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Rating: Dear Laura,
it saddens me to think that it's been two years since we last saw each other and just the thought of your golden curls makes my heart weep. I've heard that lately, you feel sad, discouraged; you look out the window and try to understand your role on this jagged sphere called "world". Probably yours is a pure state of grief. I must confess that I too find myself in the same whimsical situation. This immense spleen that envelops us is distressing, wild, it is the negation of life itself. I often think about earthly and heavenly matters but most of the time I get lost in the enigmatic labyrinth of my thoughts; fortunately, I find solace in music. It reminds me of good old Tim. An artist, as you well know, who did not receive the deserved merits and recognition during his short life. But as we know, death is a fair dispenser of glory.
And 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; and in the top right, the writing "happy/sad". Lately, I wear out my old stereo a lot with this album; and every time it's a new emotion. The total silence I strive for serves as a preamble to the first track, "Strange Feelin'", a song too beautiful to be insulted with fleeting and futile words like the wind; oh Laura, you don't know how much this song mirrors my mood:
I have a strange feeling / deep in my heart / I can't tell you what it is / but I know it won't go away / it happens every time / I give you more than I have / but now all I need is just a bit of time to sing this song / and I'm convinced we'll find a way to make this strange feeling disappear
The voice is relaxed, wonderful as always, perhaps a bit resigned; but on the other hand
...like a lid is the sky low and heavy, crushing the soul that moans in its infinite tedium, ...
... but I don't even have time to think about it as "Buzzin' Fly" starts, after all, a cheerful song, whose intent seems to be to chase away the demons of malaise; thanks to its liveliness it serves as a rightful intermezzo to take a mental break. But it is all in vain: it's the sad "Love From Room 109 At The Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway)" and "Dream Letter" that testify that illusion cannot last forever.
Tim Buckley was a genius, and only a genius like him could pull out from the magic hat "Gypsy Woman", that is, magic that surpasses reality. The consciousness starts to function again but we do not perceive it, the most hidden instincts awaken within us: here we are dancing around the fire of madness, captivated by a feeling of unmotivated happiness, a bit like that of children.
Laura, I must, however, underline that many people call these magic LSD or heroin. But the saddest thing is that they're right. Everyone knows what ended. But please, don't fall into this trap too, you who are an innocent creature, do not walk the paths of deception.
The journey ends with "Sing a Song For You". You don't know how many times I would have wanted to dedicate this song to you. Because deep down, perhaps, looking out that window, one can glimpse a beautiful sun painted on a sky that is ever more blue. We are like blind men trying to regain sight, deaf who would like to hear, mute who would like to speak, to shout; I hope that a ray of sunshine will enter one day from that window, even if just to illuminate a small corner of your gray and empty room. Hope is the last Goddess to die.
With this, I bid you farewell, and reply soon!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
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 paolofreddie
"Happy Sad is an experimental masterpiece where the sound in some cases approaches the sonorities of King Crimson."
"The folkman oscillates between joy and sadness, continuing to hope, despite knowing that sadness will prevail."
