Leonard Cohen’s estate has issued a cease-and-desist order against Donald Trump after a recording of Rufus Wainwright singing Cohen’s song “Hallelujah” was played at a bizarre campaign event.
Wainwright also criticized President Trump’s use of the song at a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania. The singer characterized Hallelujah as “an ode to peace, love, and the acceptance of truth.” I have been extremely honored to be associated with this ode to tolerance over the years. It was the height of blasphemy to witness Trump and his supporters mingling over this music last night. Of course, I was never going to forgive this and was mortified, but perhaps the good spirit in me, by actually listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece and living it up, reminded Donald Trump that he had no idea what he had caused. I hope you might experience a little regret. I’m not holding my breath. ”
The song was one of the songs Trump played during a question-and-answer session at the Oaks, where many audience members required medical treatment due to high temperatures. Trump began by joking about the heat. “Personally, I enjoy this. It makes me lose weight. If I do this, I’ll probably lose four or five pounds” – then switches to playing music, such as Luciano Pavarotti’s Ave Maria recording. I said this. “No more questions. Just listen to the music.”
In addition to “Hallelujah,” Guns N’ Roses’ epic power ballad “November Rain,” James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,” Village People’s “YMCA,” It was then performed alongside Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”.
Trump later wrote on Truth Social: “The Q&A was almost over when people started passing out from the excitement and heat. We started playing music while we waited and just kept going. Very different but ended up being a great night. It has become!”
Kamala Harris captioned a clip of the event with the words, “I hope he’s okay.”
It has become common for artists to object to their music being played at Trump campaign rallies and events. In August, Beyoncé blocked the use of her song “Freedom” (licensed soundtrack by the Harris Waltz campaign) after it appeared in a Trump campaign video. Earlier that month, the estate of the late Isaac Hayes objected to the use of the Sam & Dave hit song “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” written by Hayes.
So many artists, from Rihanna to the Rolling Stones, have spoken out against him that there’s even a Wikipedia page dedicated to the phenomenon.
“Hallelujah”, on the other hand, is a modern pop standard that has been performed by dozens of artists since its initially overlooked release by Cohen in 1984. The most famous version was recorded by Jeff Buckley in 1994, but it was inspired by John Cale’s 1991 version, followed by Wainwright’s version for the Shrek soundtrack in 2001. It was recorded.
Alexandra Burke’s version reached Christmas No 1 in the UK in 2008 after she won The X Factor. Bob Dylan, Bon Jovi, and Bono have also performed similar versions.
