He had emerged in New York City's avant-garde club scene in the 1990s as one of the most remarkable musical artists of his generation, acclaimed by audiences, critics, and fellow musicians alike. His first commercial recording, the four-song EP Live At Sin-é, was released in December 1993 on Columbia Records. The EP captured Buckley, accompanying himself on electric guitar, in a tiny coffeehouse in New York's East Village, the neighbourhood he'd made his home.
Buckley made his public singing début at a tribute concert for his father called "Greetings from Tim Buckley". The event, produced by show business veteran Hal Willner, was held at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn on 26 April 1991.
By the time of the EP's release during the fall of 1993, Buckley had already entered the studio with Mick Grondahl (bass), Matt Johnson (drummer), and producer Andy Wallace and recorded seven original songs (including "Grace" and "Last Goodbye") and three covers (among them Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", Benjamin Britten's "Corpus Christi Carol") that comprised his debut album Grace. Guitarist Michael Tighe became a permanent member of Jeff Buckley's ensemble and went on to co-write and perform on Grace's "So Real" just prior to the release of the album.
In early 1994, not long after Live At Sin-é appeared in stores, Jeff Buckley toured clubs, lounges, and coffeehouses in North America as a solo artist from January 15th to March 5th as well as in Europe from March 11th to 22th. Following extensive rehearsals in April to May of 1994, Buckley's "Peyote Radio Theatre Tour" found him on the road with his band from June 2nd to August 16th. His full-length full-band album, Grace, was released in the United States on August 23rd, 1994, the same day Buckley and band kicked off a European tour in Dublin, Ireland; the 1994 European Tour ran through September 22nd, with Buckley and band performing at the CMJ convention at New York's Supper Club on September 24. The group headed back into America's clublands for a Fall Tour lasting from October 19th until December 18th.
On New Year's Eve 1994-95, Buckley returned to Sin-é to perform a solo set; on New Year's Day, he read an original poem at the annual St. Mark's Church Marathon Poetry Reading. Two weeks later, he and his band were back in Europe for gigs in Dublin, Bristol, and London before launching an extensive tour of Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium, and the United Kingdom which lasted from January 29th to March 5th. On April 13th 1995, it was announced that Jeff Buckley's Grace had earned him France's prestigious "Gran Prix International Du Disque -- Academie Charles CROS -- 1995"; an award given by a jury of producers, journalists, the president of France Culture, and music industry professionals, it had previously been given to Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Yves Montand, Georges Brassens, Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell, among other musical luminaries. France also awarded Buckley a gold record certification for Grace.
From March 5th through April 20th, Buckley and his band rehearsed for an American spring tour with gigs running from April 22th until June 2nd. From June through August, Jeff and company toured the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and Switzerland. The band took off for Down Under to play six Australian shows between August 28th and September 6th, 1995. In November 1995, Buckley played two unannounced solo shows at Sin-é. He performed songs including the new "Woke Up In A Strange Place" on Vin Scelsa's "Idiot's Delight" show on WXRK-FM on December 17 and celebrated New Year's Eve 1995-96 with performances at New York's Mercury Lounge and Sin-é.
Jeff Buckley and his touring ensemble went back to Australia, where Grace had earned a gold record certification, for the "Hard Luck Tour," which ran from February 9th to March 1st of 1996. Drummer Matt Johnson left the group after the final Australian show. The posthumous album Mystery White Boy brings together some of the high points from Jeff's 1995-1996 live performances. The DVD/home video release Live In Chicago documents, in its entirety, Jeff's concert at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago on May 13th, 1995.
In May of '96, Jeff played four gigs as a bass player with Mind Science of the Mind, a side-project of Buckley's friend, Nathan Larson of Shudder To Think. In September Buckley played another unannounced solo gig at his old favorite haunt Sin-é. December of 1996 found Jeff Buckley embarking on his "phantom solo tour"; designed to experiment with new songs in a live setting (as in his Sin-é days), these unannounced solo gigs throughout the Northeast U.S. were played under a succession of aliases: the Crackrobats, Possessed By Elves, Father Demo, Smackrobiotic, the Halfspeeds, Crit Club, Topless America, Martha & the Nicotines, and A Puppet Show Named Julio.
