Currently Listening
Grace
By Jeff Buckley
Dream Brother
When David introduced me to the music of Jeff Buckley some 2 years ago, it was all that I listened to for a few months. My former roommates could probably vividly recall the painful experience. I usually hate listening to entire albums on repeat, but ‘Grace’ was one of the very few (3 or 4 maybe) that I kept listening over and over and over again.
Last week, some dude in dreadlocks named Jason Castro sang one of Jeff Buckley’s signature songs out of that album, called “Hallelujah”. Of course Leonard Cohen deserves full credit for writing the song 23 years ago, the same one that Jeff Buckley immortalized it some 14 years ago. It reached #1 downloaded song status on iTunes last week, marking the first time any Jeff Buckley song (albeit a rendition of Cohen’s original) has reached that milestone with any billboard. The Q Magazine called it “the most perfect song ever” in September of 2007:
John Legend says – “Hallelujah is as near perfect as you can get. My choice would be Jeff Buckley’s cover, to me that’s the signature version of that song. The lyrics to Hallelujah are just incredible and the melody’s gorgeous and then there’s Jeff’s interpretation of it. Heavy going? It transcends your mood. I can put it on first thing in the morning, or out on my iPod…I can listen to it anywhere. That’s the mark of a perfect song. It’s one of the most beautiful pieces of recorded music I’ve ever heard”
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) said: Technically he was the best singer that appeared, that had appeared, probably, I’m not being too liberal about this if I say in two decades. I started to play Grace constantly, constantly and the more, the more I listened to the album, the more, the more I heard — the more I appreciated of Jeff and Jeff’s talents and Jeff’s total ability to which he was just a wizard and it was close to being my favorite album of the decade.
Bono said: Jeff Buckley was a pure drop in an ocean of noise. (1997)
Matthew Bellamy (Muse): I saw my favorite bands, Rage Against Machine ten years ago also Jeff Buckley in ’94 so as well i learned a lot about music through coming to this festival so it means lot to me to taking chance to headlining here.
Singer Brandi Carlile calls “Hallelujah” the “best song ever written.”
Jason Castro’s American Idol performance led Randy Jackson to say that it’s “one of [his] favorites,” and that it was a “tall order” to try and sing the song that Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley “did it, they worked it out.” Simon Cowell also confessed that “Jeff Buckley version of it is one of [his] favorite songs of all time,” to which Randy Jackson replied, “ours, too.”
A movie dedicated to Jeff Buckley called Mystery White Boy is slated to be shot this year.
I’m obviously happy about the publicity that he’s been getting, albeit some 14 years too late. I consider the death of him, 2pac and Heath Ledger as three of the greatest tragedies in the last 15 years of the entertainment industry. I was wondering why no one performed his songs in American Idol, and Jason Castro makes it obvious that his songs are not the easiest songs to sing. I’m hoping “Lover you should have come over,” and “Last Goodbye” will be sung on American Idol soon. I would dare anyone to try and sing the song “Grace” on live TV, but then I’d just end up laughing at the dude, so don’t do it.
It is my personal belief that individuals with more painful memories than the average person would enjoy his music.
In other news, a fluffy white polar bear made her debut in a German zoo the other day.