track 4) Hallucinations (Buckley/Beckett) Etherial. Atmospheric. Overtly beautifully psychedelic. and so fine. I saw you walking Only yesterday When I ran to catch you You disappeared And the street was gray The candle died Now you are gone For the flame was too bright Now you are gone I heard you laughing With your laugh of gold When I called out to you Silence returned And the air was cold The castle fell Now you are gone And no more rings the bell Now you are gone I found a letter On the day it rained When I tore it open There in my hands Only ash remained The castle fell Now you are gone And no more rings the bell Now you are gone I felt you breathing As I fell asleep When I reached out to touch you No one was there And the night was deep The candle died Now you are gone For the flame was too bright Now you are gone I saw you walking Only yesterday When I ran to catch you You disappeared And the street was gray The castle fell Now you are gone No more rings the bell Now you are gone
Pleasant Street I have always liked that descending bassline style, and this track has a nice descending line that comes back up on the last note. The melancholy is palpable. We then burst into this somewhat aggressive major key chorus, and it is very effective to my ears. I like the rhythmic structure, it's over a 4 beat, but has a nice groove to it. All in all a really effective track.
Thanks for the breakdown...keep em comin' please. "Hallucinations" is nest above...tell me about your take on it and breakdown the key, metre etc...
Hallucinations A nice mellow change up, after the bouncing Pleasant Street. This seems very kind of traditional folk based, and has like a hanging tension note that moves into a melodic line following the vocal. I like the wall of percussion. I guess for some the reverb is a little splashy.... perhaps it is these type of things that make folk feel this is over produced, but it isn't the kind of thing that phases me. To some degree this seems almost like a precursor, to some of the more exploratory tracks down the line. This is a nice atmospheric track that brings something a little different to the table, and it adds a lot to the album flow, in my opinion, by giving it that bit of difference, and yet still fitting the general feel we have had up to this point. Excellent track.
It's interesting with the metering here. It is a 4 beat, but I think, like Led Zep sometimes did, there are odd bars mixed in at certain points to give it a certain feel. Without sitting down properly and trying to count it, which is something I just generally don't do, even if I'm going to be playing something, I'm pretty sure that is where the slightly odd feel in spots comes from. Edit: I'm trying with the meters and such, but it isn't really my specialty. I tend to play be ear, and feel. I can read music, but not well, and I rely on listening to a song to really get the groove of it. I wonder if @Rose River Bear likes, or knows Tim well, certainly much better at this than I
track 5) I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain (Buckley) A standout track and an emotional, heart on his sleeve amazing song. The musicianship alone makes this one stand out and also gives us insight into the direction Tim would pursue very soon. His vocals are reaching amazing new and wow exciting heights... stunning jazz improv exploration in it's birth here. O I never asked to be your mountain I never asked to fly Remember when you came to me And told me of his lies You didn't understand my love You don't know why I try And the rain was falling on that day And damn the reason why The Flying Pisces sails for time And tells me of my child Wrapped in bitter tales and heartache He begs for just a smile O he never asked to be her mountain He never asked to fly And through his eye he comes his love And tells her not to cry She says, "Your scoundrel father flies With a dancer called a queen And with her stolen cards he plays And laughs, but never wins" O the child dreams to be his hands In the counting of the rain But only barren breasts he feels For her milk will never drain As I die I can't remember Where I saw the rain: Could it be that her laughter Drove me down again? Charming dancer will you stop, Stop and talk to me? Is there someone else you feel In your dreams? you will, you see: In midnight gazes I've found you far from me: If you lead me on Please leave me down O Flying Flying Fish Please flutter by my door: Yes you can drink my lies If first you read my eyes: Each one is titled "I'm drowning back to you": I can't swim your waters And you can't walk my lands: I'm sailing all my sins And I'm climbing all my fears And soon now I'll fly O I never asked to be your mountain I never asked to fly Remember when you came to me And told me of his lies You didn't understand my love You don't know why I try And the rain was falling on that day And that's the reason why Sweet lover, will you come back And love me for a while? Please take my hand Leave all your fears behind I've been gone too long Now I'm home to stay Please don't leave me Again this way Please come home Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Tim Buckley
I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain Absolute classic, I love this one. His driven 12-string, manic percussion, impassioned vocals and heart-bearing, but disparaging, lyrics. "Flying Pisces" refers to his young bride, who he abandoned for his music career. One wonders what she made of this song- no doubt some bitterness towards Tim.
Just listened to it. Yes, On casual listening it has the odd bar of 5/4 3/4 and 7/8. Tricky to nail down.
track 6) Once I Was (Buckley/Beckett) A bit of a waltz...One of my top favorite Buckley songs (yes there quite a few, but this just stuns me every time!) ...just beautiful. Once I was a soldier And I fought on foreign sands for you Once I was a hunter And I brought home fresh meat for you Once I was a lover And I searched behind your eyes for you And soon there'll be another To tell you I was just a lie And sometimes I wonder Just for a while Will you ever remember me And though you have forgotten All of our rubbish dreams I find myself searching Through the ashes of our ruins For the days when we smiled And the hours that ran wild With the magic of our eyes And the silence of our words And sometimes I wonder Just for a while Will you ever remember me Ever remember me Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Larry Beckett / Tim Buckley
Jeff honoring his pop...live Once I Was. A lovely touching cover, but Tom was the man, hands down. Jeff can't touch his pop's voice, for me anyway, especially live.
