NME Festival Guide 2008
Glastonbury

Glastonbury says 'Hallelujah' to Leonard Cohen

Pic: PA Photos

Pic: PA Photos

The veteran's famous song inspires a sunset 'moment'

Veteran singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen inspired a Glastonbury 'moment' when he played his legendary song 'Hallelujah' during his Pyramid Stage slot at Glastonbury tonight (June 29).

As the sun set, the 73 year-old performed the song which originally appeared on his 1984 album 'Various Positions', and gained a new lease of life when Jeff Buckley covered it on his acclaimed 1994 album 'Grace'.

The star started the song just as the sun was setting, and further delighted the massive crowd when he changed the lyric "I told the truth, I didn't come here to fool ya" to "I told the truth, I didn't come to Glastonbury to fool ya". The crowd sang every chorus with Cohen, and gave him a massive ovation at the end, when he took a bow.

Cohen played many of his most famous songs, including 'Who By Fire', 'Suzanne' and 'So Long, Marianne', after which he said the crowd: "It's a great honour to play before these angels born of the mud."

The Canadian legend finished his set with 'First We Take Manhattan', before getting a huge ovation from his legion of fans.

The set was:

'Dance Me To The End Of Love'
'The Future'
'Ain't No Cure For Love'
'Bird On A Wire'
'Everybody Knows'
'Who By Fire'
'Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye'
'So Long, Marianne'
'Tower Of Song'
'Suzanne'
'Hallelujah'
'Democracy'
'I'm Your Man'
'Closing Time'
'Anthem'
'First We Take Manhattan'


Keep up with all the action from Glastonbury this weekend (June 27-29) as it happens on NME.COM. For news, pictures and blogs keep checking the NME.COM's Glastonbury Festival page. Plus make sure you get next week's issue of NME – on UK newsstands from July 2 – for the ultimate Glastonbury review.

Comments (2)

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Claire1985 

Jul 1, 2008

This was amazing! One of the single best moments of my life. I cannot believe that Jay Z and Amy Winehouse are getting all the media attention given that we spent Sunday in the presence of such genius! A great great glastonbury moment.

jamesmcconnon 

Jul 2, 2008

Couldn't agree more with Claire. It really was one of the best gigs I've ever seen, and Hallelujah and So Long Marrianne were just amazing moments I'll never forget.

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