St. Vincent recently appeared on BBC Radio 2, where she shared her strong thoughts about the fact that people shouldn’t cover a favorite song of hers — especially if you’re auditioning for American Idol.
“Leonard Cohen‘s ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the best songs ever written, period,” St. Vincent shared. “It’s an absolute masterpiece, it took them however many years to write. The song itself is about the complication that it is to be alive, and the agony and the ecstasy and all of the inherent conflict therein.”
“You know how, for a period of time, it became a song that people would cover on American Idol?” she added. “They’d sing it and just be like ‘hallelujah, hallelujah.’ It’s just the worst thing in the world.”
@bbcradio2 “That is the worst thing in the world” Safe to say St Vincent isn’t a fan of people covering Hallelujah 😂🫣 Listen to St Vincent’s chat with Jo Whiley on BBC Sounds 🎧 #stvincent #hallelujah #hallelujahcover #jowhiley
Later in the interview, she talked to the show’s host about her upcoming album, All Born Screaming, which she announced back in February with a lead single. Her tour tied to it also kicks off next month with the release, and after this, she likely won’t be putting a cover of “Hallelujah” on the setlist. (Just in case any fans had been hoping to hear a crossover.)
Check out the clip of St. Vincent talking about Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” above.
All Born Screaming is out 4/26 via Virgin Music Group. Find more information here.