Music Life, Oct. 94

By Yoshinobu Morita
Submitted by Sai
Translated by Tutu Fujimoto 

A new hero of ‘90s American rock, Jeff Buckley. His father is the late Tim Buckley, 27-years-old, single, living in NYC...Apart from the main points, I want you to listen to this singing voice which gives you goosebumps, that's my frank feeling. The excitement of the surroundings doesn’t matter to him, he’s still cool. His steps are forward, down to earth, he is going on a journey where nobody knows what lies ahead without fear. It's not bad to share this journey with him. It wouldn’t be good taste however, to say I even want to see him bumping into the wall and struggling.

When I am in a place where the air is thick, I am so glad of a gust of wind that happened suddenly. Jeff Buckley is like that gust of wind. We’ve prepared ourselves for the worst or underestimated it like “nothing new would be born to our music scene.” But such a man suddenly appeared in our world. Yes, this sound is so fresh no matter what we think. There are many groups in which the appearance of style or music is fresh. There are also many groups that have great constitutionality to collect and unite music in various fields. But in his case, the new and fresh thing is on the inside. It's not an inner reflection that gives you discontent feelings and calculating like Beck's major debut album, but rather an off-track inner reflection without any decorations. The sound of Jeff Buckley certainly goes toward not outside, but inside. But the arrow of his music seems to thrust itself outward, as it goes inside. From delicacy to chaos. From chaos to delicacy. His inner self running wild, moving freely from place to place, may even be trying to jump over the frame of “rock music” in every sense. He is an artist who made such a sound with his debut album. Of course, I’m going to ask him about it.

Do you like to go on trips?

I've always traveled.

When I was listening to your album, I felt that there was some kind of scenery coming up, different with every song. Maybe it's because the place named Corpus Christi was used for the title of the song.

You can write music based on one scene or a memory of the city. Of course, it's not always the same...But if you think about it, life is just like one scene. A view with different wavelengths in every part. Those sceneries, hand-in-hand with music, move people's emotions.

A great variety of emotions is put into your music. Delicacy and chaos. Stability and instability. Sufficiency and anxiety. To sometimes put contradictory feelings into one song is a very natural thing for you.

It's a natural desire for me to have my songs like that. I think every emotion has a sound. Every emotion has a voice. If you hear such a voice, you can put it to music as it is. If you try to forcefully give a framework to something wild like music, it's just going to be weird. Music is not something that you create forcefully, but something you "find." It’s what you discover. It's so simple, and it's so hard that you scratch your head.

For example, a three-minute pop song framework is unthinkable for you, isn’t it?

Nah, it’s not. Of course, a three-minute pop song has its limits and smells artificial like a chemically synthesized nutrient. But at the same time, it's also a very pleasant thing (lol). Sweet chocolate and junk food are all very good, aren't they? So I might make an album with 15 songs of three minutes someday. Yeah, it could be the fourth album.

Seriously?

Yeah, seriously. If it’s the case that the emotional state I'm in wanted me to express that kind of thing.

Your emotional state also includes a three-minute pop song, right?

Yes. A three-minute pop song, and also a fourteen-minute “Kangaroo”. (By Alex Chilton, a song included on Jeff’s mini album for promotion. For about 10 minutes in the second half, it is filled with a truly avant-garde guitar and drum interplay.)

That “Kangaroo” showed us your Far-Out state, speaking in the old way.

I think it's Far-In rather than Far-Out.

I see. I feel like your eyes are looking inside of you once, then looking outside at what's reflected on the inside, rather than looking at the outside directly.

It's hard to get out of yourself. Even if I could get out of myself, what I would find outside is just a picture of “me” taken by other people. But there’re many points in common between humans. We can get connected to each other because of these common points.

So, are your songs also a way to connect with others?

All songs are like that. Of course, the songs exist just as the songs.

However, you told them not to put translations on Japanese editions.

That's just because I was unhappy with the translations of Pakistani CDs and so on that are sold in the states. It's a difficult task to translate words from the languages of mentally and physically different countries into the language of other countries. Of course, I don't deny the translation itself, but there are many things that are lost when translated. Even if it didn't have a translation, I thought the music would be conveyed.

Yeah, I do translations too, so I understand what you're saying.

I think translators need to be poets. The job of a translator is the alchemy of language.  A circus of music. Yeah, it's like trying to tell a friend by telephone what's going on in the circus. I like Rilke’s translations though. Yes, Rilke is the only German poet I like.

Your words are “lyrics”, not words to be read, but words to be listened to.

Yes. But my lyrics are all from my poems. I think all poetry should be expressed as words. Not as literature, but an oral tradition. Poetry is a blueprint for the voice.

Do you already have a melody in your words?

Yes. Words have sounds. Where there's sound, there's a song.

So why did you become a singer instead of a poet?

That's just because “singing a song” was always with me. And I don’t only stick to the form of singing. Sometimes I write songs that are easy for everyone to understand.

Wasn't there any pressure from the record company to make songs that are easy to understand?

No. If they wanted an artist like that, they didn't have to sign a contract with me.

Was the music of the '80s boring for you?

There certainly was a lot of cheap music that were best sellers, wasn't there? But there were a lot of amazing artists. The Smiths were so amazing, and so were Siouxsie & The Banshees. Black Flag, Meat Puppets were also cool, and Minutemen, Jane’s Addiction as well. There was a band like The Clash in the early '80s. But it must be true that all the great bands were pushed to the underground at that time.

So why is it that a singer like you is now rising up “over-ground”?

Who said that I’m “over-ground” (Lol)?  The sound that is so clear to my ears seems so weird to another. It can't be helped. But I'm not a Martian either. I'm not making things no one can understand. As I said a while ago, there are many points in common between humans. They love or hate the same thing, or they share the same sense of beauty. You know, everyone loves vanilla ice cream, and they hate Michel Bolton?

But it's a very difficult task to understand others.

Yeah, I think so. There are times when you can't even believe other people's existence. It takes time (to understand). And to accept others, to have real courage, as well.

So, what do you think about the present situation of your country? 

I don't think it's easy for anyone to live in. Even though it has a lot of talent, it's a child-like country that just runs along the path of self-destruction while having problems. I think that's because our souls are not united as one. I think, basically, we don't realize that human beings need to recognize other people's existence to live. American culture is still a culture of European white men, isn't it? I want it to stop. It’s nothing but boring. In America, we have to go where there are no men or women, no white, black, Mexican or Chinese. We have to have a real human culture that has no such stupid distinctions. Otherwise, this country will surely be a mess. But it's not going to get messy. I guess I do my best not to make our country that way. At least, I want to protect my family.

Do you think about yourself as being negative or positive for the current United States ?

I want to be both negative and positive. Is it not a very healthy condition for the human spirit if the needle is off the scale on either side? I want to live in harmony with both my anger and my positive attitudes. And understand why I feel anger and why I can be positive. Because both anger and pleasure must be necessary for music, art, humans, and this country.

Jeff Buckley’s selections for “This American Band”:

Historic: Bob Dylan, The Band, New York Dolls, Sly & The Family Stone

Recent: Fishbone, Jane’s Addiction