Jeff Buckley by Rebecca

There is a certain fascination I have with Jeff Buckley that many people don’t seem to understand. I remember in the Summer of 2008 when I listened to his first and only studio album, Grace, on repeat more or less everyday. When friends finally inquired as to what I was listening to I would play my then favorite song by him (also titled Grace) and usually get a skeptical look as they listened to his free and passionate vocals singing lyrics such as “there’s a moon asking to stay, long enough for the clouds to fly me away, well it’s my time coming, I’m not afraid to die.” What must have seemed eerily morbid to them spoke to me, not because I related to every word he was saying, but rather because every time the song’s original guitar riff came back in and Buckley added more intensity to his voice, I was lost in a trance just trying to comprehend everything I was listening to. This was not the same as most popular music I was used to hearing. Even the pieces on the album that were covers, rather than his original compositions, had an incredibly original feel to them as he used his own interpretations to create new songs such as his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” what is almost definitely his most well-known recording today.

I absolutely love Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah,” but there is something about that being his most popular recording that bothers me to no end. It is unbelievable to me that so few people would find a connection with Buckley such as the one I feel. Buckley’s lyrics have a way of telling a very personal, specific story without giving too much away, leaving room for interpretation. Rather than sending a stereotypical, simplified message through a love song as many artists do, relying on the same old metaphors and sweet messages, Buckley’s version of a love song (specifically his song Lover, You Should’ve Come Over) uses unconventional metaphors such as “all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter” and messages that, while many people can relate to them, may come from the complex feelings in love that are not often represented correctly in love songs such as “too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run.” There is a certain relatable quality to his concepts, so that while they are very personal to his story, the listener can understand his thoughts through his original way of describing them. Many of his lyrics standing alone could easily be poetry, but it is the incredible feeling he puts into his words that give them so much importance. While the instrumental themes in his songs have obviously been composed and discussed ahead of time, there is always something about Buckley’s vocals that sounds to me like he is letting them go wherever the music carries them, fairly often not sticking to just a specific melody, but also letting his voice change pitch and tone as he feels the piece more and more. I hear, both in his writing and performing, him unraveling the meaning behind each song, sometimes adding one complicated layer after another so that devoted fans can still find something new and interesting about his recordings no matter how often they put Grace on repeat.

I hope that my writing can somehow inspire others to go out and listen to some of Jeff Buckley’s original songs rather than just claiming to know him because of hearing “Hallelujah” a couple of times. In reality Buckley was much more influential than just in that song, as artists such as Rufus Wainwright and PJ Harvey were inspired to pay tribute to him in their own recordings after his death in 1997. He has been the subject of several documentaries, specifically Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley which screened at 25 film festivals and won multiple awards. As he is someone so influential in the arts world, it is interesting and disappointing to me that nearly every time I mentioned my decision to blog about Buckley the response I received was something along the lines of “Who?” I feel that while it’s possible the reason I can’t seem to find many others who understand him this way today is because his death was over 10 years ago, that argument doesn’t seem to work very well when thinking about how many musicians and artists live on, or are even more famous, after they die.

When it comes down to it, my goal in expanding Jeff's following isn't for my benefit at all - I will still enjoy his music whether or not any of you listen to one song. It is simply my way of honoring him. When asked how he wanted to be remembered Jeff Buckley said "I don't really need to be remembered - I hope the music's remembered," and for that, I hope it is too.