Matt Morris and Justin Timberlake Approached 'Hallelujah' Cover for Haiti With 'Reverence'

The Internet has been aflutter with accolades for Matt Morris and Justin Timberlake's version of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' ever since they performed it on the 'Hope for Haiti Now' Benefit last Friday night. While the other performances weren't without merit, there was something that was chilling about this one that's made it the top-selling song from the compilation, the number one iTunes download and garnered it over a million views on YouTube and MTV combined.

The version Timberlake and Morris had been enamored with for a long time has been the classic Jeff Buckley take from 'Grace'-- and watching it, any Buckley fan could see that. "Justin and I are pretty big Buckley fans," Morris tells Spinner. "So vocally we take an inspiration from him and have a fondness of his rendition of the song. It's one that holds up as truly great."

Morris says they ran though and tried out a few different tempos, but ultimately it came together in what he says was "a few passes." "We spent a few hours on it the first day and came back the second day to how we felt about it," he says. "We made some minor adjustments then and then did some at the studio, because of the time constraints. We weren't able to do all of the amazing verses that were written."

In terms of choosing 'Hallelujah,' they'd also tried out one other song -- the Beatles' 'Help' -- but didn't think that fit the scope of what they were trying to do.

"It didn't compare to what naturally came out of rehearsing 'Hallelujah.' There was a gravity to the event that influenced the performance of the song," he continues. "When you approach a cover, especially one that has been covered as frequently as it has, we tried to make something beautiful. Anyone can make something new: change the time signature or add an instrument into the mix, but the melody of this song doesn't need much. It hardly needs anything."

As one can imagine, because this event covered so much and came together quickly, Morris says they felt some mixed emotions about how to present such a calming song amidst a live event. "You want to approach this type of performance with reverence," he says. "It has to be centered and still to be relevant. But it was a chaotic event. But I think we were both pleased, especially for the first time the two of us were able to perform together."

Morris' debut record, the Timberlake-produced 'When Everything Breaks Open,' is out now on Tennman Records.