La perfección de lo inacabado (Jeff Buckley - Everybody Here Wants You)

CVII
"Love can taste like the wine of the ages, oh babe,
And I know they all looks so good from a distance
But I tell you I'm the one"

EVERYBODY HERE WANTS YOU

Jeff Buckley

Sketches For My Sweetheart The Drunk

Columbia

1998

(ENGLISH AHEAD) Puestos a hablar de leyendas del rock que nos abandonaron antes de hora (qué más da si fue a los 27 o a los 37) me apetece más empezar por el bueno de Jeff (dejemos a Amy dormir unos añitos antes de ver cuánto dura la admiración que hoy se le profesa). Sobre su vida se pueden encontrar cantidades ingentes de información en la web, de la que destaco un buen documental titulado precisamente Everybody Here Wants You:

Para sintetizar, diremos que Jeff Buckley editó en 1994 uno de los álbumes más descomunales de la historia del rock, Grace. Tras más de dos años de éxito tocando en directo, se dispone a editar un segundo disco cuya preparación está llena de vaivenes y frustraciones. El día en que su banda aterriza en Memphis para meterse en el estudio de grabación definitivamente recibe la noticia de que Jeff ha desaparecido en el río Wolf. Sólo se recuperará su cadáver cinco días más tarde. Tenía 30 años.

La música de Jeff y, en especial, su voz es estremecedora en este primer trabajo. Tiene esa extraña capacidad de erizar los pelos a la primera escucha. Todos y cada uno de los temas de su disco de debut son grandes. Muchos han sido versionados (Lover, You Should've Come Over), otros se han convertido en la mejor versión de un tema original (Hallelujah), alguno ha sido rescatado por la industria cinematográfica para realzar algún que otro film mediocre (Last Goodbye). En definitiva, un disco al que no se le puede poner ningún pero.

Sin embargo, es su segundo y póstumo álbum el que recoge el espíritu de la obra inacabada, del artista que quiere evolucionar y no se siente satisfecho por cualquier cosa. Estos Sketches recogen grabaciones que nunca sabremos si Jeff habría dejado así, pero hasta en su naturaleza provisional, sus composiciones han alumbrado el camino a muchos músicos actuales, por su indefinición, su mezcla de atmósferas, su oscuridad y su introspección (que se lo pregunten a Radiohead). Jeff no quería hacer Grace 2, de ahí su constante búsqueda hacia otra dimensión que casi consigue en vida. Su misteriosa muerte hizo que, en compensación, todos aquí lo queramos tanto.

I feel like talking about rock stars that left us too soon (who cares if it's at the age of 27 or 37), but not particularly about Amy -let us first see if her fame resists the passing of time. I really feel like listening to Jeff instead. There's a lot of information about him on the web, of which this documentary called Everybody Here Wants You is to be highlighted.

To sum up, Jeff Buckley issues a colossal album in 1994 called Grace. After more than two years touring around with his music to huge success, he is determined to record a second album. But putting it all together seems way too hard. The path is full of drawbacks and frustration. Jeff just does not feel happy with the way the process is being carried out. Nothing seems to fullfill his expectations. As soon as his band lands in Memphis to join Jeff and get into the studio to wind it all up, they receive the news that he's been missing since he dived in the river Wolf in an apparently harmless move. His body was found five days later. He was 30 years old.

In his first work, Jeff's music and voice are exceptionally moving, even hair-raising at the very first listening. Every single track in it is grand. Some have been covered (Lover, You Should've Come Over), some have become the best cover ever (Hallelujah), some have been rescued by the film industry to help raise the level of mediocre movies (Last Goodbye). All in all, the album has not a single bad point.

Nevertheless, it's his second and posthumous album that reflects the spirit of the unfinished work, of the artist in need of evolution who is never satisfied with the result. These Sketches gather the recordings as they were left and we never know if the artist's intention was to polish them further. However, the provisional nature of the songs has been no obstacle to become the light for a good bunch of artists who have been caught by the unusual light of the compositions. Radiohead, for instance, shares the darkness, instrospection, imprecision and mixture of atmospheres present in this album. Jeff did not want a second Grace, so he started searching for a new-dimensional approach to his music, which he almost achieves in life. His inexplicable and unexpected death made us all here want him so much, in return.

Enlaces/Links:
Jeff Buckley's official site: www.jeffbuckley.com