Written by Alivia Stonier
Jeff Buckley is a beloved musician that, within his 30 years of life, not only managed to build a cult following across his area of New York but also stole the hearts of many with just one studio album before his tragic passing when he accidentally drowned before heading to the studio to work on what would have become his sophomore album.
In honor of Jeff Buckley, the documentary entitled It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, directed by Amy Berg and distributed by Magnolia Pictures, details not only his life and what he was able to bring to the table as a creative, but also shows a window into the lives of the people that he truly touched.
Through accounts from loved ones and clippings from previous interviews that bring Buckley’s voice to the forefront, the documentary beautifully paints an image of what it was like to see the inner workings of Buckley, through all of his authenticity and unapologetic honesty, and pairs this with different illustrations to help bring the story of his life together.
In the film, Buckley is shown as a glimmer of light in a world that had only just begun to be ready for him. He had a softness that could never be crushed even by a demanding industry, a pulse on his feminine side, and a love of bands like Led Zeppelin, which painted together the picture of who he truly was. This all came together as a culmination of feminism, heartbreak, and a sensitivity to the darker parts of growing older.
As his mother, Mary Guibert, recounts in the documentary, Jeff Buckley was born with music in his blood, having started humming along to songs at a very young age, while many credit this to his father, who was the popular musician Tim Buckley. However, despite many family friends and people in the industry noting how much the father and son sound alike, Tim was very absent from Jeff’s life and in many ways had let him down prior to his death due to an overdose. The cause of his father’s death would lead Buckley to be very careful about drug use despite many false beliefs that drugs would go on to also cause his passing.
The documentary digs into all aspects of the steps that his career took, including a very grueling record deal, with Buckley wanting to write over a hundred songs in just a few months. The dedication that he had towards his craft is the very reason that only one studio album ever made it to listeners; tracks like ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over’ and ‘Grace’ left such an impact on listeners. He was also known for his cover of the popular track ‘Hallelujah’, which was completely transformed by Buckley and, instead of being a religious proclamation, it was, in his words, an honor of sex. Just one example of how he shaped the preconceived notion of music into something entirely his own and didn’t shy away from being raw.
The film shows that one of the most impactful people in Buckley’s life was his ex-partner, Rebecca Moore, who recounts her experiences with the musician still with so much love and heart. Having inspired songs like his popular ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over’. The pair went through a lot within their relationship, and despite this, remained in contact for the remainder of his life.
The singer would also go to Ellen to be with fellow musician Joanne Wesser, and the documentary made clear how much the two not only cared for each other but were also able to bring their love of music together to make something special and unable to be replicated on stage. The young musician had many influences that went beyond the typical inspiration of that time period and music scene, spanning from classical to blues; not unlike that genre, all of his music spewed from the soul. It’s clear that the people around him, whether it be at the beginning of his career or as it progressed, truly felt his passion transcend beyond the microphone.
According to accounts from the documentary, along with his music, he also had a pulse on comedy. He made silly DJ shows about a cat and doing live performances at a cafe that he frequented in New York City across the 90s called Sin-é. It was there that crowds not only began to be enamoured by his vocals but also got to know the personality behind the voice as he would crack jokes and truly let his personality shine.
The film shows how his career led him to meet many of his heroes. He not only got to interact with them but the very people that helped to shape his love for music began to look up to him. As the singer has stated, music was both his mother and his father. However, the success didn’t come without struggles, as he would begin to fear following in his father’s footsteps of dying at a young age.
As the pressure began to build from being in the industry, Buckley would move to a small house in Tennessee. Shown in the film and telling the story in his own words, the artist reveals that he wanted time to still be able to read, eat, and sleep. He never stopped valuing the simple pleasures of life and the pursuit of deeper knowledge. Despite these fears, his death was ruled an accident, as he went for a swim and was later supposed to go in for a recording session to work on what would have been his following body of work.
Even as his life unknowingly inched towards the end, what remains clear was a deep love for the people around him, including both his ex-girlfriend and his mother, as the documentary closes with a touching voicemail that his mother had saved.
Buckley was an artist that was never concerned with fame but wanted to be able to share his love of music with the world and express his love for those that truly understood him through his art. The love that he poured into his studio record lives on both with him and in the lives of the people that had the pleasure of getting to know Buckley across his time. Even for those unfamiliar with his work, the documentary is deeply touching and a beautiful tribute to a life that was lost far too soon.
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