IT’S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY is a classic music doc with talking heads and archival material. The documentary is probably not a reaction to Buckley’s song “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” becoming viral on TikTok in 2025 and even overtaking his version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" as the most streamed song, but fittingly, given the renewed interest in Buckley, the film’s release is well-timed.

Jeff Buckley was a very different type of musician than the stars of today. In the last years before the spread of the internet, there was barely any video footage of him for most fans. There was the album “Grace” (1994), but Buckley was less interested in interviews and promotional appearances. He once hosted a show on MTV, toured extensively, also in Europe. But many discovered Jeff Buckley after his death. The documentary shows Jeff Buckley’s charisma and sensitivity, but also leaves out some important parts of his career. The fact that many songs on “Grace” were composed in collaboration with Gary Lucas isn’t mentioned. Lucas, who was a guitarist in Captain Beefheart and is still recording great albums, doesn’t make an appearance.

Jeff Buckley was an excellent singer, had a four octave singing range, but he sang with an autodidactic, natural voice which you can’t hear in pop anymore. He learned the Qawwali singing technique of the Sufis from recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - and later sang it to the master because they weren’t able to converse. He covered Benjamin Britten, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin. A broad musical spectrum like that was unusual in the 90s.

The film refutes the theory that Jeff Buckley died due to drug abuse and that he was permanently depressed. Buckley seems driven in the footage, but like a cheerful guy who had a lot of fun with music, friends, and lovers. Sometimes erratic, hyperactive, and also depressed when the pressure rose, but as clear-headed as people between 20 and 30 are.

Buckley’s music is considered to be “honest“ but actually, like for all youngish people, it's more about crafting an identity from all the junk you've accumulated in your head, an identity that can encompass it all: the sadness, the pain, the pleasure, the anger. For Jeff Buckley, who only got to know his father, the similarly sensitive songwriter Tim Buckley (start with „Phantasmagoria in Two“, „Pleasant Street“, „Song to the Siren“), for a week shortly before his death at 28 (heroin) and who was raised by his 17 year old hippie mother, his pain that might have been closer to the surface than most. The idea of rising to the pantheon of super singer songwriter and stepping away from the shadows of Tim was understandable, but also a heavy weight. Jeff Buckley was 3 years older than his dad was when he died. He died when he got the idea to swim in the wrong spot while fully clothed.

For those who want to hear more from Jeff Buckley than “Grace,” you should continue with “Songs to Noone,” an album with recordings with Gary Lucas which was made before “Grace.” A good introduction to Tim Buckley’s music is “Dream Letter,” a live album from 1968.

Tom Dorow

Translation: Elinor Lewy