The song Jeff Buckley wrote about “life being so long”
American singer Jeff Buckley was a rare talent, leaving an inspiring, sizeable legacy despite only releasing one studio album. Born the son of folk icon Tim Buckley, the junior Buckley also possessed the same transcendental vocal abilities as his father, although they only met once. Still, Buckley decided to pay tribute to his father during a tribute concert in 1991, which inadvertently led to the beginning of a short but successful career.
Buckley channelled influences from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to Leonard Cohen into his music, recording a stunning collection of songs that came to be known as Grace. The album was released in 1994 and received widespread critical acclaim. Buckley had found musical success for the first time, something he’d been trying to master for years.
Unfortunately, in 1997, at the age of 30, Buckley accidentally drowned in the Mississippi River. He left behind many demos in preparation for a second album, which can be found on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. Buckley’s tragic passing was a devastating loss. He was one of the decade’s most profound voices, possessing an incredible ability for songwriting, singing and guitar-playing.
Interestingly, many of Buckley’s songs are concerned with mortality, with the singer often referencing death and, most chillingly, allusions to drowning. One of the most prominent examples is ‘Grace’, which he wrote in collaboration with Gary Lucas, a member of Captain Beefheart’s musical ensemble. After meeting at the Tim Buckley tribute concert, Buckley worked with some of Lucas’ guitar compositions, shaping them into ‘Grace’ and ‘Mojo Pin’.
On ‘Grace’, Buckley sings about facing death, asserting “I’m not afraid to die”. In a 1994 interview at the Pacific Club, Buckley described the song. He said: “It’s about not fearing death, or fearing any of those countless slings and arrows that you suffer sometimes on this Earth, because somebody loves you. You’re not afraid to go.”
He added: “And it’s just about life sometimes being so long. At the time I was anticipating leaving Los Angeles for New York. So I was waiting to go. I’m not afraid to go, I’m not afraid to die, I’m not afraid to go away from this place or from any place but it just goes so slow. And I had somebody who loved me in New York. A lot. And it was amazing. It still is.”
Elsewhere, talking to MuchMusic, Buckley described the song as an “elegy”. It is haunting to consider that just a few years later, Buckley would pass away. However, he claimed that the song reflected his outlook on “not fearing anything, anyone, any man, any woman, any war, any gun, any sling or arrow aimed at your heart by other people because there is somebody, finally, who loves you for real, and that you can achieve a real state of grace through somebody else’s love in you.”
Listen to ‘Grace’ below.
