Oh, Leonard Cohen, what have you wrought? From "Leonard Cohen, I'm Your Man," Lionsgate, 2005

There's no shortage of songs that get overused on the big and small screen, and whether the result of unimaginative hacks or some ill-conceived notion of what audiences want (uninformed hacks), it's always baffling. Staples like "The Way You Look Tonight," "Let's Get It On" and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" should never be heard in a film again. Then there are songs that have been so overused they should never be heard again, period. Bad to begin with, mindless garbage like "Takin' Care Of Business" and "Walking on Sunshine" are musical trans fats -- artificial, monetized and bad for society, they should be banned as such.

Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is a different sort of song altogether. It's far from bad, nor is it really a staple that's overplayed its welcome. In fact, it should be acknowledged, once the mind's cleared of the cynicism wrought by overexposure, that it's one of the best folk songs ever penned. That's precisely why, as a soundtrack choice, it must be earned. It's a special song that should be brought out only when nothing else on God's green earth will do. Instead, it's been used and abused dozens of times in both film and TV, in its original form or in one of the over one hundred cover versions that have been recorded.

The first soundtrack appearance of "Hallelujah" that I can find is in "When Night Is Falling," a 1995 Canadian film that centers on a lesbian love affair between a literature professor and a hot carny performer. It's a forgettable cover that takes away all the power of the song and replaces it with a gospel chorus and bongos. A more memorable early use is John Cale's respectable interpretation in 1996's "Basquiat." It should have stopped there, but Cale's cover was used again in the animated feature "Shrek" (though it was Rufus Wainwright's version on the album), the Johnny Depp-directed short stuff, and other titles. It's after this that the primacy of Jeff Buckley's version arises. The first time I heard "Hallelujah," it was Buckley's beautiful voice and melancholy guitar that I fell for. A girlfriend played it for me by candlelight in her bedroom on a cool summer night -- a "from your lips she drew the Hallelujah" kind of night. But it seems everyone's had this same girlfriend and this same unforgettable moment with this song. And even Buckley can't keep its potency from fading in everything from an episode of "The West Wing" to the Nicolas Cage flick "Lord of War."

The latest "Hallelujah" shame (and mockery of that once magical evening) is the excruciating moment in which Cohen's original version of the song scores a sex scene in Zack Snyder's recent "Watchmen," which plays out like a bad joke told by a sad clown. Worse, you have to sit there while the sad clown painfully explains the punch line to you when you don't laugh. I also have to mention the completely unearned "The Sounds of Silence" travesty -- Snyder, man, you have to earn Simon & Garfunkel.

This easy payoff/Wall Street approach to film soundtracks where nothing is sacred is all too common. But since it's poor form to criticize without offering solutions, here are a few suggestions to consider in place of any iteration of "Hallelujah." Amazingly, none of these have been used before in any film that I can find, or if they have, it was a cover that never should have been made and that's now totally forgotten. At least hopefully -- no one should have to recall Blind Melon's take on "Candy Says," as heard in "The Cowboy Way."

The top 5 songs off my record shelf to use in place of "Hallelujah":

• "Candy Says," The Velvet Underground
• "Dreams," Fleetwood Mac
• "Brother," Jorge Ben
• "Never My Love," The Association
• "New Partner," Palace Brothers

There's another film coming out this week that features "Hallelujah," though co-directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck ("Half Nelson") use it sparingly in their forthcoming "Sugar." It's unnecessary at best in a naturalistic film with an otherwise deftly done soundtrack. It's certain not to be the last time we hear the song either -- I can easily imagine a future with James Franco as a tragic Jeff Buckley singing "Hallelujah" on some moonlit pier. Oh, the mobs of breathless teenagers, it's inevitable.

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Abs

Perhaps the most egregious (over)use of "Hallelujah" comes in the emotional climax of the German film The Edukators, where it is played about three times within fifteen minutes. Subtle.

Also, can we put a moratorium on covering "Hallelujah" as well? Seriously, just about every singer-songwriter with an album has done it.

Kumichan

well, one the Carmina Burana pieces has been so overused that one thinks of it as devilish and evil, when it fact it does have like an epic, majestic sound. I don't recall in which movie they started to use this, and there's also Beethoven's 9th symphony.

Matthew Jay

it was used in The OC and even though that could seem like an abusive use of a great song by a great artist (buckley), it was quite heartfelt and worked well.

also, i am writing a script and there is a scene that i wish to use candy says....by VU of course

Alex S

Brandon Kim, you may know how to write an article (though not an interresting one), but please do the rest of the educated world a favor and restrain yourself from writing critiques about things you don't understand. (i.e. soundtrack editing/song selections)

Your ill-informed, bottleneck view of artistic choices in filmmaking is obviously not sufficient to judge such works. It was a privilege to witness a cinematic achievement such as "Watchmen" (including its soundtrack), and to comprehensively express that privilege in writing requires a level of intelligence that must be earned. You, my dear sad clown, haven't.

J Boz

Uh... get off your high horse, Kim. Snyder doesn't have to earn SH!T - the production company paid whoever owns the S&G rights a buttload of money to use 'Sounds of Silence'. In fact, they paid for all the songs, so they can use whatever the hell they want. Plus, Cohen's Hallelujah is a hokey 80s synth cheese experience - within the same time period the movie is set. I don't like the height of your horse at all. PS. Don't even start me on your disdain for BTO or 'Walking on Sunshine'.

Kelso Horror

Here's My replacement for "Hallelujah"!

"Traffic Light" by The Ting Tings

Woozle Wazzle

I wish those angry Watchmen fans who immediately fall back on ad hominem attacks instead of actually describing what it is about the movie they believe to be so worthwhile would realize how little justice they do their fandom with declarations of "if you don't like it, you're obviously not qualified to write about it." That's not a defense, that's sophistry.

Jennifer

Why do I get the feeling that this whole article was written so you could announce to the world that once you had a girlfriend?

Debby

First time I heard "Hallelujah" ever, was in a final episode of "The O.C." (don't ask, it was a time of bad choices all around for me).

I immediately googled it and found out it was Jeff Buckley's version.

So, if nothing else, I have that to thank the show for.

Aaron

Please don't talk about "earning" a song unless you're a musician. You might be, because you're a bad writer. This whole piece was set up about one song. I used to be the rehearsal drummer for Jeff Buckley when he was in Upstate NY. I heard him in person sing that song. BTW, your 5 songs off your shelf are awful.

JBoz - Your comments are among the most cynical, irrelevant, two-dimensional crap I have ever read. I hope you don't have kids. If you do, blow your brains out and save them the trouble of developing their substance abuse problem.

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