Added: 1 year ago
From: SpaceOdyssee0
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  • @thevelvetbride is that Celine Dion you are referring to just asking

  • once again, its hard to tune a twelve string guitar

  • Fantastic song, I was sent the link by my wonderful girlfriend, the. Song makes you feel you are sat at the edge of the water.

  • uBeautiful song. I first heard it in the Australian movie Candy starring Heath Ledger. Heath played a heroin addict. So uncanny that Tim and Heath both died at age 28 and tragically Tim's son Jeff died at 30. How devastating for Judy,losing her husband and son so young and of course the death of Heath due to drugs. Such an utter waste of life. Drugs destroy too many lives and leave behind many broken hearts.

  • Bloody hell !! Bloody hell !!

    No wonder all those other artists flock like moths before a flame to cover this.

    If you wanted to write just one song, this would figure right near the top.

    Simple, but the best, often less is more and this just demostrates that. Perfect.

  • One of the most beautifully written songs - the lyrics are truely heartrending.

  • currently there is only one person whose voice sounds more lovely to me than Buckley's. But I think, I'm afraid someday that person will forever be gone from my life. only songs will remain the same :( 

  • @NovaSoctiaChick - i am with you on that one dear - i myself can cuss like a sailor, but i don't like too see it on YTube every time as we do - time and place, time and place -

  • i have to illustrate what i hear for uni

  • Beautiful song and video :-)

  • This guy was a poet. Most definitely not a musician.

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  • Fabulous. Fascinating. Touching. Poignant. Beautiful. Oh my heart! Voice, melody and lyrics--all make this a precious gem.

  • ...used to know a siren... she was singing with the most beautiful voice, exactly the same... tempted me each and every day... should have seen, that she's just a siren...not an angel... would be able to sail further now... yet with broken boat/heart...this is merely impossible :(

  • Haven't heard any ballad which would have been more beautiful... either in song, lyrics, performance, voice, emotions... in whatever... i believe this masterpiece simply reflects the beauty of Tim's soul, as a result of all the love and suffering he went through... the whole performance is so mild and clear in every aspect... Can't stop listening to it...

  • heaven sent: or just creation had evolved to a stage where someone came along w/ amazing intellect coupled w/ depth. w/ the depth of a born artist's intuition he was able to express emotions so true, pure and poignant. privileged is all i can give back in feeling

  • @maurice2002 Wonderful comment, Wow! -First time I heard or saw this man sing on The Monkees Tv show segment. A real late 60s Masterpeice. This one Takes U back..

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  • I knew immediately... that I would be forever changed when I first heard this song..

  • Love this song. John Frusciante covered this beautifuly

  • Sorry , the Cocteau is better in every way. I know this is the original version, but not in this case.

  • One of the most beautiful if not perfect expressions a man can make. sublime

  • Why must the gifted die before their careers blossom?

    "Were you hair when I was fox?"

    Lovelorn... the lyrics feed my soul.

    Thanks to TB for creating such sound with these words.

    Shame his son wasn't knowledgeable of his fathers gifts.

    Now they are both dead... ironic.

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  • I've listened to many versions of this, and Tim Buckley's just feels the most moving and genuine. The others are not bad, but Tim nails it.

  • The LordHodne said it perfectly about sailing away in a wooden boat. I can't help but think when I listen to this of Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins last journey over the great ocean to the Undying Lands, to become one with eternity and with the elves. The longing for final rest and peace at last, and yet a tinge of sadness and regret over leaving behind familiar and beloved lands and friends forever. Tim Buckley's voice captures this perfectly for me. Amazing.

  • Even though the lyrics don't fit exactly, the melody and Tim's voice reminds me of far off shores, like lands from Middle Earth and The Hobbit. Especially the parts about the ocean and sailing, it brings to mind sailing away to far away lands, perhaps never to return, not knowing what is on the horizon. Being a huge fan of fantasy, I'm always tuned in to songs and artists that move me in that way, even when the songs themselves aren't necessarily about anything fantasy-related. Very moving!

