The song begins characteristically with a sound that tugs me right back to the first time I'd heard it and wondered what exactly produced that sound for about thirty seconds before I realised how simple the answer was.
I close my eyes as if this wud help me listen better. The song starts off part-plaintive, part-despairing in Buckley's deliciously intimate voice and then, takes a fast turn for soulful longing before finally settling into aching passion and sensuousness.
And I realise how missing someone so much that their absence starts to physically hurt you can be a soul-searing sensation transmitted directly thru this breathtaking song.
I grab my iPod about ten seconds before the song ends and play it again. This time I actually listen to the lyrics.
"Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late.
Well I feel too young to hold on
Too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb and blind to see the damage that I've done.
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love I'm waiting for you."
And I realised I'd missed an emotion in the rendition the first time around. Regret, sadness, guilt?
And then it ends with Buckley gently intoning "Oh no, it's not too late." And I smile. All will be well.
The song ends and I suddenly feel the absence of this music as a real tangible loss as the iPod shuffles onward to Remy Zero's Fair. The spell is broken.
I am reminded again of the tragic circumstances of Buckley's premature death. I take a moment to imagine what songs he cud have produced had he lived longer, knowing full well that thinking that way serves no purpose.
I shake my head as if that wud help me empty it of these thoughts and turn to the page I've been neglecting for these fourteen minutes.
Remy Zero are singing "It's cold as you fade into the sun." but I'm barely listening now.
I think of Buckley again only once before the song ends. Tonight, the sun shall see its light.
