Jeff Buckley - Back In N.Y.C.

[chakrameditation5]

everyone just shut up and listen to the MUSIC!!!

[zorman743]

I love this song. And I think Jeff Buckley was a great artist. But, unfortunately, there must be something wrong with this version...

[misguidedfool]

true fans can only appreciate this :D

[Trimbler00]

@misguidedfool Do you mean *only true fans can appreciate this? or that this is the only song true fans are capable of appreciating.

[jetman94]

this sux

[chakrameditation5]

@jetman94 *sigh* just shut up.

[uyauabing]

quite surprising that jeff didn't stray too far away from how peter gabriel sung the 1974 original.

[RazielMEX]

Weak cover. The instrumental part and the whole rythmic patterns were almost forgotten, and the vocal is overemphasised

[alexmortland]

@RazielMEX Oh c'mon man, he's just goofing around with a 4-track. He didn't plan on releasing this or anything.

[ProjectSalvo]

jeff buckley is one of the most masterful musicians of the century.

[dddrum]

Has anybody noticed-- in the wide, high camera shot-- the crosswalks and the wedge shaped traffic island make an "anarchy" symbol? (Oboyoboy, I am a-quiver with self-congratulation!) ;-D

[dermotoblong]

who gives a fuck about mick jagger? go and watch him then. im listening to jeff

[ConnaisPasLaFin]

man that distortion at 4:20 - 4:55 would make Billy Corgan cringe with jealousy

[venusdelay]

god, the final sounds are like nin...

[kissmygoatass]

pardon me for being a huge Genesis fan before the shit got way watered down with the departure of Peter, but this is ugly, sounds like an 8th grader from Florida covering this classic, KMGA (and I LIKE Mr. Buckley) some chit just doesn't work as covers and this a perfect example. My fluffy heart is ready for rape awright.

[Madman007]

What a great cover. It's the same words but Buckley translates it with a more harder edge, almost like NIN. Still has the same quirkiness as the original, but not the same execution as a whole band would have. I miss Tony's keyboarding, but this one still stands on its own.

[TheInternetTroll100]

amazing

[otterslobber]

I love The Lamb Lies Down, but I love this cut just as much. God bless.

[JeffsFunnySongs]

I'm sure Mr Gabriel approves.. i do

[madastrota]

Just to throw in a shameless plug: JB's birthday is next month, on the 17th. I'm going to be playing a show at my favorite coffee shop on the 20th so I've decided to make it a Jeff Buckley Tribute show which is something I did for his 41st birthday in 2007 (go to my channel for a clip of Dream Brother). I'll be posting clips from that show shortly thereafter. You can subscribe to my channel or simply notify me if you want to check those out.

[madastrota]

I was really happy when I bought Sketches and saw this on there because Jeff was a huge inspiration and influence for me already and it was great to see he was influenced by the same music I was to begin with. Too bad he didn't have a cleaner sounding, better mixed version but his interpretation of Peter Gabriel's vocal is badass.

[Contextcatcher]

Jeffs Buckley voice and the other musicians put more threat and despair in this song: it is a perfect personal vision and therefore not a meek imitation of the orignal, but a great tribute to Peter Gabriel and Genesis. I'll bet that Peter Gabriel like this version. By the way: "The lamb lies down on Broadway" is a fascinating masterpiece.

[madastrota]

@Contextcatcher FYI, he was the only musician on this. He recorded this on a four-track cassette machine while he was living by himself in Memphis.

[Contextcatcher]

@madastrota Thanks, for filling in my gap of knowledge about Jeff Buckley. His 'isolation' explains the intensity of his music: special the penetrating sound of his guitar. It fits realy welll with the hypersensitive lyrics of Peter Gabriel: " When your fluffy heart is ready for rape. No!". The atmosphere of the clip: a great: mass of anonymous NY people are not aware of some kind of attack. Peter Gabriel describes in this song a (street) terrorist: "cos I don't care who I hit, who I hit".

[mkanix666]

He fucking destroyed this song!!! He needs to be shot for ruining a classic Genesis song!!!

[madastrota]

@mkanix666 You should take into account that this was released posthumously & wasn't recorded as a serious studio effort. Just before his death, he was living like a hermit in a shotgun shack with a four track & some instruments, sketching out ideas & feeling out his next direction. This was recorded during that time, probably as a project of catharsis. Yes, it's very rough & badly mixed but the intensity of his vocal performance and obvious reverence for the material are very moving to me.

[slaphead99uk]

@mkanix666 Its aint as good as Gabriel- but think: it takes huge balls to cover Genesis and this stacks up.

[mugwamp4]

shit just stumbled on this didnt think anyone would try to cover this good effort

[alanmichaellincoln]

Excellent cover

[vivelavidarocka]

First time ever listening this version. Fantastic!!

