OUGD603 - Brief 05 - Secret 7" - Research

Jeff Buckley was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan’s East Village, such as Sin-é, before gradually focusing more on his own material.

In 1997, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to resume work on a new album, however tragically died at the age of 30 on May 29, while swimming fully clothed, in the Mississippi River when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat. 

Lyrics of the song: 

Looking out the door
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water
Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so
You'll never know
Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it.
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run
Sometimes a man gets carried away,
When he feels like he should be having his fun
Much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that, really,
He has no one
So I'll wait for you and I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return,
Or, will I ever learn?
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late.
Lonely is the room the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep
That won't ever come
It's never over,
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles
When I slept so soft against her
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over,
She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
But maybe I'm just too young,
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh lover, you should've come over, yeah yeah yes
I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
Sweet lover, you should've come over
Oh, love I've waited for you
Lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late

The song is the seventh track on Jeff Buckley’s only album Grace. Inspired by the ending of his relationship with Rebecca Moore, it concerns the despondency of a young man growing older, finding that his actions represent a perspective he feels that he should have outgrown. Listening to the song gave me a number of different ideas which related to the lyrics. The main ones included ‘Hungry for your love with no way to feed it’, ‘It’s never over’, and the title of the song ‘Lover you should’ve come over.’

Researching into the era in which Jeff Buckley would have performed live also provided a good source of inspiration into the different styles of images, typography and colour palettes that were popular at that time.

When I visited the exhibition in 2016 the designs that stood out the most to me were the photographs and ones which used emojis and current imagery in their designs. This is something I will consider this year with my entry.