Hallelujah | Revisionist History | Malcolm Gladwell

In 1984, Elvis Costello released what he would say later was his worst record: Goodbye Cruel World. Among the most discordant songs on the album was the forgettable “The Deportees Club.” But then, years later, Costello went back and re-recorded it as “Deportee,” and today it stands as one of his most sublime achievements.

“Hallelujah” is about the role that time and iteration play in the production of genius, and how some of the most memorable works of art had modest and undistinguished births.

[AlexHider]

My second favorite episode of all time

[Rtr]

KD Lang's rendition still hits me like a wave of warm water.

[willmpet]

I just discovered a song by Billy Joel, and now I can’t stop listening to it.

[NoticerOfficial]

Cool to see new comments on here. I listened to the episode 6 or 7 years ago and became obsessed with it and the concept. Glad it’s on YouTube for me to return to. Again and again every couple years.
for I am a sazon

[lezleeworthington]

I love Elvis Costello. I don't know any of my friends who would even know him. Thanks for this deep dive. My current listen is Elvis Costello Burt Bacharach. Painted from memory. I love how you show up.

[AmorLucisPhotography]

I was 18 in 1984 and had a similar relationship as you had with Elvis Costello with Leonard Cohen (and I'm one of the few others who bought I'm your Fan). I had the pleasure of going to see Leonard Cohen at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on his Various Positions tour, on whose album was Hallelujah! (This was his fallow period when he wasn't viewed as cool and could not fill huge venues. Cohen had recently had his own utterly unlistenable album, Death of a Ladies Man.) I loved the song Hallelujah, and almost all of the album, but not the slightly country influences on it. Buckley's version is wonderful - but I think my favourite is k.d. lang's. It's ethereal. Did I grasp at the time it was one of the greatest songs ever written? No. I thought it was great, but not as great as some other's he had written. I agree - the production clouded the greatness of the piece. (And Cohen did not think it was his best song on the album, either - that vote he gave to "If It Be Your Will").

[jimiverson]

I 'd argue that "Hallelujah" had become a great song in Jennifer Warnes' 1986 cover on her Cohen tribute album "Famous Blue Raincoat." That album had its main circulation in audiophile circles because it was an exceptionally fine, tangible recording. It was played as a demo in high-end audio shows for years before Buckley recorded the song.

[elizabethchamberlain]

Respectfully, gonna quibble with Buckley's as the definitive version. Most popular, sure. My money's on K.D. Lang for the win.

[FabulistClipjoint]

fact check ~ "Shipbuildng" was not written by Elvis Costello and Langer. It is a Robert Wyatt song. He put it out as a single in 1982 a couple months after the Falklands War ended.

[xaviernavy]

Here because of Theo… Gang bruh, gang.

[kurtcostarica]

You asked Alan Light (sp.?) if he knew of any other songwriter who had written so many (50, 60, 70) verses for a song, trying to find the ones that fit.
On a bootleg (back in the 70's) Neil Young said that he had written over 120 verses (I don't recall the exact number) for Sugar Mountain, and left the one " You're underneath the stairs, ...", 'just to show people how bad it can get'!

[kevinroach]

I think that Elvis Costello’s best critic was Bonnie Bramlett.

[James-czhf]

Only one word matters in the lyrics of Hallelujah. The rest could be the instructions for cleaning a deep fat fryer.

[topsuperseven]

I've never disliked music more than the revered Elvis Costello (may peace be upon him) and the good news is he's being as forgotten as his generation retires and passes on. Just a bunch of stupid 'important' overly-revered artsy boring noises.

[truwth]

You seem to conflate genius creativity and popularity.
Hallelujah was noticed by Cale, then Jennie, then Buckley, precisely because of its quality. This is not coincidence or "happenstance", but the opposite: cause-and-effect.

[JeffreySnow-hf]

Bruce Springsteen is also known for writing and rewriting songs, never quite satisfied.

[idomatternonya]

Malcom is a cruelly contemptible varmint and a monstrous heart-sickening plot-less melodrama of uneventful life