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I’m just going to go ahead and say it...

Hallelujah, the Jeff Buckley version, is the greatest song of all-time.

Period.

There, I said it.

What now.

As a lover of music, I’m ashamed to admit that I was introduced to that song by watching the movie Shrek.

I’m even more ashamed to admit that it was at least the fifth or sixth time I watched Shrek that I noticed how great that song really is.

I cannot recall the exact scene, but I believe it was when Shrek was sadly leaving the castle without Princess Fiona, after fighting the dragon.

Clearly one of the most dramatic scenes in cinematic history.

Well, not quite like Goose going down in Top Gun.

But I digress.

The Shrek movie version of Hallelujah was performed by John Cale.

The version on the soundtrack was performed by Rufus Wainwright.

The song was written and also performed by Leonard Cohen.

There’s even a cover version by my main man, Robert Zimmerman.

But I challenge you to listen to Hallelujah, by the late Jeff Buckley, and not have every bone in your body melt.

It happened to me again this morning.

Usually during my 21-minute walk to work, I like to talk on the phone.

Whenever possible it is with Tony, the co-owner of my fantasy baseball team.

But we are so far out of it this year, our fantasy phone conversations end up being about reality.

Which is fine by me.

But this morning, I guess I wasn’t in the talking mood, so I popped on my iPod and went right to Mr. Buckley.

The version I have on my iPod is a live version, which is at least a minute longer than his original version.

Which is fine by me.

Before I got to my first intersection, I was almost in tears.

I don’t know what it is exactly about that song, but it gets me EVERY time.

When that song was over, my iPod automatically moved to the next song in alphabetical order.

Hallelujah, the version by my Canadian sistah K.D. Lang.

I have a VERY wide ranging taste in music, but when I find somebody I love, I try to listen to everything they’ve done.

You can add K.D. Lang to that list.

Is there a song better than Constant Craving?

Other than Hallelujah, of course.

My musical library has more artists than The Louvre.

Aerosmith to Zeppelin, Abba to Jay Z.

But there are certain performers that have reached lifetime achievement status in my eyes and in my collections.

Bruce, Dylan and U2, of course.

Stray Cats, Will Smith, Joe Jackson, Billy Joel, Sinead O’Connor, Guns N’Roses, Madonna, Adele, Missy Higgins, Counting Crows, Eminem.

I should probably stop there.

By the way, is there any song better than Janis Joplin’s live version of Summertime?

Are you kidding me?

I’ve been fortunate to pass my love of music onto my kids.

Or maybe they are the fortunate ones, but either way...

My six-year old daughter can sing Justin Bieber better than J.B. himself.

My eleven-year old son loves every type of music, as long as it has a curse word in it.

And my thirteen-year old daughter can dance like Michael Jackson and sing like LaToya.

And she knows her music too.

A few months ago we were riding around in the car when Iron Man by Black Sabbath came on the radio.

Never one to miss an opportunity to educate the kids, I immediately asked, “do you know who is singing this song?”

She had suffered through this miserable drill many times before, so she knew that answering "no" would get her nowhere.

So she started guessing.

Guess 1... Bobby Brown.

As in My Prerogative Bobby Brown.

Who are you and what happened to my daughter?

Guess 2... Ringo Starr.

Getting warmer.

Guess 3... Ozzy Osbourne.

Bingo.

That’s my girl!

With no clues.

Hallelujah.

And speaking of Hallelujah, its time for you to play the game that's sweeping the nation -- Interactive Bacon.

Please -- write a comment, email me, text me, tweet me, poke me, facebook me, send a postcard, whatever you want, but please tell me...

WHAT IS THE GREATEST SONG OF ALL-TIME?

Thank you.