“I got this strange feelin’ deep down 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’ ” and immediately we fall into its aching notes...

Tim Buckley is one of the most enigmatic and anomalous Californian singer-songwriters of the 60s; his work is characterized by a series of masterpieces of dreamy folk tied to jazz sounds exalted by an incredibly versatile voice.

Happy Sad contains six long tracks all (or almost all) played with vibraphone, congas, double bass, and guitar; the voice (warm, cold, melodic, emotional, heated) is the absolute protagonist and always remains at the forefront. The entire sound enjoys an extremely modern and restless sensitivity made of fullness and emptiness, narrated by the languor of his silky voice. In a poetic world made of soft colors and extremely profound content, his works are absolute jewels capable of crystalline compositions; especially the elegant Gypsy Woman which is eccentric, convulsive, impetuous, composed of sudden slowdowns, impossible reprises, and so much brilliance...

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....

03   Love From Room 109 at The Islander (On Pacific Coast Highway) (10:49)

04   Dream Letter (05:12)

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'.....

06   Sing a Song for You (02:39)

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Other reviews

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.


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."