  • It would be swell if all swearwords on youtube automatically change into *#@% just like on some sites where you can make comments. ;~)

  • I adore this version of the song. One can get so lost within the beautiful words and gentle music.

    I know I'm pointing out the obvious, but such is the power of the song.

  • I just listened to the Frusciante version that you guys are talking about, and I personally think it's really horrible??? It sounded like it was going to be okay but then the singing started. Really horrible. Sorry.

  • @suzannedrakie I agree the vocal on furciante version is awful

  • @peterm3964 it's ok if you don't like it but calling it awful makes you an idiot.

  • @fortonis I dont need your approval you stupid cunt

  • Beautiful song.

  • Your1 Sweet Revenge I meant to say Jeff Buckley!

  • @Your1sweetrevenge Who TF is JIM BUCKLEY? Or do you mean TIM BUCKLEY?

  • @SubmergedRecords i actually agree with your interpretation,i think the siren is a metaphor of the things you can get very attracted (and im not just speaking drugs) or something like that,and yourself being so in need of ''the siren'' you actually get to a point when you break down, but then at the last of the song when the siren sings again i believe it's not the same siren but it becomes a ''siren'' representing your soul and really pushing you towards the right path ;)

  • I enjoy this more than the album version Buckley did.

  • Enough of this haggling. BORING. Be honest, if you saw someone do this live no matter who .... you'd just be proud to know this song.

    Really, all this 'list culture' and I blame the music magazines. And the brainwashed followers and fakers ...

    Why can't we just enjoy good music without trying to score poseur points???

  • @pladuk68

    fuck yeah homie!

  • @pladuk68 shut theee fuck up hipster. Here's you, "(ugh) All I do is ride my bike around and start sentences with And because normal conformity says that I shouldn't. And social norms are for brainwashed conformist. And I was obviously the first one to ever hear this song. And hipsters aren't conformist we just all like to conform to believe that conformity is for people that aren't like us. Oh fuck I just described myself....Maybe we're the poseur queers". Get counseling...

  • Respect to Tim Buckley for writing the song, the lyrics and basic theme are great. But you have to hand it to John Frusciante as a more talented overall musician and especially a much better singer, his version brings out the full potential and Buckley couldn't do that.

    That said, Frusciante would probably disagree with me so don't hate on him just because I prefer his cover version.

  • @SuckItLily I agree with you 100%.. i respect buckley for writing this, but Frusciante's version is so pure and emotional, it's probably the most beautiful song I've ever heard.

  • @chadeddie Frusciantes can't be more emotional, or pure. He doesn't, nor will ever feel the lyrics stronger than the one who wrote them.

    Sorry. Covers are great and all, but don't ever surrender credit to just about anyone who could cover it.

  • @dano555666 Frusciante took a completely different approach with playing the song and emotion from it than Buckley did. It's a completely different song with the same chords and words. What it meant for each artist is different so it depends on what your looking for. It's like Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' Hurt. When Reznor wrote the song it had a completely different meaning than when Cash sang it.

  • Okay. First things first. It was This Mortal Coil, NOT Cocteau Twins who did Song to the Siren. Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins was the featured artist. Second. It is Jeff Buckley NOT Jim Buckley. Tim was Jeff's father who also tragically died too young.

  • @lepastoja I had been mistaken myself;someone else corrected me-that TIM Buckley had died of a heroin overdose-and I was confused,'cause I KNEW it was a Buckley who had drowned;I didn't know that there was a relative who also sang and also died young...until I saw a reference,recently,to JEFF Buckley.How sad,both father and son gone too soon in such tragic ways.I love the version with Elisabeth Fraser,but this is really beautiful in a different way that I can also appreciate.

  • Oh GOD you poor man. The cocteaus did such a marvelous rendition but he too is just perfection.I must find out about his life.

