From confessional poetry to literary canon: exploring the extensive reading list of Jeff Buckley
When Jeff Buckley tragically passed away at the young age of 30, he was on the verge of greatness. The musician had already shown the world what he was capable of, but there’s no doubt that the gift of time would have likely enabled him to spread his wings and become one of the greatest and most prolific musicians of the 20th century.
Unlike many rock figures whose lives are unexpectedly cut short, Buckley’s death was a freak accident, a strange incident that happened during one of the most transformative periods of his life. While Buckley had established himself as a world-class musician, he was beginning to allow himself to dream both of solitary happiness and the idea of living life away from the spotlight.
In fact, in the months leading up to his death, Buckley’s manager, Dave Lory, explained that Buckley started exhibiting strange behaviour, like attempting to buy a house that wasn’t for sale, proposing to his girlfriend, applying for a job as a butterfly keeper at a zoo, and “a lot of weird stuff that was uncharacteristic for him” but which pointed towards “a yearning to settle down”.
The moment Buckley died, his life became largely mysticised as a result, which made the details of his personal life more intriguing than ever. As a musician, it is easy to immerse yourself in the singer’s carefully curated atmosphere. Behind the curtain, however, there seemed to be nothing more than a blank canvas. That was until his family shared some of his personal assets, like a list of books he appreciated.
Luckily, this isn’t just a small handful of titles that Buckley became particularly drawn to. It is a considerably extensive list that would take quite a long time to pick apart. At a glance, however, it’s easy to spot the more abstract gems and compare them against the more mainstream works. Ultimately, it seemed as though Buckley was willing to embrace a vast expanse of literature, getting stuck in political allegory and falling into musical biographies, not to mention everything in between.
Whether the singer was searching for answers or looking for writers that he could relate to, some of the works he devoured are directly contradictory, like poems by a figure of antisemitism and a novel by a second-wave feminist. Whatever Buckley’s own political leanings may be, it’s likely that he adopted the approach of ‘knowledge is power’ and absorbed information to get a better view of the world around him.
Buckley’s eclectic reading list included many lesser-known titles, but he also enjoyed some classics that showed his fascination with the minds of influential figures from different realms. Some notable titles included Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Albert Camus’ The Plague, and Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas.
Similarly, many pioneers of musical poetry seemed to become a focal point for the singer, who liked to enjoy learning more about some of the industry’s biggest trailblazers, including Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, The Doors, and Hank Williams. He also read Amy Raphael’s Never Mind The Bollocks: Women Rewrite Rock, a book which draws from 13 interviews with influential rock musicians and their views on what’s important.
Many of the women interviewed in Raphael’s book left a significant mark on the rock scene, including Björk, Kim Deal, Kim Gordon, Courtney Love, and others. Although it’s unclear what Buckley felt about each title, it’s evident that he saw reading as a significant gateway to enlightenment, where becoming knowledgeable about as many topics as possible would not only affect his own artistry but enable him to become a better person.
Political implications aside, Buckley seemed to own a lot of poetry, with a special fondness for Rainer Maria Rilke. Considering the fact that his list includes many of Rilke’s works, including Duino Elegies, Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties: Translations and Considerations, Poems from the Book of Hours, and more, it’s safe to say that the Austrian poet possessed a particularly cherished writing style.
Similarly, Buckley appreciated Walt Whitman’s works and enjoyed many poems by Arthur Rimbaud alongside, of course, Charles Baudelaire and his book Paris Spleen. He also enjoyed the confessional poet Anne Sexton and the writings of modernist T.S. Eliot. Although the musician’s musical influences were many, his literary inspirations seemed to be a lot more exhaustive, covering a wide spectrum of styles and eras.
