Grace

Here's what Jeff about Grace during a 1994 interview: "It's about not fearing death, or fearing any of those countless slings and arrows that you suffer sometimes on this earth, because somebody loves you. You're not afraid to go, you're not afraid to withstand what you need to withstand because there's a tremendous fuel that you feel regenerating inside because of someone else's love for you. That's what Grace is about. And it's just about life sometimes being so long. At the time I was anticipating leaving Los Angelos for New York. So I was waiting to go. I'm not afraid to go, I'm not afraid to die, I'm not afraid to go away from this place or from any place but it just goes so slow. And I had somebody who loved me in New York. A lot. And it was amazing. It still is."

Jeff said this song was about "not feeling so bad about your own mortality, when you've found true love"

I think the fire is maybe what you could call the torment of existence, the continuous struggle to understand and rationalise one's own existence and being. I think in this song JB is saying that he has come to accept that the struggle cannot be won against death in the end - not that he necessarily wants to die, but more that he is no longer afraid to give in to the ultimate enigma of death, the extinguishing of the 'fire' of existence - "I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow."

Not at all negative in my opinion. Perhaps a little spooky in conjunction with his young death.

The line "wait in the fire" is a very Sufi idea, which shouldn't be surprising considering Buckley's love of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (according to wikipedia). Rumi, the most famous Islamic mystic, made this summary of his life, "And the result is not more than these three words: I burnt, and burnt, and burnt." The Sufis often say that their love for God is like a fire that cleanses the soul, burning away everything that is not God. And as the Sufi practices fine patience in the midst of this fire, the greater their ecstasy and nearness to God. Also, the miracle of love can't come from the lover, but enters from outside the lover, the lover being completely powerless, hence it's an act of grace that purifies and saves. It's such a beautiful idea put into an incredibly beautiful song.

In Buckley's words, "It's about not feeling so bad about your own mortality when you have true love."

what the hell!?! I also love Jeff and feel sorrow from his death, but HE WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN!!! Because he fucking rocked when we was alive and he still rocks when he's dead.

from wikipedia:

" Written about when he moved from L.A. to New York to live with someone he loved, it is about not being afraid of what lies ahead in your life, and taking that leap, in his own words from Live at Sin-é (Legacy Edition), "(It's about) not feeling so bad about your own mortality when you have true love". "

The album "Grace" came out in 1994, Jeff died in 1997. Look at the lyrics! "Well it's my time coming, i'm not afraid to die" and "And the rain is falling and i believe, My time has come. It reminds me of the pain I might leave, Leave behind" Just a coincidence? I can't help, or stop, being stunned by this. Somehow, though his death was an accident, he knew, he KNEW he was going to die. The time-gap is quite big, some people might say... But look at the lyrics again; "I'm not afraid to go but it goes so slow"

I don't really know what to say. It's just... Ah, anyways, Jeff was a genius. A true genius.

Jess Buckley is, was and always will be a genius and a god in my eyes, hes truly unique and will never EVER be forgotten. This song just sums his music up perfectly

"Grace" Is a masterpiece