The tonally sensitive part of me wants the opera singer, but Jeff Buckley's voice sends shivers down my spine. It is just some quality in his singing which is the prerogative of blues singers. They are living in the song. Great singers all have this: Nat King Cole, Arthur Brown, Peter Hammill - I could go on...
Opera singers are slaves to their technique, this man was not. He had technique but he also knew when to drop it and that is why he was indeed a pure drop in an ocean of noise.
@Edelien Well said. IMO, Jeff had a natural musical ability that allowed him to sing from the heart without worrying too much about technique. I wish we could see him perform this. But from watching other live performances of his, I know that he was totally lost in the song, which is why the emotional connection is so strong.
I'm not a big fan of opera, but I think Jeff Buckley makes this more worthwhile listening to it. I'm supposed to be doing an essay on the song. I think my music teachers will totally despise me for listening to a different take of the piece done by a "modern musician"
@5050zulu1 I didn't like that much either. He's flat every time he tries to get up to a high note and when he gets the pitch right it still doesn't sound good, it sounds screechy. This is too high for him. Listen to a real opera singer do it and you'll see this pale in comparison.
@VandalayIndustries82 yes I agree with you. Its a very difficult piece to attempt. he tried and it didnt work out bless him. I even liked Alison Moyet version . not every ones cup of tea but hey each to his own, take care.
@VandalayIndustries82 This has nothing to do with genre or technique. The hell with letters and numbers for this moment. You forget what music is. Buckley touches everyone with this performance and unifies us through making such a treasure of our musical past so emotionally accessible to all listeners. Some who wouldn't even dare listen to opera. He is pure and innocent. This is an achievement, and is not disrespectful to the operatic craft or style. Do not taint it please!
@VandalayIndustries82 Bearing in mind everything you have said, and listening objectively, I still prefer this. Also this was what, one of his first attempts? This isn't perfect, but its a bloody good performance.
Jeff Buckley very well could have been the most versatile singer that ever lived. With his range and his love for different musical genre's. Any other rock type singer could sing Dido's lament? Maybe the best it's ever been sung.
Jeff was obviously a countertenor, judging from this; I have to say, probably not a highly trained one, but what potential, and what a loss of a major talent. He's singing early baroque music, with lots of beautiful ornamentation. Dido's Lament, by Henry Purcell.
@VegaVelecka A lot of people think that countertenors are castrati (if you know what I mean), but they aren't. They are men with the ability to sing at the highest point of their vocal chords. They often sing straight tenor or even baritone as well. There is a man in my choir who sings either countertenor or bass and he's married to one of the sopranos. Of course, if you're musician, and I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, please forgive me.
@bookmonatercats unfortunately, I am not, this is all new to me, and apart of the awe and appreciation I know very few about that all, but I would listen about that for ages, so thank you for that tidbit of information. And we know that Jeff has always been so much MORE than what 'a lot of people think'. Cheerio )
I NEED the audio where Philip Sheppard talks about how he remembers Buckley the night he met him. That was an awesome recording and the guy who put it up in youtube closed his account :S anyone??
I adored this lament from the first time heard it. But when I discovered that Jeff Buckley did a version of it it was one of those rare moments in life where for a few seconds everything seemed to fall into place. Life was perfect when I listened to this version for the first time. Pure, blissful, heartbreaking and trance-inducing!! What a voice!!
Opera singers sing it technically correct but without any feeling, which is the main part of the piece. It's a woman mourning her lost love who has been tricked into deserting her, causing her to die. Buckley makes the music sound true to the story. Brilliant!
Without diction the piece would prove less functional. Sure the lyrics are always secondary to the music but never the less it is still an important principle. If I am an idiot for stating this then every other trained singer is the same!
you really think that rap beats are more important than rap lyrics? they may not be much but at least they aren't [yet] synthesized as looped backgrounds. But then, you were discussing music.
I think it's safe to say Jeff could do a better vocal on this song if he were alive today. There's no reason it had to be in such a high register or have so much vibrato, extra notes, and extra syllables.
@ajdicks But, why would time change the way he sang this song? Jeff wasn't technically flawed when it came to singing, this is the way he wanted to sing it. And it was in such a high register because it's for a soprano part, and he could do soprano. So no, it's not safe to say.
@ajdicks the vibrato is a stylistic preference. this is an aria and jeff sang it as a soprano would sing it traditionally, and he did an absolutely splendid job with it. if jeff were still alive today, he would sing probably the same arrangement, or at least a very similar one, in the same key, with similar stylistic/technical approach. this is, imo, one of his greatest live performances... i can't imagine what he would want to change about it.
