Leonard Cohen Wants to Stop Musicians from Spoiling 'Hallelujah'

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but Leonard Cohen feels he's been flattered too much.

Cohen has been recording songs for nearly half a century, but one track in particular has been covered time and time again. Since he recorded it in 1984, "Hallelujah" has become a soundtrack staple and has been covered by several great artists including Rufus Wainwright and Jeff Buckley.

Yet, in a recent interview with The Guardian, Cohen expressed frustration with excessive use of his song and called for a temporary freeze on all covers of it.

"I was reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it, and the reviewer said, 'Can we please have a moratorium on 'Hallelujah' in movies and television shows?' and I kind of feel the same way," Cohen said. "I think it's a good song, but too many people sing it."

However, as Rolling Stone notes, it is actually Cohen's own version of the song, not a cover, which is used on the Watchmen soundtrack.

Still, the song's success has given Cohen some much needed royalty money, considering he was forced to go on tour after one of his former managers ran off with much of his cash.

On top of that, he feels vindicated by "Hallelujah's" popularity. The song was on Cohen's record, Various Positions, a record Sony didn't want to release at all.

"They didn't think it was good enough…. So there was a mild sense of revenge that arose in my heart," he said.