Hallelujah
by Haim

Album: Women in Music Pt. III (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • This emotive heart-on-sleeve folk ballad finds each Haim sister singing a loaded verse about their strong sisterly bond. Danielle Haim kicks off the song with a testimony regarding her affection for Este and Alana.

    "My verse is about our relationship as sisters. That feeling of knowing what your sibling is gonna do or say before they do it," she tweeted. "Sibling telepathy is a real thing!"
  • Este Haim was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 14. Her verse was inspired by the help and guidance she has received from her sisters throughout her ongoing health struggle.

    "I wrote my verse a few days after I'd gotten some pretty terrible news from my endocrinologist," she explained on Twitter. "I came home from the doctor super upset and frustrated and the only two people I felt comfortable enough to talk about it with were Danielle and Alana."
  • Alana Haim's verse was inspired by the passing of her best friend and the support her two older sisters gave her.

    I had a best friend but she has come to pass
    One I wish I could see now
    You always remind me that memories will last
    These arms reach out.


    When Alana was 20 years old she was awoken with the news that her best friend, Sammi Kane Kraft, had died in a car accident. The loss changed her life forever, as Sammi's passing showed her how special her loved ones are.

    Said Alana: "Losing her put a lot of things into perspective for me. I was so lucky to have my sisters at this time in my life. There was a point where they didn't know what to do or say or how to help and them just being there as a shoulder to cry on or as an ear to talk to got me to slowly recover. I'm not the same, I'll never be the same. The me before took love, friends and family for granted. Now there won't be a day that goes by where i don't tell everyone I love how special they are to me."
  • This was the first song Haim wrote about their bond as sisters. "Once the idea just came to us, the lyrics just kind of poured out," Este Haim said.
  • Danielle Haim co-produced the track with the sister's regular collaborators Ariel Rechtshaid and Rostam Batmanglij.
  • "Hallelujah" is not a cover of Leonard Cohen's classic song. However, Haim did cover another Cohen tune, "If It Be Your Will," on the 2019 Hanukah-themed album, Hanukkah.
  • Two videos were released for the track.

    Version 1: Directed by longtime collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson, the clip primarily focuses on a day in Danielle Haim's life and its recurring monotony.

    Version 2: Dubbed "Hallelujah (Thank You Version)," this visual features videos of fans, family members and celebrities sharing homemade footage of themselves singing along to the track while celebrating the holidays with their loved ones. Faces you might recognize include Emma Stone, Charli XCX, Childish Gambino and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig.
  • When Christine McVie died on November 30, 2022, her longtime Fleetwood Mac bandmate Stevie Nicks evoked this song to express how she felt. On social media, Nicks posted a photo of a handwritten note that read, in part:

    "One song has been swirling around in my head, over and over and over. I thought I might possibly get to sing it to her, and so, I'm singing it to her now. I always knew I would need these words one day."

    Nicks then wrote out the lyrics to "Hallelujah," starting with the third verse, which begins:

    I had a best friend but she has come to pass
    One I wish I could see now
    You always remind me that memories will last

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