@gavinfarkas Diction? Seriousl? Who gives a rat's ass about DICTION while listening to this? If you are not carried to a place far from technicalities, you are not "getting it." Let go of the little details that don't mean anything, and let the song bring you to where it was intended.
@awishedforsong brilliant statement!!! just how I see it, NOTHING needs to be changed in this arrangement, it was Jeff's ability to express himself that makes this great, and totally unique!!! cheers
Thanks for posting this, and for recording it in the first place, even if it was unauthorised. I'd heard about the performance and have long wanted to hear it. Poignant.
It's a strange realization knowing that so much of Jeff's music would have never seen the light of day if it weren't for bootleg recordings like this. Sure the quality is bad, but the music transcends that. But when it's done I can't help feeling sad; this is all there is of Jeff. No more will and can ever be made.
continued (cellist's account)..."If a word was written high up the page, well then it meant it was a high note. At one point he asked me what country he was in… he was confused between Germany and the UK that day as I think he’d flown in with little sleep. And then he sang."
a quote from the cellist's website: "I remember, this singer arrived really late, just before the show, dishevelled, all cheekbones, cool hair, black jeans and the biggest boots you’ve ever seen supporting a rake thin body. He apologised – got out his music – a kid’s exercise book with the lyrics of the songs written out in a crazy biro scrawl." Continued in my next comment...
Funny I was not aware of Jeff Buckley when he was alive, but I distinctly remember where I was the day I heard he died and the profound sense of loss I felt. He later came to be a huge part of my musical life having a profound effect on me. This happened in 1 other case. I remember where I was the day the CCP launched a brutal persecution against Falun Gong even though I had not heard of it before. I later came to practice this meditation practice and it also had a profound effect on me. Fated?
I remember the first time hearing this and feeling this terrible ache of realization that he was actually gone. He died when I was only 3 years old, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. It makes his death moreso bittersweet for me because feel honored to be one of his younger fans, yet I feel almost cheated to have missed out. To me, he continues to be that single, solid force that takes full control of the stage, no matter where I am in life and I continue to be mesmerized by his talent.
Most people didn't know Jeff could sing opera, if only ya know what I mean. If I could say I'm pissed at God or the Universe or whatever controls fate. This order of the most catistrophic things I could think of 1)The Holocaust 2) My mother passing 3) Jeff Buckley passing......fuck, I loved him!
Jeff had never sang before he went solo - he rented a cabin in the middle of no where and taught himself to sing just like that in 4 weeks. What a genius, a genius that just made me cry.
love this, will be played when l die.. make everyone think..what a voice, heard it first on Radio 4...was stunned..the feeling in that voice, thanks for posting,,,
I try to sing this and know what a difficult piece it is. Although I love Janet Baker's version as a more traditional rendering, full of emotion, this is a revelation- it is such a perfect song for him, and inspirational as a choice - he was streets ahead in terms of not confining himself to a particular genre and really exploring what's out there.It so suits his voice- and the words are so poignant too - he knew.....
This is not nearly such a good recording as the BBC version with comments by Phil Sheppard. That one really does go off the map.
mcorrick 2 weeks ago
"Remember me, but forget my fate" - rather prophetic don't you think?
iamannanem 1 month ago 6
The tonally sensitive part of me wants the opera singer, but Jeff Buckley's voice sends shivers down my spine. It is just some quality in his singing which is the prerogative of blues singers. They are living in the song. Great singers all have this: Nat King Cole, Arthur Brown, Peter Hammill - I could go on...
unomeimeno 1 month ago
Opera singers are slaves to their technique, this man was not. He had technique but he also knew when to drop it and that is why he was indeed a pure drop in an ocean of noise.
Edelien 1 month ago
@Edelien Well said. IMO, Jeff had a natural musical ability that allowed him to sing from the heart without worrying too much about technique. I wish we could see him perform this. But from watching other live performances of his, I know that he was totally lost in the song, which is why the emotional connection is so strong.
imkeylime 1 month ago
I'm not a big fan of opera, but I think Jeff Buckley makes this more worthwhile listening to it. I'm supposed to be doing an essay on the song. I think my music teachers will totally despise me for listening to a different take of the piece done by a "modern musician"
Gazarama7279 1 month ago
hated every second of it
5050zulu1 2 months ago
@5050zulu1 f*ck you!
symphonym560 2 months ago
@symphonym560 why ?
