I've been a fan of Jeff Buckley ever since I saw him perform Mojo Pin live on TV footage of Glastonbury festival back in the early 90's and thought his voice was incredible. He's often regarding as one of the greatest ever male vocalists and the progenitor of the wailing falsetto style of singing that Muse have been so successful with. Jeff sadly only released one album, Grace, before his death in 1997, however there have been several albums of mostly unfinished material released in the years since his death and there's a wealth of genius to be found among it. I've collated here a selection of some of my favourites. A lot of his songs tend to be fairly long so I haven't been able to fit in as many as I'd like.
If you want more information about Jeff Buckley then HERE is a link to his Wikipedia page.
Download the Mix: HERE
Tracklisting:
Lover, You Should've Come Over
Witches' Rave
Morning Theft
Song To No One
Lost Highway
The Sky Is A Landfill
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Ulalume
Grace
Poor Boy Long Way From Home
Nightmares by The Sea
Eternal Life (Road Version)
Hallelujah
Night Flight (Live)
Opened Once
Last Goodbye
The Mix track breakdown:
Lover, You Should've Come Over
Taken from Grace (1994)
This song was one of the many highlights of the Grace album and as good an introduction to Jeff as any.
It's a pretty song but also a sorrowful one; It tells the tale of a man who's recently split with his girlfriend and it makes him take a look at his life and he realises he's perhaps not as emotionally mature as he ought to be.
Witches' Rave
Taken from (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk (1998)
This one is just a simple, jangly little Pop Rock song about promiscuous women who bewitch and break the hearts of young men. It's nice to hear something that sounds upbeat by him even if it's quite dark in actual lyrical content.
Morning Theft
Taken from (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk (1998)
A gentle song with a really pretty melody through it. It's my favourite song from Sketches I think. I always thought it was about someone who had to choose between his friend and his lover, chose the lover and pined for his friend. Reading the lyrics more closely however and I think it might be about someone who regularly cheated on his lover, got dumped and regretted his cheatin' ways. I dunno, listen see what you think.
Song To No One
Taken from the album Songs To No One 1991-1992 (2002)
The title track of sorts from unfinished collection of songs he recorded with guitarist Gary Lucas. There's just the two of them on this song. Its a nice little tune with a ragtime feel to it. I'd have liked to hear a finished version.
Lost Highway
Taken from Grace: Legacy Edition (2004)
One of many cover versions Jeff recorded. This is an old Country song originally recorded by Leon Payne but made famous by Hank Williams. I have a few versions of this song by various people but Jeff's voice lends itself to it well and I really like this particular one.
The Sky Is A Landfill
Taken from (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk (1998)
The opening track of Sketches and one of his rockier songs. It's a scathing, vitriolic rant about pollution, global warming and humanity's sheer lack of caring about it. There's a nice little riff that closes this song too.
The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
Taken from You And I (2016)
A cover of one of two songs by The Smiths on You And I. It's peculiar in that you can hear echoes of Morrissey in his voice sometimes. It doesn't quite sound like Jeff's own song but it's more than just a karaoke version too. I like it a lot.
Ulalume
Taken from the compilation album Closed On Account Of Rabies (1997)
This is a weird one. It's a reading of a poem by Edgar Allen Poe with an atmospheric and discordant backing. It's pure spoken word with no singing. It's a disturbing performance of an already creepy poem. It reminds me of a Lovecraft tale, maybe something with Cthulhu or Dagon worshippers. Listen in the dark with headphones and see if you can sleep afterwards.
Grace
Taken from Grace (1994)
The title track and first single from his only proper album. It's a nice little song about not being scared to die because you have someone to love.
I always thought the chorus was "Rain in the fire" but it's actually "Wait in the fire". It's not the most hilarious of misheard lyrics but I felt obligated to mention it all the same. I hope it has some import on your life.
Poor Boy Long Way From Home
Taken from You And I (2016)
A cover of a song that's purported to be one of the oldest Blues songs written. It seems to have several names, Poor Boy Blues, Poor Boy, Po' Boy, Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home and so forth. This is a crackly, acoustic version that sounds like it was recorded in the 30's.
Nightmares by The Sea
Taken from (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk (1998)
An ominous song that, like Ulalume earlier, has a vague Lovecraftian feel to it. I don't know what the song is actually about but I think it's regards a serial killer who seduces women and drowns them. Whether that's a supernatural killer or not I don't know but I like to think so. There's a great cover of this song by the Swedish Doom Metal band Katatonia that's worth a listen if that's what tickles your wotsits.
Eternal Life (Road Version)
Taken from Grace: Legacy Edition (2004)
Jeff has recorded three different versions of this song. The first featured on Grace and is by far the most musically aggressive song on that album, there's also a stripped back version that's just Jeff and his guitar and then there's this one. When he played it live he ramped up the Rock and really went for it, this is a studio recording of that version. The original version was apparently inspired by Led Zeppelin but this is almost Metal in it's execution and makes the original seem a bit limp in comparison. I would have loved to hear an album full of songs like this by him.
Hallelujah
Taken from Grace (1994)
Probably his most well known song is this cover of a Leonard Cohen song. There are dozens of different covers of this song but Jeff's hauntingly beautiful take on it by far the best in my opinion.
Night Flight (Live)
Taken from Live at Sin-é (1993)
This song is another cover that's cropped up on You And I but I always intended to include one live song, just for a little insight into Jeff's personality and sense of fun, this performance does just that. Also it's nice to hear him let loose and wail toward the end of this song too. It was originally by Led Zeppelin and tells the tale of a man running away to avoid getting drafted.
Opened Once
Taken from (Sketches For) My Sweetheart The Drunk (1998)
A short, simple song about loss. It's pretty but mournful. Not much more to say about it really! It's good. Listen to it.
Last Goodbye
Taken from Grace (1994)
This was the song that really got me into his music. I was full of loneliness and depression in the 90's and this song, and Grace as a whole, helped me overcome it to some extent. It's about loving someone who doesn't love you back and that not necessarily meaning you're not worth loving. It's a beautiful, inspirational song and it makes me sad to think what he might have gone on to achieve had he not drowned. Stupid river.
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