Albums You Might Not Know, But Should Part. 3

[csberry]

Resurrected from the dead, I keep coming up with albums to post but never seem to get around to it. Today I highlight an album that had one song that was love at first listen but it took me a while to appreciate the whole collection.



Jeff Buckley - Grace

(As usual, these songs will be posted for a limited time.)

If I had the ability to craft the music, lyrics, and production for a song...it would be very close to "Last Goodbye." (about 4MB) As an Army brat, I've had to say goodbye to so many people growing up. The sentiment of seeing the potential of a relationship but to have to end it is something I'm very familiar with. I love the way the music builds steadily while Jeff's emotionally-adept vocal expressions takes a bumpier path as his lamentations surge in waves. The production starts spare and flourishes into such a beautiful, grand display that it seems to be ideally built for use in a movie soundtrack.


***************************************************

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.

Well, this is our last embrace,
Must I dream and always see your face?
Why can't we overcome this wall?
Baby, maybe it's just because I didn't know you at all.

Kiss me, please kiss me,
But kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation.
Oh, you know it makes me so angry 'cause I know that in time
I'll only make you cry, this is our last goodbye.

Did you say, "No, this can't happen to me"?
And did you rush to the phone to call?
Was there a voice unkind in the back of your mind saying,
"Maybe, you didn't know him at all,
you didn't know him at all,
oh, you didn't know"?

Well, the bells out in the church tower chime,
Burning clues into this heart of mine.
Thinking so hard on her soft eyes, and the memories
Offer signs that it's over, it's over.

***************************************************


Another song with a theatrical presence is "Lover, You Should Have Come Over." (about 6MB) This song transcends one singer. I have heard a couple of covers of this song and it held up tremendously well in the reinterpretations (Jamie Cullum's is particularly good). This song could easily be the result of Meatloaf producing Robert Plant singing Van Morrison lyrics.


***************************************************

Looking out the door
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water

Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight, you're on my mind so
You never know

Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it.
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run

Sometimes a man gets carried away,
When he feels like he should be having his fun
Much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that, really,
He has no-one...

So I'll wait for you... And I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return?
Oh, will I ever learn?
Oh, Lover, you should've come over
Cause it's not too late.

Lonely is the room the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep
That won't ever come
It's never over,
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over,
all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her...
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter...
It's never over,
She's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever...

But maybe I'm just too young to keep good love
From going wrong
Oh... lover you should've come over...

Yes, and I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love, well I'll wait for you
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late.

***************************************************

Others will love Buckley's cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelulah." The title track and "So Real" are also stand outs on this album.

Alas, I haven't heard any Buckley on the radio since WRLT/Nashville in 2000. I would spooge all over myself if any of his songs (especially any of those mentioned above or "Everybody Here Wants You" on Sketches...) came across my radio now.

Comments

[csberry.livejournal.com]

I think it is closer to the original than the covers. Granted, I haven't really listened to Cohen since college (early 90's) when I tried to fall in love to his music. Leonard Cohen is in the same bag as Bob Dylan for me...I respect their abilities and the songs they've created, but prefer to hear their music performed by others.

Grace was his only proper album during Buckley's life. He drowned in the Mississippi River while recording his sophomore album in Memphis. The tracks released in Sketches... was what was left behind along with some additional work they had planned to the songs at the time of his death. However, it is said that Jeff was talking about reconstucting the whole album because he wasn't happy with how the material was coming together. As someone that really enjoys the resultant album, it makes me really curious about what he would have changed and how that would change my opinions of those songs (part of why I really enjoy getting my hands on most any demo track).

Buckley vs Coldplay:

There is both a masculine and feminine side exposed in Buckley's singing. His voice can go from the whisper of a girly-man to the soulful acrobatics of an Aretha Franklin and the sexy growl of Plant.

Coldplay is shoe-gazing Brit boy...which will get louder or faster, but doesn't really show any true vocal range. I'm convinced that Coldplay has secured it's place in 00's pop culture history, but they lack the ability to flex their sound enough to last past the upcoming alterations to pop music. If they can't come up with a reinvention or expansion of their sound, I feel they are closer in importance to a Hootie & the Blowfish than a U2.

[wc-helmets.livejournal.com]

I feel they are closer in importance to a Hootie & the Blowfish than a U2.

I think that's the best refrence to coldplay I have ever heard. I was just making fun of "Let her Cry" at a bowling alley 2 days ago. I refrenced Coldplay because they we're the first band I could think of that fit into that forced fragile sound I cannot stand.

Dear God, man, what made you think you could fall in love with Cohen as the soundrack? That reminds me of when I drove to my Senior prom with The Afghan Whigs in the background. I really enjoy some of Cohen's albums (New Skin for the Old Ceremony is great, and it refrences alchemy on the cover), but I understand your point of view. I only own one Dylan album, I've never listened to him that much, and I also prefer the covers of his songs (including Ministry's "Lay Lady Lay").

By "other people doing their songs", I do hope you're not refrencing Aaron Neville's version of Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" for the movie of the same name....

[csberry.livejournal.com]

By "other people doing their songs", I do hope you're not refrencing Aaron Neville's version of Cohen's "Bird on a Wire" for the movie of the same name....

*spray* *wipe* *wipe*

Great, you made me puke on my keyboard.