Nige on the mainstreaming of Hallelujah:
It seems that Leonard Cohen’s strange and beautiful song, which he spent a year wrestling with and was never entirely sure about, has – thanks to over-exposure and endless cover versions – not only entered the mainstream (making Simon Cowell yet more money along the way) but become all-purpose musical shorthand for any kind of vague spiritual yearning. It’s the melody that does it – the fourth, the fith, the minor fall. If only Len had stayed within his usual, shall was say, limited melodic horizons, the song would have been safe – but alas it seems he’s inadvertently gifted the world with… a new Imagine, to be lazily reached for every time a little effort-free, content-free spiritual uplift seems called for.
The Dish 