It’s been a bad week or for Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah,” a song that gets abused a lot in general.
First it got used in the overwrought trailer for the four-hour “Zack Snyder Cut” of Justice League that is coming to HBO Max, which prompted Bill & Ted‘s Alex Winter to write (in a since-deleted tweet), “There are no rules in cinema except one: Thou cannot and must not use ‘Hallelujah’. Ever. Again. For the love of God. Ever. Ever. Again.”
Worse, the 2020 Republican National Convention just closed out with two different version of “Hallelujah”: first a recorded version by Tori Kelly that played over the fireworks, then opera singer Christopher Macchio sang it live from one of the White House’s balconies over the lawn.
UPDATE: Leonard Cohen’s Estate say they denied the RNC’s request to use “Hallelujah.”
Trump has been under fire from artists for unauthorized use of pop songs at campaign rallies, from Neil Young to The Village People. One wonders if his team really listened to “Hallelujah” before deciding to use it. In one of Cohen’s versions of the song, he sings “I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch / But love is not a victory march / It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.”
Bad news always comes in threes. What’s next for “Hallelujah”?
Needless to say, a lot of people are upset on twitter about it. Read a few of those Tweets below.
i feel like leonard cohen wouldn't have signed off on this pic.twitter.com/936vfAdT60
— molly conger (@socialistdogmom) August 28, 2020
Reminder that Leonard Cohen had the good taste to die on the day before the real estate heir was elected.
— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) August 28, 2020
The bump you hear is Leonard Cohen making a "what can I do" shrug in his grave
— James Urbaniak (@JamesUrbaniak) August 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/helaineolen/status/1299191763186245632
https://twitter.com/ThePaulOfHaynes/status/1299191797743140864
Bernie woulda played Tower Of Song
— Zachary Lipez (@ZacharyLipez) August 28, 2020
I had a producer on The Shield (who I loved in all other respects) who tried to get me to put this song into the show and I refused as it was completely overused at that point. That was in 2005. https://t.co/VAJ91NbJsY
— Shawn Ryan (@ShawnRyanTV) August 28, 2020
Everyone in Montreal, home of Leonard Cohen, is traumatized rn by the use of "Hallelujah" at the RNC.
— Roxanne Khamsi (@rkhamsi) August 28, 2020
Zach Snyder and Donald Trump misappropriating Leonard Cohen in the same week. Oh 2020, you never fail to disappoint.
— Mark (@markofbrooklyn) August 28, 2020
Can’t believe the they used a Leonard Cohen song for the #RNC, but it actually kinda works pic.twitter.com/9NHiNjaFNP
— maphew (@courtesyfavstar) August 28, 2020
https://twitter.com/_stevenhess/status/1299210511104569345
https://twitter.com/valarazor/status/1299211655214178304
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u77M-oANRtQ