Jeff Buckley: The King of Grace
By Sydney Cramer
The best music is the kind you can feel. The kind of melodies that make your chest heavy with inspiration and eyes well with salty sweet drops of emotion. There are few artists that create a world with their music in which you can feel completely and utterly vulnerable- Jeff Buckley was one of those artists. Jeff Buckley would have been 53 today. While his career was short, his legacy lives on in the hearts of his cult following, his beautiful melodies still filling the ears, chests, and hearts of his listeners.
Jeff Buckley was more than a musician. He was a creative force; a mind so deep and abstract with thoughts intelligent and poetic beyond comprehension. His music compositions were light years ahead of his time. He saw the world through a strange and beautiful lens. He was first and foremost a poet. Coming from the wooden floorboards of small New York club Sin-é, Buckley performed poems and songs from his journal. Each week drawing bigger crowds, he cast his raw, powerful voice across the room, just him and his guitar. Performing songs that would later be recorded and released on his 11 track debut album, and only finished studio release Grace, Buckley would adlib between his songs, monologuing inner thoughts, dreams, and ideas from his journals. He invited the audience into his world, begging them with his melodies to be free and authentic.
Buckley’s music is truly transcendent of any one genre. Drawing inspiration from Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, and Nina Simone, Buckley wasn’t afraid to experiment with vocal stylings. Having played as a jazz session guitarist, and toured with reggae and rock artists, Buckley was a well rounded musician who blurred the lines of genre. While hit tracks off of Grace such as “Grace”, “Last Goodbye” and “Eternal Life” have a rock melancholy feel, he was no stranger to R&B, releasing the slow and soulful “Everybody Here Wants You” and “Lover You Should've Come Over”. His 4 piece band of world class session musicians composed epic ballads that capitalized on dynamics. Songs beginning as a slow gentle ballad would gradually evolve and finish out as a powerful anthem with strings, percussion, and Buckley’s long held notes. Buckley’s vocal range is truly an anomaly. Reaching deep lows and belting out falsetto notes for bars on end, Buckley’s voice is truly a gift. He was a brave vocalist to say the least. To play for a crowd of 6, belting notes over gentle guitar melodies is vulnerability at its rawest. Backing band or solo, sold out stadium or Sin-é, Buckley gave the same passionate performance no matter the place or audience.
While initially receiving mixed reviews, Buckley’s Grace eventually toured the world, creating a global cult following of Jeff Buckley fanatics. Gaining most of his traction in Paris, Buckley went on to cover the old French classic “Je ne Connais Pas La Fin”- “I do not know the end.” This sweet French tune he once played for a small crowd at Sin-é now echoed off the walls of the L'Olympia Bruno Coquatrix in Paris to a crowd of thousands. Buckley also struck big overseas in Australia with Grace currently certified 7x platinum. The U.S eventually warmed up to the album as it now stands on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums of all time at #304. It’s a shame the U.S didn’t appreciate Buckley’s genius during his short lived career. By the time the album gained traction in the states, Buckley’s life had come to an end.
On May 29th, 1997, the world lost a music hero. At 30 years old, Buckley’s death was as mysterious and poetic as his life. Wanting to wade in the water with all of his clothes on, Buckley was swept away by the night tides of Wolf Harbor River in Memphis. His unfinished studio record “Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk” was released a year after his death, topping his career off with a second and final album.
We can’t help but wonder what beautiful compositions would have inevitably followed his second and final studio record, but perhaps it’s better that way. Unlike other rock n’ roll sell outs, Buckley’s music never had the chance to lose its magic. While we only have two studio albums to cling on to, those two albums are masterful from top to bottom- there isn’t a weak track in his repertoire. His incredibly ambitious, visionary compositions will forever stand out as sonic gems. It’s impossible to fully express the depth and genius of his creativity, but to put it simply: Buckley lived his life as an artist with grace. His creative integrity and passion for poetic truth is what leaves fans feeling close to his music and life story. It can’t be expressed more eloquently than the king of Grace himself, “Grace is what matters in anything- especially life, especially growth, tragedy, pain, love, death.”