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Rating:
"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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
01 Strange Feelin' (07:41)
I got this strange strange feelin'
Deep down in my heart
I can't tell what it is
But it won't let go
It happens every time
I give you more than what I have
But now all I need is a little time to sing this song
And I think we're gonna find a way to lose this strange feelin'
All around I feel ya, darlin', feel ya darlin'
When you're home all alone
Oh, don't you need somebody to talk your troubles to
Ah, lord I know I wanna catch the morning train, lord the first thing
Oh, I wanna hear you say we're gonna take that strange feelin'
Oh, take it all away
Well it's just like a mockingbird a-singing on a hillside
Churping at his morning song
But don't you weep don't you fret don't you wail don't you moan
Can't you hear that whiporwill a-callin?
Now don't you worry
Your daddy's comin' home
He's gonna chase those blues away
And believe me when I say
We're gonna lose that strange feelin' all around all around...
02 Buzzin' Fly (06:03)
Just like a buzzin' fly
I come into your life
Now I float away
Like honey in the sun
Was it right or wrong
I couldn't sing that song anyway
Oh, but darlin'
Now I remember
How the sun shown down
And how it warmed your prayin' smile
When all the love was there
You're the one I talk about
You're the one I think about
Everywhere I go
And sometimes honey
In the mornin'
Lord, I miss you so
That's how I know I found a home
That's how I know I found a home
Oh, hear the mountains singing
Lord, I can hear them ringing, darlin',
Out your name
And tell me if you know
Just how the river flows
Down to the sea
Now I wanna know
Everything about you
I wanna know
Everything about you
What makes ya smile
What makes ya wild
What makes ya love me this way
Darlin' I wanna know
Darlin' I wanna know
You're the one I talk about
You're the one I think about
Everywhere I go
And sometimes honey
In the mornin'
Lord, I miss you so
That's how I know I found a home
That's how I know I found a home
A-walkin' hand in hand
And all along the sand
A seabird knew your name
He knew your love was growin'
Lord, I think it knows it's flowin'
Thru you and me
Ah, tell me darlin'
When I should leave you,
Ah, tell me darlin'
I don't want to grieve you....
Just like a buzzin' fly
I come into your life
Now I float away
Like honey in the sun
Was it right or wrong
I couldn't sing that song anyway
Oh, but darlin'
Now I remember
How the sun shown down
And how it warmed your prayin' smile
When all the love was there
You're the one I talk about
You're the one I think about
Everywhere I go
And sometimes honey
In the mornin'
Lord, I miss you so....
05 Gypsy Woman (12:19)
Yes I come around
Never know a little sooner
Casts a spell on me
Casts a spell on me
Casts a spell on me
Casts a spell on me....
Gypsy woman
Gypsy woman
Gypsy woman....
Well, you were out trying to turn the tide this morning
Now mama don't you lie
You knew it was in the moon and you knew it was in the sky
Oh, gypsy woman
Tell me please, gypsy woman
Casts a spell on me, darlin'
Casts a spell on me, mama
Casts a spell on me, darlin'
Oh, gypsy woman
Mama, everytime you turn around the fire
Mama, keep me inbetween the devil and the sky
And every time you look my way
Mama how you hypnotize
Tell me please, gypsy woman
Casts a spell on me, darlin'
Casts a spell on me, mama
Casts a spell on me
That gypsy woman casts a spell on me
But if you come runnin' with desire
Oh, gypsy woman knows how to get your blood hot higher
Well, asked your daddy
Your papa wouldn't deny it
Asked your mama
Lord, she was quick to agree
I didn't have to fight your brother
And your sister's still standin' in line
Oh, please tell me gypsy woman
How do you hypnotize me?
We're gonna go down to the river
Walk in the water
Oh, we're gonna get all clean
Then we're gonna do, gonna do
Exactly darlin' what you
Came and set your mind on
Casts a spell on me
Casts a spell on me...
Well, you were out trying to turn the tide this morning
Now mama don't you lie
You knew it was in the moon and you knew it was in the sky
Tell me please, gypsy woman
Casts a spell on me, darlin'
Casts a spell on me, mama
Casts a spell on me, darlin'.....
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Other reviews
By serestoppone
"Tim Buckley is one of the most enigmatic and anomalous Californian singer-songwriters of the 60s."
"The entire sound enjoys an extremely modern and restless sensitivity made of fullness and emptiness, narrated by the languor of his silky voice."
By _tomek89_
I find myself more and more often with this CD in hand, with this damnedly fascinating face, with the stare lost in the void, no trace of vitality in the eyes, total absence, suspended between reality and the unknown.
Hope is the last Goddess to die.
