‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’: The saddest song Jeff Buckley ever wrote
As heart-stoppingly beautiful as it is, it’s kind of a shame that the lasting legacy of Jeff Buckley is a cover. His version of Leonard Cohen’s masterpiece ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the defining works of its time, no doubt about that. It’s a testament to the power of Buckley’s astonishing voice and a perennial favourite of the “covers better than the original” discussions. It isn’t his song though, no matter how much he made it own.
While his tragically short life kept his recorded output to one studio album, Jeff Buckley was a songwriter’s songwriter. Grace is a masterpiece, and it does get recognised as such. However, most of the time, people talk about Buckley the younger as a performer—a singer, a guitarist, a frontman. This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t; he was superlative at all of those things, but his sheer songwriting ability gets lost in the shuffle somewhat.
The likes of ‘Mojo Pin’, ‘So Real’ and ‘Last Goodbye’ are genuinely dazzling displays of musicianship, and they’d be nothing without the riffs, hooks and lyrics that make them pop. His holler of “was there a voice unkind / in the back of your mind / saying ‘maybe you don’t know him at all'” in the latter song is just as electrifying as any vocal run or solo in his live set.
However, one song above all stands apart from the rest of his catalogue as not just his best moment, but also a moment of exquisite sadness. One that doesn’t veer into heavy-handed depression or moping like many bands and artists inspired by Jeff Buckley did (Hi, Radiohead!), but one that depicts a quiet, poignant regret with a skill and depth that no mere shredder or vocal maestro could match.
How does Jeff Buckley evoke this sadness?
Anyone who’s listened to Grace will tell you that the album is a little overwrought. This is entirely by design; Buckley was a musician who dealt even more with sheer emotion and feel than most. This can lead to a lot of the record being filled with his voice and guitar noodling in equal measure, and while that’s often brilliant, there is a limit.
The record is at its best when the singer employs a little restraint and knows precisely when to release the hounds, and ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ is exactly that song. A brilliant piece of songwriting that also shows off exactly what Buckley meant when he described himself as less a singer-songwriter and more of a chanteuse.
Hushed vocals and strummed acoustic guitar herald the song’s entrance as Buckley wrings both emotion and genuine hooks out of lines like “maybe I’m too young / to keep good love from going wrong / but tonight you’re on my mind / so… you’ll never know”. What begins as a deeply sensual soul ballad builds into a heartbreaking crescendo as the listener realises that whatever affair he’s talking about will remain unconsummated.
The lover that should have come over never did, and no matter how much Buckley may wail that “It’s not too late”, the depth of sorrow and regret in his voice shows that he’s not kidding anyone, least of all himself. There’s no part of Buckley’s all-too-brief discography that isn’t coloured by his loss, but one of the tragedies is that we never got to see this songwriter deliver on the promise that a song like ‘Love You Should’ve Come Over’ shows. A minor one in the grand scheme of things, but a tragedy nonetheless.