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  • This is my favourite version. I prefer to the album version

  • This song is addictive as its muse.

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  • Beckett and Buckley read "The Oddyssey" and here we are...

  • i loove the movie candy, thats where i found this song <3

  • @Your1sweetrevenge I first heard this song in Candy also. :o! Been addicted to it ever since. <3

  • this guy ripped off that emo sounding chick that sings this no?  lol.. just kidding...

  • its hard for me to hear this. r.i.p tim and jeff buckley.

  • :) Died of a herion overdose I believe.

  • She, the siren, herself, fears the loss of what was discovered when she enfolded the sailor. The sailors heart carries the love of the ocean and it becomes love of loving someone. The sirens fears win out, and she denies him, and now the sailor has to choose to be married to death(fear) or call out to love, much as the siren did. He has become a siren himself in a way, but when someone answers his call, will he, his own fear, become the rocks for the next. Truly loving= true pain.

  • simple beauty charm grace just enjoy Thank you

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  • Tim Buckley was really in a class that most song writers will never come close to.

  • This song leeds me into a world, where you sail on a white, wooden sailboat. The blue sea whips you in the face, while the sun warms your eyes. There is no such thing as the time, hatred, stress or fear. Just a forever perpetuated world, where we all love each other, and where we dream of the same world this song brings me. Thank You Tim Buckley.

  • @TheLordHodne Interesting that you would interpret the song this way. My interpretation (based on the Greek mythology of the sirens and the fact that Tim Buckley was a drug addict) is that it's about being inescapably drawn toward the thing that will destroy you. It's a very dark song, not at all tranquil. But that's just my two cents.

  • @SubmergedRecords

    That 's also a very nice interpetation, and probably more " correct" according to the song's lyrics. And I certainly do think the same, if I analyse the text and Tim's Biograph, but when listening to the surface of the song, it invites me to this no-fear world I explained. Such a gorgeous song, though. Incredible. The fact that it does indeed make these visual thought, makes it indefatigable to listen to. Cheers.

  • @SubmergedRecords Yeah, but Buckley didn't write the lyrics. He co-wrote this tune with Larry Beckett, who often used more impersonal literary/mythological references and symbolism, compared to Tim's autobiographical style. The lyrics are fairly straightforward and grim (about a lone mariner called to the shore by sirens) and have really nothing to do with Buckley or his addictions. I could definitely empathize with the drug interpretation, however, if I'd thought Buckley was the author

  • @TheLordHodne what a lovely comment :)

  • @TheLordHodne Well said.

  • @TheLordHodne

    god your dumb

  • @Kingzogre

    Hurts a lot coming from you. And especially after such a constructiv and object critisism.

  • a beautiful song but I prefer the star sailor version

    the flang made it more haunting

  • yes.

  • @viktorhat then you are completely wrong....................its is so much more pure than any covers to this song...........

  • Love just discovering this, I memorized these words when I was 16 <3 when I use to list to This Mortal Coil...

  • Love just discovering this, I memorized these words when I was 16 <3

  • sail to me, sail to me... <3

  • Stunning!

  • @viktorhat I love both versions, especially the Celtic feel of Mortal Coil's version. But I have to disagree with you when you say this version doesn't have anything to it. There is a clarity and a purity to the voice that is just astounding.

    I respect your preference, but I would be surprised if this version doesn't win you over in time.

  • @viktorhat - I agree

  • Frunsciante's version is terrible. he ruined it

  • @DemonLeo Well I think he did an amazing job at it and its my favourite version for sure. He made it that much more haunting.

  • What a voice, amazing

  • Wow, Wow , Wow, Speechless

  • Dripping in honey sadness <3 :O(((

  • This is the version from the Monkees TV show right?

  • I don't like the Chillies at all.

