Jeff Buckley

a [partial] weekend spent with ernie has inspired me to finally put up a post, not to mention further killing my tolerance for subpar audio, but nevermind that for now.

my latest listening adventures have brought me back to jeff buckley, which may sound fairly unusual if you're at all familiar with his music and with my musical taste (or lack of?). i had a friend in high school who got me into him oh so very briefly, and last thursday i listened again for the first time in about 10 years. buckley was one of the promising young singer/songwriters of the mid-90's who died an untimely death in 1997. he is perhaps best remembered for his cover of leonard cohen's hallelujah, which was also covered by several other artists thru the years. some 15 total verses were originally written for the song with varying overtones ranging from religious to graphically romantic but of course no version, not even the original, contains all 15. like all subsequent versions of the song (even a later release by cohen himself), jeff buckley's version had mixed and matched verses to come up with its own unique feel, despite being born of the same song. even tho none of buckley's verses are all that sad, i have to say this recording is easily one of the most heart wrenching songs i have ever listened to due to buckley's tear-jerking interpretation. check out how long he holds a note for at the end.

hallelujah