Remembering Singer Jeff Buckley

England

May 28

For one year from 2007-2008, Amar traveled around the world reporting on how people from all walks of life view the United States through text and video. The following is one of a number of posts from England. For more, click here.

Manchester - Sure, Elvis, Madonna, and Puff Daddy influence world melodies, but don’t forget the musician’s musician whose haunting voice inspires far-flung others. For Paul McCartney, Chris Martin, Bono, Elton John and many others, American folk singer Jeff Buckleywas that voice.

I first heard Jeff Buckley in a friend’s basement at the age of thirteen, about to succumb to teenage angst. His voice embodied the pain and delight I’d experience through the coming years. From my first kiss to my worst fights, Jeff Buckley was there, though I never dared sing.

So when I heard Karima Francis perform his song "So Real" outside Manchester’s infamous Canal Street bar scene, you can only imagine my astonishment. In this 20-year-old I heard the mystery of Jeff Buckley’s voice, just days before the tenth anniversary of the singer's death.

Karima and I talked about Buckley’s influence on us. Like Buckley, Karima had never known her father. The man named her at birth and then vanished. She connected in more ways than one with this lonely, independent American.

And as a wanderer myself, I admired him for touring America anonymously, making music, learning from performing, and embracing the “irreplaceable luxury of failure, of risk, of surrender.” That’s courage I’d love to have.

Jeff Buckley drowned at age thirty, just as his fame was rising. But in his brief years he left enough to influence thousands of budding artists around the world. I encountered one on Canal Street without intending it, and I wonder where else I will find the legend of Jeff Buckley lurking, reawakening.

Amar Bakshi

Amar C. Bakshi is an artist who previously worked as a diplomat and journalist. In each of these roles, Amar has focused on creating intimate connections between unlikely pairings of people. As a journalist, Amar created a multimedia series for the Washington Post called How the World Sees America. For over a year he traveled solo to twelve countries creating text and video vignettes about people’s views of the United States. Amar also worked as Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and as managing editor of CNN.com’s premier international analysis site. At CNN Amar hosted a live online show called Uncommon Ground that connected people from around the world who would never otherwise meet to discuss topics of mutual interest and universal importance. Amar received his AB from Harvard University in Social Studies and Visual & Environmental Studies, a Masters in International Affairs from the John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a JD from Yale Law School. He is a Truman Scholar and Soros Fellow and has been featured in numerous media outlets including the New York Times, BBC, CNN and NPR.

Remembering Singer Jeff Buckley

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