June 29, 2008 21:48

Glastonbury says 'Hallelujah' to Leonard Cohen

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.