5050zulu1 2 months ago
@5050zulu1 - why the hell did you continue to listen to it then?
akj375 2 months ago
@akj375 I did'nt 20 seconds then I decided why waste 6.05 minutes of my life listening to this .when I could be watching paint dry.
5050zulu1 2 months ago
@5050zulu1 I didn't like that much either. He's flat every time he tries to get up to a high note and when he gets the pitch right it still doesn't sound good, it sounds screechy. This is too high for him. Listen to a real opera singer do it and you'll see this pale in comparison.
VandalayIndustries82 1 month ago
@VandalayIndustries82 yes I agree with you. Its a very difficult piece to attempt. he tried and it didnt work out bless him. I even liked Alison Moyet version . not every ones cup of tea but hey each to his own, take care.
5050zulu1 1 month ago
@VandalayIndustries82 This has nothing to do with genre or technique. The hell with letters and numbers for this moment. You forget what music is. Buckley touches everyone with this performance and unifies us through making such a treasure of our musical past so emotionally accessible to all listeners. Some who wouldn't even dare listen to opera. He is pure and innocent. This is an achievement, and is not disrespectful to the operatic craft or style. Do not taint it please!
landonpeer 1 month ago
@VandalayIndustries82 Bearing in mind everything you have said, and listening objectively, I still prefer this. Also this was what, one of his first attempts? This isn't perfect, but its a bloody good performance.
breadhimself 1 month ago
Comment removed
5050zulu1 2 months ago
Jeff Buckley very well could have been the most versatile singer that ever lived. With his range and his love for different musical genre's. Any other rock type singer could sing Dido's lament? Maybe the best it's ever been sung.
nat00ben06 2 months ago
I can't believe some one like this existed.
gtralisfr69 3 months ago 2
@20centjes but it was hilarious :)
i posted on the description that i found it somewhere else and decided to put it back in youtube.
thanks for the social service! :D
iStevie 3 months ago
does anyone know about any pictures from this show? 1995 is not a 15th century, and they say there were journalists taking photoes...
VegaVelecka 3 months ago
Jeff was obviously a countertenor, judging from this; I have to say, probably not a highly trained one, but what potential, and what a loss of a major talent. He's singing early baroque music, with lots of beautiful ornamentation. Dido's Lament, by Henry Purcell.
bookmonatercats 4 months ago
@bookmonatercats a countertenor?... interesting...
VegaVelecka 3 months ago
@VegaVelecka A lot of people think that countertenors are castrati (if you know what I mean), but they aren't. They are men with the ability to sing at the highest point of their vocal chords. They often sing straight tenor or even baritone as well. There is a man in my choir who sings either countertenor or bass and he's married to one of the sopranos. Of course, if you're musician, and I'm teaching my grandmother to suck eggs, please forgive me.
bookmonatercats 3 months ago
@bookmonatercats unfortunately, I am not, this is all new to me, and apart of the awe and appreciation I know very few about that all, but I would listen about that for ages, so thank you for that tidbit of information. And we know that Jeff has always been so much MORE than what 'a lot of people think'. Cheerio )
VegaVelecka 3 months ago
simply....beautiful
chaingangbaby92 5 months ago
Jeff had a habit of foreshadowing his own death in his music...
TheYogiBunnie 5 months ago 2
i miss jeff and tim buckley they were geniuses
jasperminer 5 months ago
moving and haunting...... bless him........
katharinehoad123 5 months ago
OMG how beautyful.......I fall in love whit him, agian and again and again and again and again.......
cx6wieler 5 months ago 2
Musical masturbation.
pujieming 6 months ago
i enjoy this picture immensely.
JennaGwenna 6 months ago
oh god... remember me, remember me, but oh, forget my fate.
JennaGwenna 6 months ago
I NEED the audio where Philip Sheppard talks about how he remembers Buckley the night he met him. That was an awesome recording and the guy who put it up in youtube closed his account :S anyone??
iStevie 6 months ago
sweet Jesus! This has got to be the most amazing thing I have ever heard.
liddil101 6 months ago
I adored this lament from the first time heard it. But when I discovered that Jeff Buckley did a version of it it was one of those rare moments in life where for a few seconds everything seemed to fall into place. Life was perfect when I listened to this version for the first time. Pure, blissful, heartbreaking and trance-inducing!! What a voice!!
SockPixie 8 months ago 10
unrivaled musicianship. i wish i could have seen him sing this. RIP
misterbenberry 8 months ago
Opera singers sing it technically correct but without any feeling, which is the main part of the piece. It's a woman mourning her lost love who has been tricked into deserting her, causing her to die. Buckley makes the music sound true to the story. Brilliant!
