Some One Or Other: Halleluiah.

I’m pleased to be writing a review of the 2008 UK Christmas number 1 single having thankfully still not heard it. Hopefully I will continue to successfully dodge it until it disappears off of the radars of the short attention spanned musically illiterate that devour it.

Not being a believer does not preclude me from appreciating Cohen’s sublime lyrics that I have loved since first hearing them on 1984’s “Various Positions”. In fact it’s hard to produce a cover version of such a beautiful song without a serious risk of being accused of murder. Jeff Buckley however gave it a go on 1994’s superb “Grace” album and managed to lift what was already a piece of genius to a new height. In fact the whole “Grace” album is a 90’s classic. (See my list of top 10 albums). Should I not therefore be pleased that the profile of both Cohen and Buckley has been raised by the song selectors of a banal Saturday night TV Karaoke contest. No. As far as I’m concerned those whose musical horizons are only stretched by Saturday night TV can remain in blissful ignorance. There’s a wealth of banal tripe songs for the pop star wannabies to plunder if they do not have the talent of song writing. I can quite happily ignore the modern pop culture as I find it simple to divorce the entire concept from what I know and love as music, but when it reaches into my domain and attempts to pollute my preferred art with its fetid commercialised dingo’s kidneys, I get a little upset. What is wrong with you people? And no I’m not including the new Take That album in my 2008 review.