Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' is one of the most covered and beloved songs in the world, but it was almost never heard. Cohen spent years writing it, reportedly going through 80 different verses. When he finally recorded it for the album 'Various Positions' in 1984, his record label, Columbia, hated the album and refused to release it in the United States. The song only became a hit years later, first through a cover by John Cale and most famously by Jeff Buckley in 1994. Since then, it has appeared in over 300 films and TV shows, most notably 'Shrek.' The song’s blend of religious and secular themes, along with its 'broken' melody, has made it a modern hymn for both mourning and celebration. It reached the Billboard charts only after Cohen's death in 2016, a testament to its slow-burning but undeniable legacy as a masterpiece of songwriting.