Because I do try to point out music I think is good that you guys may not have heard of, I'd like to say that I'm very impressed by how much Orla Gartland's lyric writing ability has improved over the years. She has an EP coming out, sometime. Check her FB page for updates: http://www.facebook.com/OrlaGartland.
But I would like to move to ruminate on her cover of the song "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen. I actually think it's my favorite cover of the song, ever.
EDIT: Orla has, without notice or given reason, made the video private. I'm going to take her not responding to my question of why and if I could get an mp3 of the track as tacit approval to upload an mp3 here myself.
One of the first reasons is that Orla sings with a lower, almost husky tone, which I've said before I like her doing more. The other part is that nearly every single word she sings seems to try to cover every possible note there is to sing at the same time. Listen for it: every word she seems to fluctuate between five different notes. It's really beautiful, and it's the principle reason I started listening to her channel.
The third reason is really more personal, but it's that she kinda mumbles the entire thing. It's a trait I've always appreciated in others.
Now, the best way to flesh out why I really like this version over others is to compare it to other covers. My two runner-up favorites would be John Cale and k.d. lang:
I had commented to one of my siblings (I think my sister) that what I liked about Orla's performance is that she sounds like she's about to break down crying throughout it. In retrospect, I don't think that's it. Rather, she sounds like she'll break down into silence at any moment, refusing to bother singing anymore and just sit despondently in a corner.
Cale's version likewise has that emotional tinge, as if he's been wronged, yet there's no uncertainty in his voice. It's a forward driving piece, because at no point does he doubt what he's singing or the message he's conveying. The stripped down piano helps to accents what he's saying, yet – because it's the gorgeous instrument that is the piano – is capable of swelling and filling the piece, making the room feel less vacant than it is. It allows for building up and for still allowing in that emptiness.
In contrast, lang's piece is more of a ballad, meant to be grandiose. Yet (you might've noticed I prefer the more depressing take on this song than an upbeat one) it still has the ability to touch on that prostrate feeling of loneliness and despair. However, at no point does lang's performance seem personal. Which I don't think detracts from the song. And I know there would be some who'd vehemently disagree with me, so I say this with hesitance, yet I'm struck, every time I listen to it, that the song sounds more like a performance than anything else. lang is clearly an accomplished singer and what she does takes a lot of control and intentionality – and that's what it sounds like. After thinking about it, I think what it is is that it sounds like lang is singing about the person referenced in the song rather than directly sympathizing with their emotions. She is empathizing rather than sympathizing. Which, again, I don't think makes it less of a song. It actually probably beats out Cale's version in my book.
In contrast to both of those, Gartland's version is far less declaratory. The only musical backing is the very basic, repeated plucking of her guitar, giving us the most stripped down version yet. At first, I had wondered if her version would have benefited from a more elaborate guitar backing – like, say, Jeff Buckley's version –, but I realized that the stripped down barrenness aided in the isolated feeling that the overall piece carries.
Besides, it allows more attention to her vocals, which are what really carry this piece. As I said before, they sound like they're ready to give out on her, too timid for their own assurance. When she sings, "But you don't…really care for music, do ya…?" it sounds like she's almost afraid to hear the answer to that question.
Which doesn't keep the song from its own swelling. Despite my own taste for non-bombast versions of the tune, I firmly believe it is a song which is supposed to swell. The second half of each verse really should build, emotionally. And Orla doesn't leave that out. Yet the emotional insecurity of the song is never left out.
As she sings, "Well it goes like this:/The fourth, the fifth,/The minor fall and the major lift/The baffled king composing…Alleluia," she sounds wavering through every word, as if her voice might collapse beneath her all while she builds in volume.
When she sings, "Well, she tied you to her kitchen chair/And she broke your throne, and she cut your hair/And from your lips she drew the Alleluia," her voice starts to broil with indignation, ever so slightly, before collapsing into a wavering sadness at the line, "she cut your hair".
As she sings, "Well, I've seen your flag on the marble arch/and love is not a victory march/Well it's a cold and it's a broken Alleluia," her voice finally breaks the uncertainty and the wavering, only to sing the lines, "love is not a victory march/Well it's a cold and it's a broken Alleluia".
At "Well remember when I moved in you/And the holy dark was moving through/And every breath we drew was Hallelujah", it seems more pleading than anything else, a call to remember before ending the song.
Frankly, she does an amazing job at capturing a wounded-ness in the song that is truly captivating and moving. And, in spite of the surrendering nature of the tune, she manages to convey a million different emotions at the same time. As I said, my favorite cover of this song of all time.
nt
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