[dtm3000]

Jeff was a friend of mine back in the '80's. He was a genius. This song was a favorite of mine and when we'd play (I played keyboards) I would attempt to play it. Next time I saw him he had written out the sheet music to this song and later "In the Cage" (also by Genesis) and "On the Air" (from Peter Gabriel's 2nd solo album). We used to jam on "On the Air"...or as he wrote it out "On the Eh" all the time but we never got to play the other songs as I never learned them all the way through.

[fromvulcano]

I like so much this version!! Jeff really felt like Rael!!

[mobofg]

IMO everyone that knows Genesis, and how they sound like, will have to agree this cover is absolutely amazing. I'd like to invite anyone into this awesome music to check my band - Mob of God - music here on this channel. We're just looking to be heard by people that listen to music we think is great, and is a influence to us like this one. So if you have a little time, please check us out. Thanks & Peace.

[slytown]

Everyone talks about Grace but I think Sketches is much better, even though it may not have been exactly what Jeff had it planned as. This song is a perfect example of how wide ranging that album was. This song is heavier than any metal or hard rock band could make. So haunting.

[GigginrErcolan]

I Don't know that Jeff have been made a cover of Genesis song..very good cover!!

[osiruskat]

I first saw Jeff play this in a small bar in Memphis, Tn..blew me away. He had a way of making this song his own.

[BillyJoeVegas]

@BillyJoeVegas This demo rocked and shocked me the first time I heard it. Just never expected Jeff to cover any song from the best live show I ever attended. ( the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Chicago '74 )

[bunnyhead71]

Not bad for a demo, Totally interesting choice for Buckley to cover. Excellent version. Totally creative. Oddly enough, Peter Gabriel recently said hardly anyone ever covered any Genesis material and he believed this to be better than the original...

[thedennylee]

What.... a Genesis remake with no drums

Sacrilegious

[degree7]

Pretty good.

But not as good as Peter, as some of you Buckley fans are making it out to be, haha.

[tankrocks1089]

I want to see the live Jeff Buckley version!!!

[andybrown2006]

I love this song. It is far and away my favorite genesis track. So dense and furious. I was amazed to find out a few years ago that Jeff Buckley did a version. I checked youtube on the off chance that there would be a live video . This will do. It makes me like him more to find out that he was into this stuff also.  Thanks for posting this.

[johnnydelbravo]

I like to see some action, and it gets into my blood.

You cannot buy protection, from the way that I feel.

Top that!

[johnnydelbravo]

Sadly, I only discovered Jeff Buckley right around the time he died. I am just stunned at how talented this guy is/was. I think I started to get into his music about a month before he passed, so it was really quite tragic for me when I saw the headlines.

I've heard thousands of songs and I never hesitate to list Back in NYC as my all-time favourite. The most powerful, punk anthem ever written. So glad Buckey "got it". He seemed so intuitive at interpretting. RIP

[adamtzsch]

Funny you should say that, because Genesis - and their ilk - soon became the antithesis of everything Punk stood for.

[uyauabing]

@adamtzsch "Funny you should say that, because Genesis - and their ilk - soon became the antithesis of everything Punk stood for."

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway (1974) was quite an odd 'prog-rock' outing as Gabriel impersonated something of a proto-punk character here.

and if you browse around, there's a photo of Keith Emerson (of ELP infamy) shoulder to shoulder with John Lydon (a.k.a Johnny Rotten).

"It was the industry that wanted us to be enemies (with prog-rock)" - John Lydon

[johnnydelbravo]

@uyauabing It was just appealing to me to see an intellectual explanation for punk behavior (right or wrong) , rather than the anarchist "Let's get fucked up and smash things" mentality of the late 70's punk bands. I think punk should have ended with Brando and Rael. What else can you accomplish after that?

[Miggittymiccheck]

@johnnydelbravo Have you ever listened to the Clash? Intelectualism was their big thing, at least after a few albums.

[johnnydelbravo]

@Miggittymiccheck I really only know London Calling - but I was heavily into that record at the time.

[claudebasel]

one of the best genesis-songs. gabriel would like this version.

[mnap128]

Fuck yes! Jeff was unbelievable in his ability to recreate the music of his heroes, which, by the looks of this, was something that he truly revered. RIP Jeff, you kick total ass, even on 4-track!

[LeathalWorksInc]

like leonard cohen

[danielstuth]

Incredible.

[kerouac1032]

well its a genises song , the fact that its a demo dosent take from the fact that its still a cover. any music fan would know that!

[aquasloth]

I really love this version because it sort of has that crazy, lurching, threatening edge that the song needs (and I think that looped guitar figure that stands in for the drum beat really adds to the arrangement). Plus, when he goes off at the end and does his own weird "jam" at the end...it gives me chills.

[tudobem917]

this isn't the cover. this is the demo from Jeff Buckley's unfinished album Sketches for my Sweeheart the Drunk. that's his voice! Any Jeff Buckley fan would know that. He died before recording the album, so this is just a demo.

