Too Young To Move On

When H and I first started dating, like most guys, I had a phase of trying to make myself seem more interesting than I actually am. (HA! It worked!) And looking for something different to do on a date one night, because "You wanna go grab a couple of pints" doesn't seem all that alluring, I noticed that a club downtown was holding a Jeff Buckley tribute night. When I suggested it, H balked a little, and we wound up... going to the pub to grab a couple of pints instead. Turned out that her co-worker (and my friend who had introduced us) had said "Jeff Buckley's who guys use to get women in bed." I guess she thought I might have been showing my cards a little soon. My friend was right, though; Buckley's music was a bit of a panty-remover. Such a talented singer, writer, guitarist. It's too easy to say the usual bits about tragedy and such-a-waste and gone-too-soon... I mean, really, you think so?

Like everyone else I head heard Last Goodbye on the radio - CFNY (now: "The Edge") had it in medium rotation, I think. And when I heard that he'd died, and in such an odd way, it really struck me, somehow, and I wound up heading to Sam's and picked up Grace the same day. It quickly became one of my favorite albums of all time - if I don't play it as often these days, it's not because I don't love it anymore. I think now I just bring it out more for somewhat special occasions, when I can really give it a good listen.

There's a must-read great post on I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS. She's assembled a great series of rarities, as well as a wonderful list of tribute songs to Buckley by other artists. I especially loved the Aimee Mann story. Read it here.

My favorite song of his, after all this time, remains Lover, You Should've Come Over. I have a few different versions of it, as it showed up on a couple of EPs. This, version, however, would be my favorite, Live @ WNEW-FM in 1995. It's a song that can still break your heart into a million little pieces, and you don't mind at all.

Jeff Buckley Lover, You Should've Come Over (Live)

Or, if you prefer, here's a You Tube video of a different performance:




This will be a good week to give it a good listen.

And if you still don't have a copy of Grace, what the hell is wrong with you? Go buy it right now.