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"Happy Sad" is one of the most important albums of the late '60s. It reflects Tim Buckley's need, as a brilliant and innovative folk artist, to experiment and explore horizons different from those of the first two albums.
With "Happy Sad", we witness on one hand a normalization of the album format: the album's length is longer than that of the first album, which lasted just over 30 minutes. Buckley's third album is rich in musical variety, as the artist draws inspiration from different musical styles like psychedelic rock and free jazz, creating a more than successful mix of sounds and excellent suggestions. The songs, furthermore, are fewer in quantity but of longer duration (just consider that the first side consists of three tracks each over six minutes; side B is shorter, but still consists of tracks that do not adhere to the traditional song form of 4-5 minutes). This latter aspect goes hand in hand with the normalization of "Happy Sad": while having a few medium-length tracks keeps the album in line with the 40-minute standard, it also leads the album to a departure from tradition and renders it an experimental masterpiece where the sound in some cases approaches the sonorities of King Crimson (the same "Dream Letter" brings to mind "Moonchild"). Particularly moving within "Happy Sad" are "Love from Room 109 at the Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway)" and "Gipsy Woman", both over ten minutes long. The second of the two features sounds reminiscent of the tribal music context with schizophrenic tones, mainly due to the massive interplay of the percussion (pardon the pleonasm! - "mainly... massive" - ).
All the songs on the album were composed by Tim Buckley himself, whom we find behind the twelve-string guitar as well as the microphone. On marimba and vibraphone, we find jazz musician David Friedman (not to be confused with the American economist), and on guitar and keyboards, we identify Lee Underwood, who collaborated on all the albums of the Washington artist. From a lyrical point of view, strictly linked to the folk tradition, a strong resentment, predominant sadness, and an absolute heartache are perceptible. In "Gipsy Woman", the author urges a gypsy to seduce him, to cast a spell on him with a strong blues inspiration. "Happy Sad"! The folkman oscillates between joy and sadness, continuing to hope, despite knowing that sadness will prevail. "Happy Sad"!
A masterpiece by an artist who was too underrated in his time. Tim Buckley: a cursed poet.
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