[mckenzju]

he is the shit

[v000000v]

most sick cover.

[wascheech]

extraordinary version of an extraordinary song. Video was interesting enough, but I typically close my eyes and the goose bumps take over with this song.

[LeathalWorksInc]

Bril version, anything he touchs turns to gold

just wondering: 'Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk' was not compleated so is this not finished or what??

[Bumblebee42313]

not finished.

[MrWeirdShite]

Whats crazy is that this was done on a 4 track. I can't even imagine what it would have sounded like had he completed it.

[Negativegene]

phucking awesome version; my hat off to u

- 30 plus years genesis die hard fan here

[mdornbos27]

This is a very difficult song to sing considering the emotion needed to deliver it. Peter and Jeff are the only ones that have that much emotion in their singing to do it.

[stefbren]

this the best versiob of this song period. And I'm a huge Genesis fan, huge. but as it's often the case, when Jeff sets out to cover a song, he does a better job than he does writing his own.

[akyel]

Interesting version, but nothing like the quality of the original. Either way Jeff is awesome!

[InfidelAntichristian]

this video makes no sense, and this version would have been cool if it's tempo wasn't so slow.

[Laminateddeffect]

I think his version of the classic song goes hand in hand with the video. Do you think those people on the streets know they're being watched?...........I know that has nothing to do with lyrics, but Jeff's version, which sounds a little more disturbing & haunting goes with this video clip, almost as if he's the one watching us.......I don't know, thats the impression I get when viewing this

[laseiche33]

ENORME !!!

[JpMwell]

"it's hailed as one of the greatest records of all-time by members of zeppelin, radiohead, soundgarden" WOW! Big deal! what do they overrated junkies know?

[PeterOzanne]

Your opinion on Zep etc is interesting. But EVERYONE in rock music who heard JB (ie almost everyone in the whole industry!) rated him one of the greatest talents. So they can't all be wrong! However, it took me months to really appreciate JB's "Grace" CD. It's the opposite of easy listening!

[rjvc69]

I somewhat agree.. not a fan of this cover version, however, Jeff Buckley was an excellent performer in his own right. His father was a popular folk artist in the 60's-70's so he had the genetic chops. Furthermore, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, so i'll give him a little leeway.. plus Peter's style is difficult to reinvent

[wildhockeyTroJan]

jeff buckley is one of the greatest musicians of all-time. this recording was probably not made in seriousness but just screwing around. he died before he could make the album it was a demo for. but if you haven't heard of the album "Grace" you could check it out because it's hailed as one of the greatest records of all-time by members of zeppelin, radiohead, soundgarden, and pretty much any good band that exists. this song is not indicative of that album.

[Jimmypppp]

wow, never heard of jeff? he influenced so many many young musicians... sit down and make your homework!!

[tensago]

Jeff Buckley has had a clear influence on Muse sing Matt Bellamy

[Zexa21]

ur fucking dumb dude...by now u must have heard grace u dumb fuck so im not going to argue other than insult you

[Sean2112bd]

Seriously, listen to Jeff Buckley. He's definitely no 10th rate Jagger tribute act. He's a legendary artist.

[Attritive]

@Sean2112bd Jagger -.- Anyone making the comparison misses a pretty crucial and obvious fact: Jeff Buckley can sing.

[degree7]

@Attritive

Yeah, but Jagger's written some of the greatest songs in the history of rock 'n' roll. Buckley's just an interesting enigma of time's past. That's all.

[dudemanwhoathe1st]

@degree7 Buckley is better as a guitarist, wayyyyy better as a singer, songwriter, everything. Jagger has sold a shit ton of albums, and he's good, but comparatively to others.. he's just a rock 'n roll singer . Jagger can write decent and catchy shit, but Jeff is so much more refined. He has such soul in his music.

[degree7]

@dudemanwhoathe1st

Jagger doesn't need to be a better guitarist, he's got Keith Richards! And as for him "just" writing decent or catchy stuff, they've done a lot more than just your whizz bang pop songs. Check out Moonlight Mile, Tumbling Dice, Gimme Shelter, Wild Horses, or Let it Loose. I doubt Jeff has managed to put as much soul into his songs as those. What the Stones do is pure Afro-Americana.

Could jeff write anything as catchy as Lets spend the night, Satisfaction, or Honky Tonk W?

[Micaiyah]

Genius how Jeff keeps the essential lines... perfected form of this song, even though it's just a demo.

[derneueuntergang]

ok, Jeff can sing a bit better than Peter ... and Phil collins was never bad doing the old stuff too...

[lazlocarreidas]

you're kidding, of course he can't

[derneueuntergang]

only Peter and Jeff can do Rael ... all other covers are bad, boring, pretentious, ...

[ifly65]

awesome