The late songwriter and performer Jeff Buckley was known as much for his elegance in music as he was for his lyricism. Poised and powerful, Buckley could illuminate a room with just a brittle vocal syllable. For many, the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah,” couldn’t have been more beautiful on its own. But when Buckley sang it, the song became that much more divine.
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Yes, the artist’s 1994 album Grace, on which his rendition of “Hallelujah” appears, is like a kiss on the lips from your one true love. The California-born Buckley, who is the son of folk artist Tim Buckley, was a rising star because of it. Sadly, though, Buckley passed away just three years after its release in 1997 at the age of 30. It happened in Memphis, Tennessee, when he drowned after taking a night swim.
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Thankfully, though, his music lives on. While several of the songs on the seminal LP, Grace, which was his only full-length record release, are covers of other artists’ tunes, there are also three tracks on the record that Buckley wrote himself, solo. Here below are the stories behind those offerings.
1. “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over”
Written by Jeff Buckley
The seventh track from Grace, this melancholy acoustic-driven song expresses the remorse that can only stem from love—or, better said, the lack of it. One of the most beloved songs from Grace, the track also deals with age and the fact that the singer is only getting older, further away from his youth. Breathy and broken, Buckley was inspired to write it by his breakup from artist Rebecca Moore. On the sad song, he sings,
Maybe I’m too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you’re on my mind
So… you’ll never know
Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, ya know how much I need it
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run
2. “Last Goodbye”
Written by Jeff Buckley
The second single from Grace, this song hit No. 19 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, making it his most commercially successful track. While the rhythmic strum of an acoustic is prominent on the number, the song stands out for its straight-ahead rock feel. Less a forlorn poem and more a radio-friendly boisterous ballad, Buckley sings of hope and reasons to live on this stirring, even uplifting offering. On it, he sings,
This is our last goodbye
I hate to feel the love between us die
But it’s over
Just hear this and then I’ll go
You gave me more to live for
More than you’ll ever know
This is our last embrace
Must I dream and always see your face?
Why can’t we overcome this wall?
Baby, maybe its just because you didn’t know you at all
3. “Eternal Life”
Written by Jeff Buckley
The final single released from Grace, this track is one of the most aggressive songs on the record. If “Last Goodbye” was a radio hit, this song could have played on grunge rock stations and fit right in. Like U2’s “Pride in the Name of Love,” Buckley was inspired to write this song by the tragic shooting of Martin Luther King Jr. and other violent historical events. On Buckley’s live EP, Live at Sin-é, he says of the tune, “It’s an angry song. Life’s too short and too complicated for people behind desks and people behind masks to be ruining other people’s lives, initiating force against other people’s lives, on the basis of their income, their color, their class, their religious beliefs, their whatever…” Of course, he’s right. On the offering, he sings,
Eternal life is now on my trail
Got my red glitter coffin, man, just need one last nail
While all these ugly gentlemen play out their foolish games
There’s a flaming red horizon that screams our names
And as your fantasies are broken in two
Did you really think this bloody road would pave the way for you?
You better turn around and blow your kiss hello to life eternal
Angel
Photo by David Gahr/Getty Images
