The meaning of Jeff Buckley song lyrics

Those who have been mesmerised by the music of Jeff Buckley will not be able to describe it. It's a feeling that gets deep within you and stays with you...even when the song comes to an end.

Part of this feeling is from the voice of Jeff Buckley, part is his understated musicianship as a guitarist, part is the emotion he injected into every performance. And part of this feeling came from the lyrics of Jeff Buckley songs and their meaning. Whether it was a cover like Hallelujah or a Buckley original like Jewel Box the lyrics transport you to another place. Despite some minor criticism Jeff Buckley was one of very few singers where all these things worked in unison. Some singers have been compared to Jeff Buckley such as City and Colour (Dallas Green) but despite their brilliance the uniqueness of Jeff Buckley and his lyrics was genetically inherited from his father Tim Buckley, so there is only one Jeff.

Lets look at of the lyrics of some the songs Jeff Buckley sung.

1. Grace

The music was written by Jeff Buckley's friend and colleague Gary Lucas but Jeff wrote the lyrics. Jeff said it was about saying goodbye to a girlfriend at an airport and how love compared to our own mortality. "There's the moon asking to stay, long enough for the clouds to fly me away." Based on what we know it Jeff didn't want to leave his love but it is also about not being afraid for death to arrive "Though its my time coming, I'm not afraid...afraid to die." Poignantly the lyrics of Grace would prophetise a tragedy Jeff Buckley fans are still coming to terms with "And I feel them drown my name."

2. Forget Her

Wow...this is a deep reaching song with deep reaching lyrics that is pure heart break "Her love is a rose dead and dying." This is a concession that Jeff Buckley hasn't let go...is it dead or the love dying? "All full of wine the world before her but sober with no place to go." Full of energy the world at her feet this woman struggles to find her way in an overwhelming world and temptation gets the better of her. "Don't fool yourself she was heartache from the moment that you met her." There's a battle going on in Jeff's head as he talks to himself, talks to her and talks to us as he struggles with the lost love. One of my favourite Jeff Buckley songs.

3. Mojo Pin

Another song which Gary Lucas wrote the music for and Jeff Buckley wrapped in colourful imagery in the lyrics. The meaning behind this song is a real mystery which probably makes it so appealing as it starts slow and builds to a climactic peak. Jeff says it was about a dream of a black woman that translated into being engrossed with someone or something where you adopt their 'being' almost. "If only you could come back to me, feeling by my side...wouldn't need to mojo pin to keep me satisfied." Mojo Pin therefore seems to represent the adoption of existence of this person he is infatuated with. "Oh the welts of your scorn my love, give me more." A paradox of feelings in the words, that shows the fine line between pleasure and pain but the love is deeper than argument (scorn). A great opening to the album of Grace.

4. Last Goodbye

Starting with a haunting guitar slide this song was originally called "Unforgiven" and evolved by Jeff Buckley over time. The difference between Last Goodbye and other songs on Grace is that it is self explanatory "This is our last goodbye, I hate to feel the love between us die." This is a realisation that sometimes a relationship won't work no matter how hard you try "You know it makes me so angry cause I know that in time, I'll only make you cry...." At the end of the song it is clear Buckley was reminded of this love by triggers (church bells) and he thinks of her beauty (soft eyes) but conceding that these memories remind him that "it's over."

5. Hallelujah

The everlasting song written by Leonard Cohen and covered to death by so many great singers and so many would be singers. The lyrics are from a mix of biblical stories especially Samson and Dellilah and King David "you saw her bathing on the roofs, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you." According to Buckley the song was a Hallelujah of an orgasm. Leonard Cohen had sung Hallelujah with some dispassion but commentators declared that Jeff Buckley had treated it "like a tiny capsule of humanity".

"I've seen your flag on the marble arch, Love is not a victory march, It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah" This is interesting in that Hallelujah is given a negative connotation but then in the next verse the Hallelujah is like nirvana "And remember when I moved in you The holy dove was moving too, And every breath we drew was Hallelujah"

The song was catapulted into numerous countries charts after the death of Jeff Buckley as it was never released as a single from Grace. It is widely held that although many have tried no one has gone close to delivering the lyrics of Hallelujah like Jeff.

So there we have some arm chair analysis of the meaning of songs and lyrics by Jeff Buckley songs. These are my subjective opinion, what I got from the music of Jeff Buckley. You ask someone else and they will probably interpret the songs in a completely different way and that I suspect is the way Jeff Buckley would have wanted it.

Here's some more articles on Jeff Buckley and his life: