  There’s a real Holy Trinity for you!
       



And who gives a fuck what the song is actually about? Who cares that it contains the lines: But remember when I moved in you/ And the holy dove was moving too/ And every breath we drew was Hallelujah.  Sure, that’s not family friendly, but they can just edit that out. And no-one really listens to that bit do they?! It’s all about the ‘Hallelujah.’ That’s the money shot.

        

So it is somewhat heartening that there is an uprising among the hoards of Buckley fans in cyberspace, where social networking types are starting a campaign to get the Buckley version to the top ahead of the Cowell Cock-Up.  One group on Facebook- Jeff Buckley for Xmas no 1- is thriving with, as I write, 7,931 members (most of which have only joined since Tuesday, the group founder Lucy tells me), so there is clearly people out there who believe in the cause. Unfortunately, this is not enough as breaking Cowell’s grip on the Christmas Number One slot is a massive task, especially when you consider previous X Factor form(571,253 first week sales for Leona Lewis's ‘A Moment Like This' anyone?)   

      

There appears to be no plans to make ‘Hallelujah’ a physical release therefore

(somewhat ironically) the only way for people to vote with their feet is to download a copy of the song.  Now I’m not one for being over-precious about music I like (hello Beatles fans) but I would love this to be one battle the ordinary folk do win because, beyond the fact that it is a great song and surely better than the syrupy tripe JLS et al will no doubt churn out, aren’t we all a bit bored with The X Factor? Wouldn’t it be nice to see a real, actual instrument playing musician at number one this Christmas? And wouldn’t it be a rather fitting tribute to Buckley’s musical legacy if he, the most sensitive of songsmith’s, could defeat the immovable tyrant?



So come on music fans; click on the link, splash the cash (after the 15th of December mind) and wipe the grin off Cowell’s face, at least for five minutes.

Posted In Comment, Dec 12 2008. Words - David