Jeff Buckley, Hallelujah!

You might have already read about this since the story has been floating around the internet for the past week, but the Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah" was performed by some dude on American Idol and it shot up the charts immediately. I don't really watch American Idol so I didn't see it for myself (I have more important things to do like dedicating myself to VH1 shows featuring Ricco Rodriguez--more on him later--Bret Michaels, Scott Baio and whichever "Brady" Christopher Knight used to be. Calm down, I know he was Bobby! Kidding, he was Greg, right?), but I know the song extremely well because it was made famous post-Cohen in the 90's by one of my personal favorites, Jeff Buckley.

The reason I decided to write this post is to tell you that if you're at all interested in this song by this particular singer (and why wouldn't you be?), but are not going to buy the entire Grace cd, you should put your hard-earned dollar to better use by getting the 9-minute version off of his Live at Siné 2-CD set. It's not only a live performance from a legendary show but is also 3 minutes longer than the version on Grace. It is also gorgeous and raw, which is what I love most about it. 

I feel qualified to share this information with you because I've been a freak for Jeff Buckley since the beginning of his career; and you can read all about it in a post I wrote back in June. It's a long one, but you aren't doing much else at work today, are you? Besides, at the end of that post is a good Buckley primer, and before you know it you might own every single thing that has ever been offered to the public-at-large like I do. My love for him started over 13 years ago with one song, and the next thing I knew, I had everything available, even the imports. Not that I'm obsessed. So, check out my non-obsession with Jeff Buckley by clicking HERE.


JB is #1 in popularity, not only in my playlists (on the left) but also because a billion people bought it through the iTunes store! You can see how NOT obsessed with his music I am. The playlists shown are only part of my Buckley collection. But I'm definitely not obsessed. Preoccupied, maybe; obsessed, no. Wait, is it possible to qualify as being "preoccupied" with something for over 13 years? I mean, I HAVE purchased other music over that time, and the Estate of Jeff Buckley hasn't put a restraining order against me, so that's a good sign, right?

At the end of the 9-minute Siné version, Jeff bids the crowd adieu after a very long and incredibly diverse set, in the sweetest way, and it always makes me smile: "That's all, good night. I love you... so much! You're fabulous, beautiful and I love you. Now let's go drink... and sleep!" Perfection. That sentiment alone is worth more than what they're charging. This makes me feel better about our economy, that in some way paying .99 for a great 9-minute song helps to balance out the swiftly rising gas and food prices. AND TAXES. If you have $1.98 to spend, buy both the Grace and Siné versions. Times are tough, though. Maybe you can go in on that purchase with a couple of your friends, and hold your own listening party! Charge a cover and by the end of the night you'll be ahead by a long-shot.

All of the people who didn't have this inside information and already paid the same price for the 6-minute version on Grace (still beautiful, but each version is different in 1,000 ways) kinda got screwed if you go solely by song-minutes-to-money... so, you're welcome.