One of the sweetest songs ever to grace the presence of this earth is the song “Hallelujah,” which was written by Leonard Cohen and released on his 1984 album Various Positions.
Cohen wrote about 80 different verses for the song before it was finally released.
The song didn’t do too well at first but gained popularity through its covers by John Cale and later Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainright. The song has been covered countless times and was also featured in the 2001 movie “Shrek.”
But now when you Google “Hallelujah” it’s the version by Pentatonix that comes up on your screen. Pentatonix is a Grammy Award-winning American a capella group from Arlington, Texas known for their pop-style arrangements, vocal harmonies, basslines, riffing, percussion and beatboxing, according to Wikipedia.
The group now consists of members Scott Loyin, Mitch Grassi, Kristin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola and Matt Sallee who replaced Avi Kaplan in 2017. Pentatonix’s version of “Hallelujah” is one of the most powerful, possibly because of the fact that it is solely powered by human voices.
If you didn’t know any better, you’d probably think that the song is accompanied by music.
However, the only thing you’re hearing is the talented voices of the members of Pentatonix. The official video for Pentatonix’s version of “Hallelujah” was published on their YouTube channel on Oct. 21, 2016 where it has gotten more than 242 million views.
“So yesterday I was walking on the hallway and I heard a few gasps coming from the corner. I looked that way and I saw a group of teachers watching a video on another teacher’s phone. I came closer and I saw that the video was ACTUALLY THIS ONE,” said one YouTube commenter. “The teacher holding the phone was saying amazing things about PTX, he was all like ‘Can you actually believe they use NO instruments? This is talent!’ I freaked out and basically fangirled for the rest of the day. The other teacher’s reaction were really funny, they literally all said ‘But I can hear drums’.”
Pentatonix also released a video 0f their live performance of the song which was part of their live “A Pentatonix Christmas Special” that aired on Dec. 14, 2016, according to Billboard.
“Hallelujah” isn’t a traditional Christmas song and has been interpreted to have various religious and secular meanings and themes.
But it certainly works in this situation with Olusola’s vocal percussion and Maldonado’s mezzo-soprano that she busts out in the third verse. The song was also featured on their deluxe Christmas album. Listen to this breathtaking song in the video below.
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