Tom Once I Was (Dream Letter-Live In London)...stunningly perfect. Jeff's pales by comparison. God, what a voice. So strong!
Once I was always reminds me of my buddy and me staying up late drinking beers and listening to this tune. This was the first time my buddy ever heard of Tim Buckley and he took to a liking of him right away. We both really liked this song a lot and played it a few times in a row. Such a great but sad, sad song. We will remember Tim the rest of our lives. He made some rememberable songs and this is one that will randomly stick in my head and will play inside my head from time to time. This would have to be my second favorite song in this album and never heard a bad version from Tim.
Just catching up on the thread and all of the songs covered from Goodbye and Hello are superb. Pleasant Street, Once I Was and I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain are some of the very best he recorded.
Once I Was Small correction- these are Tim's lyrics. All versions of this are great- the John Peel session version is also worth a listen or 10. It's noticeably slower than the album or Dream Letter versions. And the demo version on "Lady" is at glacial pace.
Right. I knew that, but doubted myself with "lyricfind" falsely crediting Buckley/Beckett...threadster, trust thyself. I find that Tim's lyrics often are my favorite songs. Maybe because they come right from his heart. Beckett's lyrics are wonderful but often come from a more romanticist's poetic sensibilities and thus not delving quite as deeply into that personal place as Tim's.
Lyrics Thanks for including the lyrics along with the songs. Larry Beckett was Tim's main song writing partner. A close friend of Tim's from their school days he even briefly played drums in one of Tim's early bands- the Bohemians. He wasn't talented musically but was obsessed with words and poetry from an early age. His style is generally more over-wrought, archaic and complex than Tim's and on the first two albums it's usually pretty clear whose lyrics you are listening to (though on the later albums I find this much less true). Beckett contributed a little over half of the lyrics to the first two albums. Tim then wrote all the lyrics to his next 3 albums (Happy Sad, Blue Afternoon and Lorca). Beckett then returned strongly for Starsailor and also made contributions to the last 3 albums. Over the 9 albums I estimate Tim was responsible for about 65% of the lyrics, 25% Beckett and 10% others. Tim sought out, and greatly appreciated, Beckett's contributions. Tim was a great interpreter of his work as exemplified by his 3 versions of "Song to the Siren". Beckett says that many of the lyrics to the later albums were cut and paste- he would send lyrics for several songs to Tim who would then take out lines from different songs and reassemble them into something he liked. In general I too prefer Tim's songs and many years ago wished he had written all his own songs. But over time I have come to appreciate Beckett's contributions as a vital part of the story. Beckett is an interesting guy and can be heard contributing to the talking heads section of the Tim documentary "My Fleeting House". Some of his comments on Tim's music can seem bizarre to a Tim fan but he is never less than honest.
Love many Beckett penned lyrics, especially Morning Glory. Yes. Beckett contributions to "My Fleeting House" are essential and very interesting indeed.
I never asked to be your mountain I love this song. To be honest I loved this so much I plagiarized it when I was a pup, and essentially wrote a song that may as well have well been a cover. This is like a fast four beat, but the way the vocal rushes and then drags over the almost frantic rhythm guitar, it creates a rhythmic tension. I find it hard to be objective here, great song.
Once I Was This is a beautiful song, and along with Mountain, were the two songs that really drew me into this album. We have this nice three beat stumble going on. The bridge/chorus? Sometimes I wonder ... it is just so beautiful that I am instantly sold.
Yes indeed to all you said...the lyrics grab me every time. They surprise and enchant with each and every listen.
It's a great album. Thanks for running the thread. I've been wandering around and have kept meaning to dive into the album box I bought, but keep getting dragged this way and that by other stuff.
track 7) Phantasmagoria In Two (Buckley) A lilting mesmerizing song -- beautiful lyrics. Love it so much. Hypnotic and magical Baroque psychedelic! If a fiddler played you a song, my love And if I gave you a wheel Would you spin for my heart and loneliness Would you spin for my love If I gave up all of my pride for you And only loved you for now Would you hide my fears and never say "Tomorrow I must go" Everywhere there's rain my love Everywhere there's fear If you tell me a lie I'll cry for you Tell me of sin and I'll laugh If you tell me of all the pain you've had I'll never smile again Everywhere there's rain my love Everywhere there's fear I can plainly see that our parts have changed Our sands are shifting around Need I beg to you for one more day To find our lonely love Everywhere there's rain my love Everywhere there's fear Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Tim Buckley
