‘Fireflies’: Revisiting Jeff Buckley’s final studio recording
When Jeff Buckley died in 1997, he left just one studio album behind: Grace. As the estranged son of folk artist Tim Buckley, the musician seemed to harness an in-built talent for singing, delivering incredible vocal performances with apparent effortlessness. Despite his short career, the sheer magnificence of Buckley’s work has immortalised him as one of the most influential musicians of all time.
Buckley developed an intense love of music as a teenager, leading him to spend the following years playing in bands, from metal outfits to reggae groups, while also working in a hotel. Eventually, Buckley was given an opportunity to perform at a tribute concert for his father, which he cited as a chance for him to honour his parent, whom he met just once in his life. He explained to NME, “He left my mother when I was six months old. So I never really knew him at all. It bothered me that I hadn’t been to his funeral, that I’d never been able to tell him anything. I used that show to pay my last respects.”
Buckley performed his father’s song, ‘I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain’, written about him and his mother, alongside a few other tracks, such as ‘Phantasmagoria in Two’. The concert impressed the audience, and Buckley relocated to Manhattan, where he began performing and writing music. Eventually, Buckley secured a record deal and began working on his debut album.
Once Grace was shared with the world, which featured a stunning cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, Buckley found himself at the receiving end of countless praise. One of his heroes, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, referred to the record as his favourite of the 1990s, and Bob Dylan called Buckley “one of the great songwriters of this decade”.
In 1996, Buckley started working on his second album, to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk, asking Tom Verlaine of Television to be his producer. The pair met when Buckley contributed to Verlaine’s close friend Patti Smith’s sixth album, Gone Again. Buckley’s work on the punk legend’s album turned out to be his last studio performance, as he would tragically drown just one year later, never to release his sophomore record.
Buckley appeared on the haunting song ‘Fireflies’, written by Smith and Oliver Ray. During an interview with Mojo, Smith shed greater insight into working with Buckley. “I told him we were recording: Why don’t you come by? He was listening to ‘Fireflies’ and said, ‘Could I try something or this?’ He left and came back with a strange-shaped box. He took out this Indian instrument and played it.”
She continued, “When they found him in the water, he had a tiny key in his pocket. It was for this instrument. The only thing he played it on was my record. He played it so intently. And it’s got a broken string. But it did work. It was the firefly on ‘Fireflies’.”
Revisit Buckley’s final studio performance on Smith’s ‘Fireflies’ below.
