Buckley often regarded his tenor voice as an instrument, a talent most noticeable on his albums Happy Sad, Lorca, and Starsailor. His first marriage was to Mary Guibert, with whom he had a child, musician Jeff Buckley. They divorced in 1968 and after this Buckley would meet with his son only once more. Buckley married second wife Judy Brejot Sutcliffe in 1970 and adopted her son, Taylor.
Born in Washington DC, Buckley,an Irish-American, lived for 10 years in Amsterdam, New York, before moving to southern California, initially to Bell Gardens and later settling in Anaheim in 1965. His experiences with music were through his family, artists such as Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland being particular favorites in the household. During his childhood, Buckley was a fan of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and Miles Davis, although country music was his foremost passion. Reflecting this, at the age of 11 Buckley learned how to play the banjo, an instrument which his mother had bought to occupy him following a bout of mumps. He attended Loara High School in Anaheim, California, and, amongst others, made friends with Don Gordon, Larry Beckett, Jim Fielder (original member of Blood, Sweat & Tears) and future wife, Mary Guibert. He was an accomplished high school athlete, becoming a quarterback for the school team in addition to getting a place on the baseball team. During this period playing as quarterback, Buckley broke the first two fingers on his left hand but they never fully returned to normal and made guitar playing more difficult. At the age of 15, Buckley abandoned the banjo and moved on to the guitar, playing with Princess Ramona & The Cherokee Riders, a country and western band. However, the lead singer saw Buckley was uninterested and instead suggested he apply himself to the emerging 1960's folk scene.
Buckley's career began with his 1966 debut Tim Buckley, its mix of pop and folk rock drawing on popular influences of the time. His popularity peaked with second album Goodbye and Hello, a more mature record with avant-garde influences and political sentiments. In the three years that followed Buckley was at his most prolific and experimental, producing four albums of varying styles. Happy Sad and Blue Afternoon showed Buckley's folk roots while Lorca veered to more avant-garde styles. The final album of this period, Starsailor, is a mix of jazz, funk and avant-garde styles, representing his continual evolution in genre. This period, while garnering some critical success, proved disastrous for his record sales as the disparity of his styles caused his fan-base to all but disappear.
Following this Buckley changed genres again, with 1972 release Greetings from L.A., which incorporated the funk, rhythm and blues and soul sounds of the early 1970s in to his music. However, this release and the following album Sefronia did not match up to the success of his previous work. In 1974, having alienated much of his fan-base and squandered money made at his peak, Buckley released Look at the Fool, which was neither well received by the public nor the majority of critics. By this point Buckley had grown disillusioned with the music industry and his drug abuse of the past seven years had affected him.
In spite of this, in early 1975, desperate for musical recognition and an escape from poverty and obscurity, Buckley dropped his drug dependencies and engaged the musical press regarding a live album comeback. Buckley began performing material drawn from his whole career as a response to the desires of his audience, desires he had always spurned in the past. However, Buckley relapsed and on June 28, 1975, he overdosed on heroin. His wife Judy, having earlier put him in bed, was unable to rouse him and paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival. He was 28 years old and was survived by his wife and adopted son Taylor, and his biological son, Jeff (who also died at a young age).
Helpless
Tim Buckley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You bring my sense alive,
You know you look so foxy wise
You turn my head around
You know the talk's around town
You do a funky rumba
You make an old man stop
Come on and love me
Come on and love me
Until I'm helpless
Come on and love me
Until I'm helpless
Makin' love like a skin cat crawlin' across the highway
I don't know why
You bring my sense alive
Come on and love me
Unitl I'm helpless
Helpless,
Helpless,
Makin' love like a skin cat crawlin' 'cross the highway
The song "Helpless" by Tim Buckley is a sensual and provocative love song. The singer is expressing his infatuation and attraction to his lover, whom he describes as a "foxy wise" person who turns his head around. The singer is helpless to their love, as if they are under a spell. The title "Helpless" could refer to the singer being helpless to their passion or love for each other.
The song is full of provocative imagery and metaphors, describing the act of making love as a "skin cat crawlin' across the highway." The use of the word "skin cat" suggests a sense of reckless abandon and danger, while the metaphor of the highway implies that the passion between the two individuals is moving at a high speed and is wild and uncontained. This idea is reinforced by the repetition of the word "helpless," which suggests a lack of control over one's desires.
Overall, "Helpless" is a steamy and seductive song about the intense attraction and passion between two people. It uses vivid imagery and metaphors to express the wild and uncontrollable nature of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know why,
The singer is uncertain about why their senses come alive when they are with the person they are addressing.
You bring my sense alive,
The person being addressed has a powerful effect on the singer's senses.
You know you look so foxy wise
The singer finds the person being addressed very attractive and alluring.
You turn my head around
The person being addressed has a disorienting effect on the singer, making it difficult for them to think clearly.
You know the talk's around town
There is gossip about the person being addressed in the community.
You do a funky rumba
The person being addressed has a lively and exciting energy about them that is reminiscent of a dance.
You make an old man stop
Even older men are taken aback by the person being addressed.
You make a young man wonder;
Even younger men are fascinated and intrigued by the person being addressed.
Come on and love me
The singer is pleading with the person being addressed to love them in return.
Until I'm helpless
The singer wants the person being addressed to love them so much that they become completely helpless in their presence.
Makin' love like a skin cat crawlin' across the highway
The love between the singer and the person being addressed is intense, desperate, and perhaps dangerous.
Helpless,
The singer feels powerless and weak in the face of their strong feelings for the person being addressed.
Helpless,
The singer repeats that they feel powerless and weak in the face of their strong feelings for the person being addressed.
Makin' love like a skin cat crawlin' 'cross the highway
The singer repeats the same image from earlier to emphasize how intense and desperate their love is.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TIM BUCKLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jon Gorrell
Stumbled across this album back in '74 and played the heck out of it. My first thought was, "How have I never heard of this guy?" Tim Buckley was as original as it gets.
Sculptorshaw
A snippet of the chorus turned up before on Lorca, Tim was never afraid to rehash and develop his own stuff.
Zarthus
Actually it's a line out of "The Train", on Blue Afternoon.
Zoe J
Nice catch!
Ryan Gettig
Bucking Frilllaint!!:)