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).
Martha
Tim Buckley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She'll remember my old voice while I fight the tears
Hello, hello there is this Martha,
This is ol' Tom Frost
Now I'm calling long distance don't worry 'bout the cost
It's been twenty years or more now Martha please recall
And meet me out for coffe where we'll talk about it all
And...those were days of roses of poetry and prose
There was no tomorrow
We packed away our sorrows and saved 'em for a rainy day and
I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you
I feel so much older now, you're much older too
How's the husband, and how's the kids, you know I got married too
Lucky that you found someone who makes you feel secure
We were all so young and foolish, now we are mature
I was always so impulsive, guess that I still am
But all that really mattered then was that I was a man
Guess that our bein' together was never meant to be
But, Martha, Martha, I love you, can't you see and...
The lyrics to Tim Buckley's song "Martha" is a conversation between two old lovers, Tom Frost and Martha. Tom is calling Martha after many years of being apart, and he tries to reconnect with her in hopes of reminiscing about the past. Tom is trying to hold back his tears as he speaks to her and tells her that he remembers her voice while they were in love. The lyrics are filled with nostalgia and a sense of longing to relive the old days. Tom is trying to recreate the magic they shared when they were young and in love.
The lyrics reveal the emotions of a person who is looking back at his life with regret. Tom is feeling the weight of the years, and he realizes that time has flown by, and he has lost the love of his life. He mentions how foolish they were when they were young and how maturity has changed them. Tom is realizing that he was impulsive, and his actions have cost him the one person he loved. The lyrics are melancholic and filled with a sense of longing for a time that has passed.
Line by Line Meaning
Operator, number please, it's been so many years
I need to make a call to a person named Martha, please connect me.
She'll remember my old voice while I fight the tears
I'm calling after ages, and I'm trying not to cry because she'll recognize my voice.
Hello, hello there is this Martha, This is ol' Tom Frost
Hi, this is Tom Frost. Can I speak to Martha, please?
Now I'm calling long distance don't worry 'bout the cost
I'm making a long-distance call, but don't worry about the cost.
It's been twenty years or more now Martha please recall
It's been over 20 years since we last spoke, please remember me.
And meet me out for coffee where we'll talk about it all
Let's meet up for coffee and discuss everything that's happened.
And...those were days of roses of poetry and prose
We had good times, filled with romance and literature.
And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me
At one point in our lives, we only had each other, Martha.
There was no tomorrow We packed away our sorrows and saved 'em for a rainy day
We didn't think much of the future, so we just saved our sadness for a later time.
and I remember quiet evenings trembling close to you
I cherish the memories of tranquil nights spent with you by my side.
I feel so much older now, you're much older too
We've both aged a lot since that time we spent together.
How's the husband, and how's the kids, you know I got married too
How's your family doing? By the way, I'm married too.
Lucky that you found someone who makes you feel secure
I'm glad you found someone who makes you feel safe in life.
We were all so young and foolish, now we are mature
We were reckless in our youth, but now we're more responsible and wiser.
I was always so impulsive, guess that I still am
I've always had a tendency to be impulsive, and I think I still am.
But all that really mattered then was that I was a man
In those days, I thought being a man was the most important thing.
Guess that our bein' together was never meant to be
Maybe it was never meant for us to be together in life.
But, Martha, Martha, I love you, can't you see and...
But, Martha, Martha, I still love you. Can't you see that?
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TOM WAITS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Emanuela Ricci
Operator, number please, it's been so many years
She'll remember my old voice while I fight the tears
It's been twenty years or more now, Martha, please recall
And meet me out for coffee where we'll talk about it all and
Those were days of roses, of poetry and prose
And, Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrow, we packed away all our sorrows
And we saved 'em for a rainy day
I feel so much older now, and you're much older too
How's the husband, and how's the kids, you know that I got married, too
Guess that our bein' together was never meant to be
But, Martha, Martha, I love you, can't you see and
Those were days of roses, of poetry and prose
And, Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrow, we packed away all our sorrows
And we saved 'em for a rainy day
Those were days of roses, of poetry and prose
And, Martha, all I had was you and all you had was me
There was no tomorrow, we packed away all our sorrows
And we saved 'em for a rainy day
Gary Twitchett
I know many go on about how great Tim's earlier LPs are, but I think "SEFRONIA" is Brilliant album. Tim's covers and his own songs are excellent 🎶👍👦👍🎶
Theo Singer
While I agree with you all that Tim Buckley did a great job at this, I believe Tom Waits does and always will stand above anyone who sings his songs. Just listening to Tom Waits you can hear all of the soul and feeling put into his pieces and that could never be done again by another artist.
Joe Campbell
Theo Singer that's the rub, isn't it? Folks want to cover our idols, but then how do we ever stand up and sound as good as our idols.
Mor Bels
I could never help but feel that Tom Waits is overdoing it. The drama, the overly exposed sentimental suffering. Waits almost makes me laugh. He's his own parody.
Ronan FitzGerald
+Theo Singer I love Buck, I love TW even more... But thee is an Irish singer, huge bass baritone voice.. that nails Martha (musicly!) Fredddie White... and this is from a TW prosteliser...
Reality
I too like the Waits one better than Tim's, but Lee Hazlewood has the best version imo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSx2H10WJec
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Honorable Mention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj7HRf6erFE
Rock Singer
I too like Tom's version of this song ~ It's all a matter of taste as to which is better ~ But the Tom Waits version has a lay opening of his soul through his voice ~
d R
Wow, I had no idea Tim covered this classic. Honestly I'm not a big fan of the arrangement but Tim's voice is as amazing as ever.
Marie Gogo
This song gives me shivers when Tom Waits sings. I got shivers from Tim Buckley's version, too. Thank you for that!
Neil Carlson
Yes,it's not a contest it's an interpretation as always.Tim ,Tom ,so close yet thank goodness, so very different.