  • @alexandermorison

    I love them. But listening to song like this, really makes me think quality and not quantity is whats counts. :)

  • three words... This Mortal Coil

    

  • why so much hate toward Frusciante? he liked this song himself obviously, that's why he covered it. he never took credit for it. I'm just saying if someone covered a song I liked, I wouldn't hate on it cause people like the new version more. I WOULD JUST LISTEN TO THE VERSION I LIKE. and not cry about it.

  • @glock66187 Voice of reason right here.

  • @glock66187 and besides John Frusciante is one of the last living musical geniuses, I love everything he's done, with or w/o the Chili Peppers

  • Tim wrote a classic. What a poet. Many have interpreted this mystic piece. Liz Fraser did a lovely job, but Sinead O'Connor recently took it to the "definitive" place. She bent this song to her will in a manner that Fraser and others are simply not capable of doing; she entered the song and broke it open ... yet kept it the glorious secret it remains. Well done, Tim. Well done.

  • There is not any red in the thumbs up/thumbs down. Is that normal ? Of course !

  • sounds like the national.

  • Tim Buckley is Jeff Buckley's Dad?

  • Elvis did a version of this which is equally fantastic. Any idea where i could find it?

  • How can someone don't like this song ?! THIS is music.

  • @CarolineisJam It has to do with the stigma of being used to what they heard first. Hearing this version, I can see what a nice song he made, but sadly enough this really pales in comparison to the cover done by This Mortal Coil. Liz Frazier just added so much emotion to this tune that hearing this after the fact gives it a very bland feeling.

    I hear his quality, but I will always prefer the added emotion that was done in This Mortal Coil's cover.

  • @darkridr25 I can't imagine not being able to hear the emotion in Tim's voice. Are you just under the impression that in order to sing with emotion one must be crying out, or their voice must be breaking? I hear plenty of emotion in this song, and I'm confused as to why you can't. Oh well.

  • @CarolineisJam yes, it is light & deep.

  • Where can I download this version? Because I can't find it anywhere...

  • @MsColorfulDream

    Download the Youtube Convertor and take the sound from this video :)

  • Honestly, I could cry my eyes out listening to Buckley and I'd still feel like a man.

  • I was unaware of Works in Progress, Thank you for posting this! I iike this version than the one on Starsailor (i think)..

  • Froo Shanti? who the hell is this?

  • Pity we'll never get to hear Tim and Jeff sing together :(

  • Best version ever. There's no question. This song just kills me.

  • @KSnuK but then you are a real hero, because you are going on writing, even if you say the song should have already killed you. I love your magic powers! Who are you, Captain America?! bye bye

  • I like diversity - I like hearing different versions of songs - but after hearing this, who gives two fucks about Frusciante?

  • The emotion of Tim Buckley's voice is enough to make the sirens cry.

  • frusciante did a great psychedelic cover so fu

  • rest in peace Tim: the sirens mourn still for you

  • great song

  • A wonderful man with a wonderful son.

  • This makes me think of this wonderful world, with flowers, grass, grain waving in the wind, tree boats, girls in summer their clothes.... He is somehow underrated.

  • una delle più belle in assoluto

  • THE PATH TO WILD ABANDON<3

  • Shivers

  • I am a Huge fan of Frusciante, but there's no comparison...simply Breathtaking

  • A guitar and a heart can say so much.

  • this song is truly beautiful.

  • awful vocals,great lyrics though.....

  • Love this song. The best version is imo made by norwegian singer Thomas Dybdal. Don't think its on youtube, but check it out on itunes or somewhere else.

  • genius :)

  • This WIP-Take7 version is the best suited style imo. The key, the speed and all reflects the love hurt and combines beautifully to make the greatest love song of all times.

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  • Fuck. .... fuck. 

  • i dont usually say this... but who the hell would dislike this?! i just cant stop listening to it, astonished. perfect. perfect. perfect.

  • :| O.O :O *.* speechless

  • this song should be classified as drug

  • tim buckley god a beautiful voice, john is the better guitarist

  • i think this versions more chill, and although i'd rather listen to Johns version, it doesn't change the fact that Tim Buckley was a genius, and you give credit where credit is due. Johns use of effects and backround sounds just makes me trip in outer space:P

  • 666 LIKES!!!!!

