Beirut - Hallelujah
July 22, 2008 · Print This Article
Zach Condon quite often finishes off Beirut gigs with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Although his version is closer to Jeff Buckley’s (one of the best cover versions ever recorded).
The chords are fairly simple. One thing he does a few times in the song (and loads of times in his own songs) is play the F chord with the G string open, then hammer on at the second fret. He does a similar thing with the G chord. This time the A string is left open then hammered on.
I’ve included two versions of Am in the song (one with the A string open and one with it at the third fret). He always uses the third fret version on the C - Am change that you hear at the beginning. He throws in the easier version on a few occasions towards the end.
Kudos to Leonard Cohen for making my job easier by describing the chords in the lyrics. Why can’t all songwriters be so helpful?
Cool. Thanks a lot for this.
Damn You Woodshed!
I was going to cover this!
You have foiled my plans yet again!
Hehe!
Brilliant song, but to be fair i don’t like beirut’s version. I much prefer Jeff Buckley’s.
Joe
Cheers for this! Well, I already had the chords but it’s great to hear Zach’s version.
I really like his uke playing, the way he manages to add interest and variety to simple chord playing through strumming patterns and the little hammer-ons and pull-offs he does. I’m trying to incorporate some of these techniques in my own playing.
Any idea what uke he’s playing there?
I’m gonna say that k.d. lang does the best cover of this song ever.
Wow, never expected to hear a version of Hallelujah from a ukulele site. Perhaps your site is more of an alternative music site with a focus on the uke. No matter, your choice shows amazing fine taste in music. There can be no bad cover of this song, this one is very interesting and I love it. Hope you have heard Rufus Wainwright cover, also great.
Leonard Cohen is perhaps an aquired taste, but he is brilliant and good to hear there is still an interest in his music.
im with woodshed & joe on this one.
Jeff Buckleys cover is the best
carbonthief: You’re welcome.
Joe: Don’t let it stop you. I want to hear you do it.
John: I’d guess his Lanikai LU-21T.
Jodi: I have to say, I can’t stand KD Lang’s version.
Art: I can’t quite come to terms with Rufus’s voice. I more a fan of his Dad.
Andy: If only you were still blogging: robot ukulele song.
I meant to say in this video of him performing Hallelujah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnmact0wxNs
I forgot I’d been watching a different video when I posted the question.
It does look like it could well be the lanikai
Where are the tabs? I came for Way down in the hole, and was pleasantly surprised to find this here…love this song on guitar, never heard it on the uke. Love his version, but where is the tab?
patrice - Click the ‘Beirut - Hallelujah’ link above for a pdf of the chords
Thanks, John. Are the chords that hard to spot? Perhaps I need to bold them and make them larger.
Is there any specific strum pattern that can be recognized?
I’m with CoryT. What’s the strum pattern?
Rob says: It sounds to me that Zach is playing all quick down strokes.Kinda like (d d d ddd). (d d u u du )does seem to work for me.
Cheers for posting this - great song. I’ve always been a fan of the Jeff Buckley version.
I too (I three?!) struggled with strumming. The video of him playing looks more like d d u d; that sounds better to me.