TENILLE TOWNES: On Recently Released Cover of “Hallelujah” (Audio)
TENILLE TOWNES: On recently released cover of “Hallelujah” (Audio)
“Hallelujah” has always been one of my all-time favorite songs that just really sets the bar, and imagining the legendary songwriter Leonard Cohen just pacing his floor working on these lyrics and creating this masterpiece. And for me, the word hallelujah carries this feeling of surrender and just this kind of release, and I think the world needs that more than ever. It’s like the emotion of the song makes me feel like you can have hope and also just be angry and frustrated and searching at the same time, and I know for me in this whole time of this here right now that feels like a very true feeling, and this song has taken on a whole other meaning to me.
I’ll never forget the day at Sony when Randy Goodman asked me if I knew who Jeff Buckley was and said there was something about my voice ‘that made me think of him,’ which was an honor to hear. And it stirred up something in him, he was like, “Hey can you play ‘Hallelujah?’” and I was like “Um, ok, let me see if I can recall this song that I haven’t probably played in over 10 years.” I just took a deep breath, and it was one of the most terrifying moments, but it turned out to be just this like out-of-body experience that kind of felt spiritual where I just gave it up in the song and gave it everything I had, and that was the day I was offered a record deal.
This song really has so much history to it. It’s like every time somebody does a version of this song, I feel like it adds to the layers of just emotion and experience of life that people kind of just let go in the singing of this song, and it really just is an honor to get to contribute to that well of versions of people who have recorded this song.