BGH1121 9 months ago 3
I agree with ReturnThe Favour3 that this is tender and powerful. Its possibly all the more so because of his sad demise. Horribly prophetic.
123jsbach 10 months ago
No other version of this song is better than his because only he can express the true power and tenderness of this song, and I don't know why.
ReturnTheFavour3 10 months ago
111
MrSevenkurgan 10 months ago
i think they should make a movie of his life! James Franco would be great to play Jeff!
MrSevenkurgan 10 months ago
@MrSevenkurgan i agree but i also think brandon boyed could do a good job there not alike but somthing similar about them !
taise25 10 months ago
was this ever recorded in STUDIO? or is there only a live version?
WhaaatTheFuuuck 10 months ago
I nearly died hearing this, I just love Jeff, they doing his Biopic now...
(Director:Jake Scott)
PeachesB91 10 months ago
@PeachesB91 Please tell!
crickards1 9 months ago
@crickards1 :) ???
PeachesB91 9 months ago
Wow!!!
funkblue2 11 months ago
i would give up of my mum to stay with Jeff.
creativeinteractions 1 year ago
Without diction the piece would prove less functional. Sure the lyrics are always secondary to the music but never the less it is still an important principle. If I am an idiot for stating this then every other trained singer is the same!
gavinfarkas 1 year ago
@gavinfarkas
you really think that rap beats are more important than rap lyrics? they may not be much but at least they aren't [yet] synthesized as looped backgrounds. But then, you were discussing music.
artsavant 11 months ago
I cant believe Jeff Buckley is 10X better than anyone who's ever sung. At least
MichRockHop81108 1 year ago
Jesus Christ this recording is good
MichRockHop81108 1 year ago
chills.
chiatboon 1 year ago
4 f*** were disturbed by how much this song moved them (:
surferrosa85 1 year ago
@surferrosa85 4 fuck were disturbed?
MichRockHop81108 1 year ago
@MichRockHop81108 wrong f word
surferrosa85 1 year ago
@surferrosa85 haha who bleeps the word fags? a fag.
a fagbag. :)
MichRockHop81108 1 year ago
@MichRockHop81108
surferrosa85 1 year ago
Check out 'Convalescence Kid: Nothing left to lose' This guy is pretty awesome!!!
gigagoldfinder 1 year ago
I think it's safe to say Jeff could do a better vocal on this song if he were alive today. There's no reason it had to be in such a high register or have so much vibrato, extra notes, and extra syllables.
ajdicks 1 year ago
@ajdicks But, why would time change the way he sang this song? Jeff wasn't technically flawed when it came to singing, this is the way he wanted to sing it. And it was in such a high register because it's for a soprano part, and he could do soprano. So no, it's not safe to say.
Incubus941 1 year ago 2
@ajdicks the vibrato is a stylistic preference. this is an aria and jeff sang it as a soprano would sing it traditionally, and he did an absolutely splendid job with it. if jeff were still alive today, he would sing probably the same arrangement, or at least a very similar one, in the same key, with similar stylistic/technical approach. this is, imo, one of his greatest live performances... i can't imagine what he would want to change about it.
chenispeese 1 year ago
and also what are these bootlegs are they just recording of live preformences or are they songs leaked ?
makaveli237 1 year ago
gavin ---- idiot
srb07707 1 year ago
Great I only noticed a few diction problems but still struck with his emotionally driven performance!
gavinfarkas 1 year ago
@gavinfarkas Diction? Seriousl? Who gives a rat's ass about DICTION while listening to this? If you are not carried to a place far from technicalities, you are not "getting it." Let go of the little details that don't mean anything, and let the song bring you to where it was intended.
awishedforsong 1 year ago 3
@awishedforsong brilliant statement!!! just how I see it, NOTHING needs to be changed in this arrangement, it was Jeff's ability to express himself that makes this great, and totally unique!!! cheers
hannah4440 7 months ago
Fuck*n brilliant.
Svetsarkirurgen 1 year ago 2
Thanks for posting this, and for recording it in the first place, even if it was unauthorised. I'd heard about the performance and have long wanted to hear it. Poignant.
bidextra 1 year ago
I remember you Jeff, every day of my life. And every day I try to forget your fate.