At midnight on February 9th, 1997, Jeff Buckley debuted his new drummer, Parker Kindred, in a show at Arlene Grocery on New York's Lower East Side. He also played a couple of solo gigs in New York during the first months of 1997: a gig at the Daydream Cafe (featuring band members Mick Grondahl and Michael Tighe as "special guests") and a solo performance February 4th as part of the Knitting Factory's 10-Year Birthday Party.
Buckley and his band had recorded intermittently — with Tom Verlaine as producer — during Summer/Fall 1996 and early winter 1997 in New York and in February 1997 in Memphis. After the conclusion of those sessions, Jeff sent the band back to New York while, during March and April 1997, he remained in Memphis and continued to craft his work-in-progress, making various four-track home recordings of songs to present to his bandmates. Some of these were revisions of the songs recorded with Verlaine, some were brand new compositions, and some were surprising cover versions. The new lineup debuted Buckley's new songs at Barrister's in Memphis on February 12th and 13th. Beginning March 31st, Jeff began a series of regularly scheduled Monday night solo performances at Barrister's. His last show there was on Monday, May 26th, 1997.
Buckley passed away in a drowning accident in the Wolf River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, on May 29th, 1997. The night Buckley died, he was on his way to meet his band to begin three weeks of rehearsals for My Sweetheart, the Drunk; producer Andy Wallace, who'd helmed the boards on Grace, was to join them in Memphis in late June to record his new album.
In addition to his Columbia Records releases, Live At Sin-é and Grace, Jeff Buckley has appeared as a guest artist on several other recordings. He can be heard singing "Jolly Street," a track on the Jazz Passengers 1994 album In Love. He contributed tenor vocals to "Taipan" and "D. Popylepis," two recordings on John Zorn's Cobra Live At The Knitting Factory (1995). On Rebecca Moore's Admiral Charcoal's Song, Buckley plays electric six-string bass on "If You Please Me," "Outdoor Elevator," and "Needle Men" (on which he also plays drums). He both plays guitar and sings backup vocals on Brenda Kahn's "Faith Salons," a key track on her Destination Anywhere album (released 1996). Patti Smith's critically acclaimed Gone Again album features Buckley adding "voice" to the song "Beneath the Southern Cross" and "essrage" (a small fretless Indian stringed instrument) to "Fireflies." On Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, a various artists' spoken word tribute to beat poet Jack Kerouac, Jeff Buckley performed on "Angel Mine"; Jeff plays guitar, sitar, and mouth sax (adding words at the poem's conclusion) on the track. Buckley can be heard reading Edgar Allan Poe's "Ulallume - A Ballad," on Closed on Account of Rabies: Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (disc 2: The Devil's Brew) (Poems & Tales by Edgar Allan Poe) on Mouth Almighty/Mercury Records. He sang "I Want Someone Badly" (Epic) for Shudder To Think's soundtrack to First Love, Last Rites. Sandy Bell, a friend of Buckley's during his L.A. days, released the resurrected track "Hollywould" in 2000, which she co-wrote and recorded with Buckley.
An ardent enthusiast for a myriad of musical forms, Jeff Buckley was an early champion among young American musicians for the work of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the world's foremost Qawwali (the music of the Sufis) singer. Buckley conducted an extensive interview with Nusrat in Interview magazine (January 1996) and wrote the liner notes Nusrat's The Supreme Collection album, released on Mercator/Caroline records in August 1997. On May 9th, 2000, Columbia Records released Mystery White Boy, an album of live performances, and Live In Chicago, a full-length concert (available on DVD or VHS) recorded live at The Cabaret Metro in Chicago on May 13, 1995, in the middle of Jeff's "Mystery White Boy" tour.