  • I love john frusciante, but this version is better

  • I used to think Tim Buckley was just Jeff Buckley's dad. What a fool I was.

  • @lladsbid You were right the first time. He was...

  • @sleepurr I know he is, but that's not all he is. He's great in his own right.

  • @lladsbid Actually, he was his father, even though they've met only once.

  • @PurpleOptics read my comment, note the word "just"

  • @lladsbid yeah, what a fool you were...

  • @lladsbid Tim Buckley WAS Jeff Buckleys father so... You're not a fool at all.

  • @PoppyB2011 what i was saying is that I thought he was only really noteworthy for being his dad but now realise he's a legend in his own right.

  • @PoppyB2011 stupid you =)

  • @MowserM Excuse me? 

  • @lladsbid He is Jeff Buckley's dad isn't he?

  • @lladsbid exactly!

  • As a huge Frusciante fan myself, I have to say, his cover of this was nothing compared to his other covers, and Tim Buckley perfected this song before John was even born; if not here, with the live performance on the Monkees' show.

  • My friend's dad co-wrote this song.

  • @storeydoll1 my sisters hair brush caused WW2

  • this mortal coil, also good cover...... as "cocteau twins"...... can't figure which one I like most, but the original always has that extra benefit against the other, I think..still a good cover can really levitate a song to new levels...and I'm not talking in terms of being better then the other

  • I think you can't compare them ;P

    They are both unique!

  • I don't think Frusciante did his own version for it to be a competition. I see a lot of bickering over whose is better. John more than likely thought what a lot of us are thinking, that Buckley's version is awesome, and if anything was done out of respect. I'm a huge Frusciante fan and i love both versions and i appreciate that someone thought the song was awesome enough to interpret it themselves and expand on a classic by Tim.

  • just great...

  • did i dream you dreamed about me...

  • i just listened to 10 seconds of john frusciante's version and regretted it. buckley was pure, this is his music, no one elses.

  • @kasimovaya totally agree that this version is better but love the version by this mortal coil I think they did it well but you gotta respect the one who originally penned it

  • Its too sad .. the 2 most rated comments talk about the frunsciante´s version, fuck that .

    This song is beautiful :)

  • @Tincho730 well i guess its probably because its just better, so nah, fuck this

  • @Tincho730 why is that sad? both versions are very unique and beautiful, but original is original :)

    and don't forget Liz Fraser's version, also beautiful

  • i love frusciante and tim buckley i wouldent even know about tim if it wernt for his cover

  • @Tincho730 who cares about comments.

  • @Tincho730 I know you know this but just wanted to add.. It's folk music with such a beautiful theme. Imagine a Mermaid (the Siren) calling people to die dashed on the rocks because of unrequited love for something they can never hold or have. So simple and profound regarding human frailties. Tim Buckley made an achingly beautiful reflection with this song.

    A true classic.

  • @Tincho730

    both versions are awesome,but the original is always better.

    cuz its the original :)

  • @Tincho730 Okay can we talk about Cocteau then? *I just like saying Cocteau...

  • @PoppyB2011 It wasn't actually Cocteau Twins, it was This Mortal Coil with Liz Fraser singing it. It's a remarkable version, I didn't think I liked the original at first but I think it's brilliant now.

  • @Tincho730 its kind of because he does the best version, its so powerful, you can't beat it sorry

  • @Tincho730 Yes, this song is amazing. but also is amazing the fact that the great artist like Frusciante covered it, don't you think? Such a great song, many sing it.

  • Sorry ,Jeff Buckley...

  • Just prior to his death ,he did a version of Dido's Lament...it really does make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.....find it.

  • This song has moved me so much that I have to spend the rest of the day in silence.

  • Tim Buckley-2nd to no one

  • WHAT A PIECE OF work, nobody can do it better!!