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).
River
Tim Buckley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I hide my house away
Then just like the river
I can change my ways
Oh, if you come to love me
You would stay forever
Inside my heart
Inside my dreams
In time we'll love
In the street we walk as beggars
In the alley faithless kings
Ah, but it's the truth of life
That chains us in between
Those lost moments we steal
To keep our love alive
And our prize so tired after all the pain
And time will fade
In time we'll love
In Tim Buckley's song "The River", the singer talks about living by the river and hiding his house away. He compares himself to the river, saying that just like the river, he can change his ways. He speaks to a lover, saying that if they come to love him, they will stay forever inside his heart and his dreams. The lyrics suggest that time will fade but their love will endure.
The next part of the song talks about how they are "beggars in the street" and "faithless kings in the alley". They are caught in between the truth of life, unaware of what's coming next. The lost moments they steal to keep their love alive, proves to be their only reward after all the pain. In the end, time will fade, but their love will endure.
The song seems to be about life and its unpredictability. The river represents the constant flow of life, and the singer's ability to change is his way of adapting to life's changes. The lyrics also suggest that love is their only hope. They take what they can to keep their love alive, proving that love can provide a sense of permanence in life's uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
I live by the river
My dwelling is close to the flowing water
And I hide my house away
My abode is obscurely concealed
Then just like the river
Similar to the river
I can change my ways
I can transform my actions
Oh, if you come to love me
Suppose you fall for me
You would stay forever
You would remain eternally
Inside my heart
Within my innermost being
Inside my dreams
In my subconscious thoughts
And time will fade
With the passage of time
In time we'll love
Eventually we will love each other
In the street we walk as beggars
We saunter down the avenues as impoverished individuals
In the alley faithless kings
In the backstreets, we are untrustworthy monarchs
Ah, but it's the truth of life
However, it is the fact of existence
That chains us in between
That enslaves us in the middle
Those lost moments we steal
Those missed instants we take
To keep our love alive
To maintain our affection living
And our prize so tired after all the pain
And our reward is so exhausted following all the suffering
And time will fade
And time will elapse
In time we'll love
Eventually we will love each other
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BENJI MADDEN, DON GILMORE, JOEL MADDEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tomas Horn
I live by the river and I hide my house away
Then just like the river, I can change my ways
Oh, if you come to love me, you'll stay forever
Inside my heart, inside my dreams
And time will fade, in time we'll love
In the street we walk as beggars, in the alley, faithless kings
Ah, but it's the truth of life that chains us in between
Those lost moments we steal to keep our love alive
And our prize, so tired after all the pain
And time will fade, in time we'll love
I live by the river and I hide my house away
Then just like the river, I can change my ways
Oh, if you come to love me, you'll stay forever
Inside my heart, inside my dreams
And time will fade, in time we'll love
decimal point
Tim Buckley is a hidden gem of the past. I’ve listened to several songs and I’m hooked.
Burt472
Not past anymore everytime we listen to him...A greeting from Italy
Martha Diaz
The lyrics to this song are astoundingly beautiful, not to mention profound. I feel like Tim Buckley had this purity that 99.999 of musicians of the last century didn't have. It's like he's in a category of his own. I feel like he embodied the life behind his songs, that his singing was actually a pouring out of something real in his life. Most singers sing because they can, or because they want to, or because they want the glory. But with Tim (and Jeff), that was their ontology, so they did it.
LadyStonecut
Have to say both Father and Son stand on there own in their own talent! Both very passionate and gifted.
Art Redoubt
This song and the entire album has brought me back from the brink on a number of occasions.
Warren Wilson
This song is so powerful. The depth of Tims voice and the musicians backing create an awesome production. If you cant be moved by this you are not alive. :)
Missy Ondine
The painting by Lawson and this Buckley song form a perfect impressionistic unity, Tim's urgent vocals and the mysterious sounds of the vibraphone make you almost want to go into the painting.
Keith Turner
I saw him in london back in the day, the greatest singer ever, pure beautiful genius, no one has ever come near him, no one.
Jeff Sartain
You are lucky to have seen him in person.
JerseyGirl
Idea Engine I would say so too‼️ Love Jeff❣️