Hallelujah

Quite simply Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is right up there among the greatest pop songs ever penned — which is perhaps a little strange, when you think that very few of us, except the most ardent fans of Uncle Len, picked up on the track first time around when it appeared on his 1984 album, Various Positions. The original version kicks off our list of covers, closely followed by Jeff Buckley's (for many) definitive delivery, and a sumptuous rendition by k.d. lang.

"Hallelujah" gets an Anglo-Norwegian country twist, in Next Steps.

The mark of a really great song, it might be argued, is its ability to stand up to countless interpretations, and emerge from each treatment pristine. Well, "Hallelujah" certainly passes that test, as you'll discover when you meander from the barroom country of Norway-based Jan Vardøen, who offers the tune a hitherto untapped sing-along dimension, to the beautifully measured folk stylings of Kate Voegele, the lounge-bar leanings of Lucky Jim and the combined harmonies of Many Angels.

Never mind the words, relish the melody, in Deep Cuts.

The lyrics of "Hallelujah" have always beguiled — part Biblical, part lustful (depending on the interpreter), occasionally mirthsome (especially the rhyming of "do ya?" with the song's title), and wholly captivating . . . but, thanks to a melody that can turn the sturdiest of knee-joints to jelly, the words are from time to time dispensable. Check out the especially restful vibe explored by Vermont's Jazz Mandolin Project, or the simple reduction cooked up by the Yaron Herman Trio.

"I remember being in the Royalton Hotel, on the carpet in my underwear, banging my head on the floor and saying, 'I can't finish this song'". Thankfully, Leonard Cohen finally signed off on "Hallelujah", a mini-masterpiece which — thanks in part to its inclusion on the Shrek soundtrack and its adoption by contestants in well-known pop talent contests on both sides of the Atlantic — now ranks among the world's best-loved pop songs. Here, we've gathered a selection of the many artists who have fallen hard for the fruits of Cohen's semi-naked labour, from Bon Jovi to Katherine Jenkins, and from Willie Nelson to Aled Jones. Done country style or soulfully, crooned or folked-up, even sung in Dutch (courtesy of Rob de Nijs) "Hallelujah" is — ultimately — the song that celebrates itself.