Music is so powerful by Sara Mansour

By Sara Mansour, Out Of School

Music is so powerful in the sense that one sound can transport you to a place, a person or a feeling instantly. One of the most transportive songs of all time is Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley. Like I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston, this is a classic example of a cover song actually being better than the original. From the moment he hits the first note, Buckley’s nostalgic and haunting rendition moves me to an alternate reality in praise of love and the human spirit. Unlike the original, Buckley permanently includes one of the greatest metaphors in his version: “love is not a victory march/it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah”. I think about this often, and deeply.