Se esperaba que fuera el cantautor estrella de su generación, el sucesor natural de Bruce Springsteen, a su vez relevo de Bob Dylan, en una línea imaginaria trazada por críticos y discográficas. Pero su destino replicó el de un músico menos conocido: su padre biológico. Con solo 30 años -dos más que su padre al momento de morir-, Jeff Buckley se ahogó en el puerto de Memphis, Tennessee en 1997, un día antes de comenzar a grabar su segundo álbum en un estudio de esa ciudad.

More remembered for his prodigious voice and his unique interpretive style - his version of the Leonard Cohen classicSign on the record Grace (1994), the only one who completed in life.

The "Lover, You Should’ve Over" describes the suffering caused by the loss of a love whose dimension is revealed with the break, presented as a funeral duel in the first verses.Vulnerable and repentant, the narrator is willing to deliver everything for a reunion with his lover and offers a reward that alludes to Ricardo III of Shakespeare: "My kingdom for a kiss on his shoulder".

With a metric that refers to the soul, almost seven minutes, without a clear chorus or repetitive melodies, the theme dodged the formula of the pop ballads of the time and perhaps that is why it was not chosen as single.

Interviewed during a tour in Australia in 1995, Buckley compared the composer's work to that of a craftsman, who must “mold the sound to do so correspond to a feeling and ensure that [[...] words are emotionally successful ".In that sense, "Lover ..." is the best example of that search.A poem made with music, in which the instrumentation moves with the voice, that grows, turns off and resurfaces to the scream, along with the emotions that each stanza displays.

Inspired by its separation from music and performer Rebecca Moore, the song portrays a personal evolution of Jeff, which meditates about its mistakes - the lyrics suggest an infidelity - and its emotional immaturity: “Maybe I am too young / to prevent good the goodLove ends bad ".The absence of his partner drains him ("undone and hungry for your love / without a way of feeding him") and raises a reflection: "Sometimes a man must wake up to understand that, really / does not have anyone".

Buckley and Moore met in New York in 1991, in a recital that honored the musician's father.Folk-rock cult figure of the 1960.Soon he left her and then learned that this time he was going to be a father.Divorce was completed a month before the child's birth, on November 17, 1966.

In the tribute concert, with 24 years, Jeff surprised fans both for the physical resemblance to his father and for the subject he interpreted: "I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain" ("I never asked to be your mountain"), akind of discharge of Tim about his decision to abandon his wife and son.

Jeffrey grew up in Orange County, California, with his mother and her stepfather Ron Moorhead, who adopted him and gave him his last name.It was called "Scott Moorhead" until the age of eight when, after knowing his biological father for the first time and spending a week with him, he learned two months later that he had died from overdose.After the tragic event, he reviewed his own birth certificate and decided to recover his original identity, although for the family it would always be "Scottie".

“I have a great admiration for Tim [...], but as a form of respect to another artist, because he was not really my father.My father was Ron Moorhead, "said Jeff once.His stepfather contributed to his musical training since I was a child, making him listen to rock icons of the 60s and 70s, such as Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.Jeff recognized this last band and Canadian singer -songwriter Joni Mitchell as two of her main musical influences.

The falling with Led Zeppelin was reciprocal.After the launch of Grace, Jimmy Page became obsessed with the album and took Robert Plant to a Buckley recital in Melbourne.The young musician had the opportunity to meet them after the concert and, he knew later, he and Page cried with emotion.

Last year, the guitarist remembered the meeting on his Instagram account and said that Jeff had invited him to collaborate in his second album.They never saw each other again, but Buckley left an indelible brand in Page."His level of communication through the dynamics of his music, his voice, his lyrics and his touch on the guitar formed a kind of spiritual communion," he wrote in the publication.

The tragedy

After a tour that lasted more than two years, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee in February 1997, seeking to find the necessary tranquility and anonymity to reconnect with his art.On May 29 of that year, his band flew from New York to start the recording of the second album the next day.

That day, Jeff and his friend Keith Foti went to listen to music at the riverbank of the port.Buckley entered the water with the clothes on and began swimming on his back while sanging the theme of Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love".A ship approached and created a little wave.Foti went to save the stereo to prevent it from being damaged and when he looked up he lost Jeff's trail.His body appeared a week later.

In 2019, on the occasion of Grace's 25th anniversary, an unprecedented video of a live version of “Lover...".“I wrote that song while listening to the phone in my apartment. Pero ella nunca llamó", dijo Buckley en 1995 sobre la balada y su separación de Moore. Según contó una amiga en común, Jeff llamó a Rebecca un día antes de morir y se despidió diciendo: “Te veo del otro lado".At that time he was a long time ago with the singer Joan Wasser, but maintained a bond of friendship with his ex -girlfriend.

The tragic final of the musician prevented the reunion. Sin embargo, la letra de “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over", al contrastar el reclamo conjugado en pasado: “Debiste haber venido" con la esperanzadora última frase: “No es demasiado tarde", permite imaginar otro desenlace para la pareja en el universo atemporal del arte.