Following the release of Grace on August 23rd, 1994, Jeff and his group spent much of 1994-1996 performing around the world on the Unknown, Mystery White Boy, and Hard Luck tours. Mystery White Boy brings together, for the first time, some of the high points of those shows. Produced by Michael Tighe (guitarist for Jeff's band throughout their international touring and the recording of Grace) and Mary Guibert (Jeff's mother) and Mystery White Boy provides an evocative cross-section of Jeff's repertoire: previously-unreleased Buckley compositions, electrifying live interpretations of songs from Grace, and obscure and marvelous cover choices. The recordings heard on Mystery White Boy have been hand-picked from scores of concert tapes by Mary Guibert and the members of Jeff's band who played such a large role in helping Jeff realize his musical vision.
According to Mary, the tracks on Mystery White Boy are "the individual performances that represented transcendent moments from each of the concerts we'd identified as being in the 'overall outstanding' category."
"It was obvious which performances were contenders for the record," concurs Michael Tighe, "and in some cases a performance would be so supreme and unpredictable that I knew it had to be brought to the public."
The posthumous album Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk was released in 1998 and included songs Buckley was working on while in Memphis for his upcoming release.
Tribute songs:
PJ Harvey - Memphis
Rufus Wainwright- Memphis Skyline
Mark Eitzel - To the Sea
Zita Swoon - Song for a Dead Singer
Amy Correia - Blind River Boy
Duncan Sheik - A Body Goes Down
Chris Cornell - Wave Goodbye
Katatonia - Nightmares by the Sea
Willie Nile - On the Road to Calvary
Rachael Sage - Grace
Aimee Mann - Just Like Anyone
Cocteau Twins - Rilkean Heart
Jim Major - Angels Fall (Song for Jeff Buckley)
A film about Buckley's life, a biopic called "Mystery White Boy", is currently in pre-production. Actors have not yet been cast, according to IMDB.
Back In N.Y.C
Jeff Buckley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Back in New York City
So you think I'm a tough kid
Is that what you heard?
Well, I like to see some action,
And it gets into my blood.
Well, they let me out of Pontiac
When I was just seventeen
If you know what I mean, what I mean.
They say I must be crazy
Cause I don't care who I hit, who I hit.
Cause I know it's me that's hitting out
And I know I'm not full of shit.
Down by my bottle, filled up high with gasoline
You can tell by the night fires
Where a rail has been, has been.
As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame but me.
Gave my heart, deep in hell,
Time to shave, shave it off, it off
No time for romantic escape and your
Fluffy heart is ready for rape
Off we go. Off we go. Off we go
You're sitting in your comfort
Who don't believe I'm real
You cannot buy protection
For the way that I feel.
Your progressive hypocrites
Handing out their trash
It was mine in the first place
So I'll burn to ash.
When I've taken all the strongest meats
And laid them down in colored sheets
Well, who needs illusions,
Of love and affection when you're out
Walking in the streets, your mainline connection.
Connection.
As I cuddled the porcupine
He said I had none to blame but me.
Held my heart, deep in hell,
Time to shave, shave it off, it off
No. No time for romantic escape
And your fluffy heart is ready for rape
No. No time for romantic escape
And your fluffy heart is ready for rape
No time.
Back in New York City.
Jeff Buckley's song Back In N.Y.C is an evocative and intense exploration of the artist's return to his hometown, New York City. The opening line, "I see faces and traces of home, back in New York City" immediately sets the tone for the song, as Buckley reflects on the memories and people that greet him upon his return. Throughout the song, Buckley explores the themes of violence, youth culture, and disillusionment, with each line reflecting his raw emotions and experiences.
The lyrics reveal a young man who is searching for something - perhaps a sense of identity or belonging - and who is willing to do whatever it takes to get it. He sings, "Well, they let me out of Pontiac, when I was just seventeen, I had to get it out of me, if you know what I mean, what I mean." This line speaks to the frustration and restlessness that many young people feel, as they try to figure out who they are and where they belong.
As the song progresses, Buckley becomes increasingly confrontational and defiant, challenging those who would judge him or try to hold him back. He sings, "Your progressive hypocrites, handing out their trash, it was mine in the first place, so I'll burn to ash." This line speaks to the sense of ownership and control that Buckley has over his own life, as he refuses to be held back or defined by anyone else's expectations.
Line by Line Meaning
I see faces and traces of home
The singer recognizes familiar things and people in New York, which reminds them of their past.