MacJaxonManOfAction 1 year ago
When I first heard this I thought he was singing "remember me/ do not forget my face"...
aliesheatell 1 year ago
It's a strange realization knowing that so much of Jeff's music would have never seen the light of day if it weren't for bootleg recordings like this. Sure the quality is bad, but the music transcends that. But when it's done I can't help feeling sad; this is all there is of Jeff. No more will and can ever be made.
TheToneKid 1 year ago 14
shame about the bad quality
btyremanable 1 year ago
This is seriously mind boggling...
esdenaze 1 year ago 2
beautiful, WORDS fail me, unique TALENT, will miss him FOREVER! LOVE FROM IRELAND
hannah4440 1 year ago 2
continued (cellist's account)..."If a word was written high up the page, well then it meant it was a high note. At one point he asked me what country he was in… he was confused between Germany and the UK that day as I think he’d flown in with little sleep. And then he sang."
s1ygirl 1 year ago
a quote from the cellist's website: "I remember, this singer arrived really late, just before the show, dishevelled, all cheekbones, cool hair, black jeans and the biggest boots you’ve ever seen supporting a rake thin body. He apologised – got out his music – a kid’s exercise book with the lyrics of the songs written out in a crazy biro scrawl." Continued in my next comment...
s1ygirl 1 year ago
Funny I was not aware of Jeff Buckley when he was alive, but I distinctly remember where I was the day I heard he died and the profound sense of loss I felt. He later came to be a huge part of my musical life having a profound effect on me. This happened in 1 other case. I remember where I was the day the CCP launched a brutal persecution against Falun Gong even though I had not heard of it before. I later came to practice this meditation practice and it also had a profound effect on me. Fated?
SuperDenglish 1 year ago
I remember the first time hearing this and feeling this terrible ache of realization that he was actually gone. He died when I was only 3 years old, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. It makes his death moreso bittersweet for me because feel honored to be one of his younger fans, yet I feel almost cheated to have missed out. To me, he continues to be that single, solid force that takes full control of the stage, no matter where I am in life and I continue to be mesmerized by his talent.
Bamzoni241 1 year ago 5
Most people didn't know Jeff could sing opera, if only ya know what I mean. If I could say I'm pissed at God or the Universe or whatever controls fate. This order of the most catistrophic things I could think of 1)The Holocaust 2) My mother passing 3) Jeff Buckley passing......fuck, I loved him!
nat00ben06 1 year ago 24
@nat00ben06 nice dude, everyone but you would pry put JB at two. but your mom was pry really cool
A2KID420 1 year ago
@nat00ben06
no plague? no aids?
lol you suck, beavis
mick7283 4 months ago
@mick7283 Mick you're right those suck too! Along with a very long line of others horrors, but these we're most devastating to me!
nat00ben06 3 months ago
Jeff Buckley cold sing as high as one of those poor castrated opera boys of the olden days. Good god this recording is fucking awesome
A2KID420 1 year ago
Jeff had never sang before he went solo - he rented a cabin in the middle of no where and taught himself to sing just like that in 4 weeks. What a genius, a genius that just made me cry.
Incubus941 1 year ago
@Incubus941
I never heard anything like that in regards to how he came to sing. Check your facts and sources before spreading myths please.
DanMcCaffrey 1 year ago
Comment removed
Incubus941 1 year ago
None of the other greats (Mercury, Plant, Cornell, Gillian) could sing this. Shows just how great Jeff was.
jdidnoid 1 year ago
@jdidnoid Klaus Nomi did!!!!!!!
gabikollau 1 year ago 2
And thank you YouTube for letting us have this to enjoy as it's nowhere else to enjot legally! x
crickards1 1 year ago
Probably the most poignant version in my opinion - just hypnotic.....
crickards1 1 year ago 2
Stunning, just stunning...
hamstermaster679 1 year ago 2
love this, will be played when l die.. make everyone think..what a voice, heard it first on Radio 4...was stunned..the feeling in that voice, thanks for posting,,,
sallyann1952 1 year ago
This is awesome! Jeff had insane vocals.
tuphdc 1 year ago
Thank God this wasn't deleted from Youtube...
MacJaxonManOfAction 1 year ago
I try to sing this and know what a difficult piece it is. Although I love Janet Baker's version as a more traditional rendering, full of emotion, this is a revelation- it is such a perfect song for him, and inspirational as a choice - he was streets ahead in terms of not confining himself to a particular genre and really exploring what's out there.It so suits his voice- and the words are so poignant too - he knew.....
pvbird77 1 year ago
Rest in Eternal Peace, Man of *Magnificent* Talent
GreenRad2012 2 years ago 20