This unusual book is about a single song, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and its remarkable history as a pop phenomenon. The song was originally written and recorded by Cohen in 1984; it was covered by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame in 1991; it’s most popular recording was done by Jeff Buck...
The year 1984—and, even more precisely, the summer of that year—marked a fascinating, unprecedented moment in our culture. It’s always impossible to reconstruct history with any real sense of accuracy, but as great as the music and performances in Purple Rain would have been at any time, it seems...