Beirut – Hallelujah
July 22, 2008
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 :D
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.
thanks for the chords!
i sort of go d d u udududu
looks abit weird but it sounds ok
I absolutely LOVE the Beirut version! Cohens was good and Buckley, well he was the shizznit, still is, but I digress. Beruit has achieved something with this song that noone else has. I don’t know if its the Uke or his voice, but I am inspired! HALLELUJAH!!
Dude, thanks for posting the chords, me and my Kala are gonna go please the Lord!
I got my uke for my birhtday.So Far I am learning somewhere over the rainbow and Halleluja. This site is really benificial thanks for having it!
just did a cover of this song on your tube! first you tube video i did but the chords worked great.. my voice on the other hand..
amanda: Happy birthday!
lizziye: Nice one. I like the way you play it.
can you please upload how to strum this song?
Gday Woodshed, I recently bought myself a ramon sanchez uke and im really stoked with it but im still getting a bit of fret buzz when im playing, any advice?? I’ve bought some aquila srings but havnt put them on yet as it seems like a bit of a hastle would they help to fix my problem??
cheers, luke :)
luke: Changing the strings would be a good start – certainly less hassle than other remedies.
Do you get a buzz on every fret? If it’s just certain frets, it might just be one fret that’s too high (in which case you can file it down). Otherwise, you might have to raise the bridge a little.
i checked the frets and they seem pretty good, not sure bout the bridge but ill change the strings and see how it goes, maybe its just my technique… or lack of it :P
thanks for the help tho mate appreciate it.
hey Woodshed sorry to keep bothering you mate but I changed the strings on my uke and now i’m getting some buzz on the C string at the bridge. Was wondering if there were any remedies for this? I thought about raising the bridge but I’m not sure how to go about doing it?
Thanks again, Luke
Great song, that’s much. The only thing I was wondering about was the strumming pattern. I couldn’t figure it out just by listening to the song, as it seems to change.
My ears must be clogged, just cannot get into Beirut at all. Can’t see the attraction – hoping it’s an age thing and will grow into it. ;)
Byjimini: Don’t worry about it. There are plenty of good reasons to dislike Beirut.