Former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has revealed she was deeply moved by a performance of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah” following her election defeat.
“On the Saturday after the election, I turned on Saturday Night Live and watched Kate McKinnon open the show with her impression of me one more time,” Clinton wrote in her new memoir What Happened.
“She sat at a grand piano and played, ‘Hallelujah,’ the hauntingly beautiful song by Leonard Cohen, who had died a few days before. As she sang, it seemed like she was fighting back tears.
“Listening, so was I.”
In her book, Clinton also shares insight into her campaign’s song selection.
“For the music at our rallies, we chose a lot of empowering women artists – Sara Bareilles, Andra Day, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, and Rachel Platten – as well as songs from Marc Anthony, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams, and John Legend and the Roots,” she recalled. “We loved to see our crowds singing along to the music.
“To this day, I can't hear ‘Fight Song,’ ‘Roar,’ or ‘Rise Up’ without getting emotional.”
Clinton also gives a shout out to another female artist. The second chapter starts with the famous quote: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” It’s attributed to “Friedrich Nietzsche (and Kelly Clarkson)” – a reference to the latter’s 2011 single “Stronger.”