Forget Her

As I was looking through some pictures that were taken a long time ago of the man I wanted to marry when I was 21, I had Buckley’s tune ‘Forget Her’ playing in the background. This particular song filled me with both an aching as well as intoxication. Jeff Buckley’s music is powerful and it sort of corresponded with what I was feeling at the time- the longing: even during its most intense, layered crescendos, it has a restraint that's like running on tiptoes, and you want to give chase. Even though the song is about disappointment, the tempos force hope into the nostalgic images of missed connections with someone whom you once loved wholly. " she was heartache from the moment that you met her. My heart is frozen still as I try to find the will to forget her, somehow. She's out there somewhere now," sings Buckley over magical guitars and drums. Not for nothing has he been put on the pedestal as one of the greatest voices I have ever heard in my life.

Over Buckley’s lifetime, he’s written lyrics that are kind of open, so people can read something into it and relate to it. What's important to me is the emotion that he sings with and that’s what draws people to his music.

Alternative rock doesn't get any better than Jeff Buckley. He is everything the Rolling Stones warned you about. One of those with deeply melodic music, full of sing-along choruses and enigmatic lyrics. Take it from me ‘Jeff Buckley will change your life’.

So Real

All music is not created uniformly- and certain types of music are best for certain people. That’s my theory.

My musical tastes vary from 80’s rock music to country to old-school hip hop to the latest in alternative rock music. This was the outcome of my short stint as a radio jockey (as they fondly call it here in India), at a local radio station. I had to update my mind to different types of music and regular readings of Rolling Stone magazines. Back then my own musical explorations were put on hold by the demands of keeping up with the ever-changing favorite songs of audiences.

Buckley’s sound crosses genres and borders. Truly, he has lacked well-deserved recognition in his time but his unique styling and strong evocative voice rich with emotion have sure won over music lovers in a heartbeat and has set him apart from tradition and style. He’s the artist that defies description –or at least short descriptions. To me, he’s a fine example of excellently crafted music.

My pick for this post is ‘So Real’. If there was an entry in the dictionary under ‘musical genius’, Jeff Buckley’s name would be there instead of the definition.
I’ve uploaded the acoustic version of Jeff Buckley’s ‘So Real’ in my first blog so this one will just be the original. The entire album is an incredible, deep and complex work and if ‘Grace’ was the first track you fell in love with then ‘So Real’ should be the second. It had me clamoring for more.

Rotating melody and spontaneity, Buckley treats the songs as templates to weave in and out of time, chord changes and expectations. Buckley’s genre-crossing guitar and full-toned vocal fluency have generated timeless pieces of music that are as diverse as possible yet lush, full and richly textured.