Back in New York City
The singer is currently in New York City.
So you think I'm a tough kid
Someone thinks the singer is tough.
Is that what you heard?
The artist is questioning the accuracy of what they heard about themselves.
Well, I like to see some action,
The artist enjoys excitement and danger.
And it gets into my blood.
The singer becomes addicted to excitement and danger.
Well, they let me out of Pontiac
The singer was released from some kind of institution or confinement in Pontiac.
When I was just seventeen
The artist was quite young when they were released from Pontiac.
I had to get it out of me
The artist had to express or vent their emotions or urges.
If you know what I mean, what I mean.
The artist is reaffirming the meaning of their statement for emphasis.
They say I must be crazy
Other people think the singer is crazy.
Cause I don't care who I hit, who I hit.
The artist doesn't care who they hurt physically or emotionally.
Cause I know it's me that's hitting out
The singer is hitting out because of their own problems or issues.
And I know I'm not full of shit.
The singer is confident that their actions are justified and genuine.
Down by my bottle, filled up high with gasoline
The singer is near a bottle filled with gasoline, which has dangerous implications.
You can tell by the night fires
People can see the fires caused by gasoline and other combustibles at night.
Where a rail has been, has been.
The location has been used as a spot for trains to pass or stop before.
As I cuddled the porcupine
The singer is holding a porcupine, which represents something dangerous or hard to handle.
He said I had none to blame, but me.
The porcupine implies that the singer alone is responsible for their problems and situations.
Gave my heart, deep in hell, time to shave, shave it off, it off
The artist has had extremely unpleasant experiences and now wants to start fresh or disassociate from them.
No time for romantic escape and your fluffy heart is ready for rape
The artist is not interested in romantic relationships and implies that anyone who is 'fluffy' or naive is vulnerable to harm.
Off we go. Off we go. Off we go
The artist is moving on from their past experiences and challenges.
You're sitting in your comfort
Someone else is in a comfortable or privileged position.
Who don't believe I'm real
The other person doesn't believe in the artist's authenticity or experiences.
You cannot buy protection
The other person cannot purchase safety from the singer's actions.
For the way that I feel.
The singer's feelings and emotions cannot be controlled or avoided by others.
Your progressive hypocrites
The other person is part of a group the singer considers hypocritical or insincere.
Handing out their trash
The group is making judgments or commentary the artist perceives as worthless.
It was mine in the first place
The artist feels ownership and responsibility for something the other person or group is discussing.
So I'll burn to ash.
The singer plans to destroy the thing or issue that the other person or group is discussing.
When I've taken all the strongest meats
The singer has gathered everything that is powerful or significant.
And laid them down in colored sheets
The artist has arranged or collected these significant things in a particular manner.
Well, who needs illusions
The artist thinks that illusions or delusions are unnecessary.
Of love and affection when you're out
The artist is outside and not interested in the romantic or emotional aspects of life.
Walking in the streets, your mainline connection.
The singer's main connection or source of stimulation is from the outside world and their surroundings.
As I cuddled the porcupine
The artist is still holding the porcupine and thinking about its implications.
He said I had none to blame but me.
The porcupine still emphasizes that the singer's problems and issues are their own responsibility.
Held my heart, deep in hell, time to shave, shave it off, it off
The singer has been deeply affected by their experiences, but is now choosing to move on or change.
No. No time for romantic escape
The singer reiterates that they are not interested in romantic relationships.
And your fluffy heart is ready for rape
The artist implies that anyone who is naive or unprepared is vulnerable to harm or exploitation.
No. No time for romantic escape
Again, the artist emphasizes that they are not interested in romantic relationships.
And your fluffy heart is ready for rape
The singer again implies that anyone who is naive or unprepared is vulnerable to harm or exploitation.
No time.
The singer has made a firm decision to move on and not waste time on what they view as unimportant or irrelevant.
Back in New York City.
The artist reaffirms their location and possibly feels nostalgic or sentimental about it.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ANTHONY BANKS, MICHAEL RUTHERFORD, PETER GABRIEL, PHIL COLLINS, STEVE HACKETT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind