Lover, You Should've Come Over Lyrics
Parading in a wake of sad relations as their shoes fill up with water
And maybe i'm too young to keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so you never know
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
And much too blind to see the damage he's done
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh will I ever learn
'Cause it's not too late
Burning in the corner is the only one who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep that will never come
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's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
To keep good love from going wrong
'Cause it's not too late
And 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 well i'm waiting for you
'Cause it's not too late

This is hands down my favorite song ever written. It's like a prog-love-ballad to me. There's nothing I've heard that comes close to this song. It's completely unique. The best line for me is "a kingdom for a kiss on her shoulder." It's such an evocative line that makes you really think about what love is. It sums up the whole song for me. Love is deeper rooted than lust. It's a moment when you realise you can't live without someone. It's when you have the kind of weathered yearning and heavy sorrow that Jeff manages to convey with his voice. That's when you know you're in love. I have never felt so sad that someone I have never met has passed. What a damned musical genius he was! Love this song. RIP Jeff Buckley.
Very nice, but you omitted the part about Jeff having been incredibly sexy, much like his old man (although I suppose 27 or thereabouts is not considered old).
Very nice, but you omitted the part about Jeff having been incredibly sexy, much like his old man (although I suppose 27 or thereabouts is not considered old).
@hellofoghorn i could not agree more with you on the "a kingdom for a kiss on her shoulder." line... i was sitting in traffic in downtown Tehran yesterday listening to Jeff Buckley, and that line got my attention :)
@hellofoghorn i could not agree more with you on the "a kingdom for a kiss on her shoulder." line... i was sitting in traffic in downtown Tehran yesterday listening to Jeff Buckley, and that line got my attention :)
@hellofoghorn I agree with the line "My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder", and I believe this is probably an allusion to Richard's famous line from Shakespeare's Richard III: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" Actually, just those four superlative metaphors "My kingdom... All my riches... All my blood... She's a tear..." just so meaningful and perfectly capture those feelings.
@hellofoghorn I agree with the line "My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder", and I believe this is probably an allusion to Richard's famous line from Shakespeare's Richard III: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" Actually, just those four superlative metaphors "My kingdom... All my riches... All my blood... She's a tear..." just so meaningful and perfectly capture those feelings.

He is a tear that hangs inside my soul forever

It breaks my heart to hear it everytime, its a song by a man, about being a man, about vanity and pride, about that dull ache of pining for that one person that everybody meets that you believe is the one. And when the intensity burns both lovers....both are left drowning in a sea of regret...it hurts to hear that song it really does. Reminds me how I lost the love of my life...
I'm sorry about that :( But at least it makes the song even better and more meaningful.
I'm sorry about that :( But at least it makes the song even better and more meaningful.

This song is full of longing and regret. It’s about losing someone because of foolish mistakes you’ve made, and when all is said and done, still loving that one person. It’s the loneliness one feels now that that person is gone... wanting them, yearning for them... not being able to sleep because you can’t stop thinking about him/her. “Lover, you should’ve come over” is his way of telling her that he’ll be waiting.
I first heard this song 3.5 years ago. It's all that's left. It's all because of choice. The song is excellent and the artist even better, but the song itself is mere verbiage....hollow and w/o much meaning. All talk. No action. And apparently acceptable. I'm tied of scraps. I'm tired.
I first heard this song 3.5 years ago. It's all that's left. It's all because of choice. The song is excellent and the artist even better, but the song itself is mere verbiage....hollow and w/o much meaning. All talk. No action. And apparently acceptable. I'm tied of scraps. I'm tired.

- Stanza 1: The organ at the beginning symbolises a funeral, which Buckley is watching: "Looking out the door I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners". This seems sad, but to Buckley, all he feels sorry for is himself because of the pain left behind from a previous break-up.
- Stanza 2: We learn that Buckley's relationship ended as a result of his own disloyalty. He realises his mistakes now that he's "too old to just break free and run", and consequently he realises "really, he has no one".
- Stanza 3: He wants his ex (lover) to come over "'cause it's not too late".
- Stanza 4: Buckley creates depressing imagery, metaphorically describing his life as a lonely room with an open, inviting window. He describes his pain superlatively as "burning" and can't sleep because of it.
- Stanza 5: Buckley repeats that his pain is "never over", and he describes what he'd do to have his lover come over with four hyperbolic metaphors. "My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder" is an allusion to Shakespeare's Richard III: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" This really is, in my opinion, the most meaningful and beautiful stanza of the poem. It's also a sort-of pre-climax where he lets out his Romeo-esque thoughts before stanza 6.
- Stanza 6: The climax of the song coincides with where Buckley lets out his frustration with himself for causing the break-up, describing himself metaphorically "too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage I've done." Buckley finishes the song with the unanswered invitation, meaning that he'll never believe it's too late for his lover to come back to him, and will never get over it. The song ends with the sound of the organ, recapping the sadness from the beginning and relating the loss of a relationship to the passing of a loved one.
This structure is the reason I love this song. It's not the sort of structure that gets you hooked on the song like a 2000's/2010's pop song structure does, because unlike said pop songs, it is slightly more through-composed, meaning the music follows the nature of the poem rather than the music being basically the same for every stanza. It is in the form A-A-B-A-Coda, but the B and Coda sections are fairly long and that's really where the through-composed style of the piece shines. The A sections really just describe Jeff's sadness, and are thus suitably softly played and sparesly textured.
@Tobotimus an incredible take on my favorite Song, thank you
@Tobotimus an incredible take on my favorite Song, thank you

I wish someone like Jeff Buckley... someone as beautiful and talented, would write something like this for me one day.
@Title_Track I've been working on this for 16 years, hope you like it...."I saw you walking down the street, and I had to stop Turn up the radio and drop the top I see you look so good, and your so fine Young tender, would you be mine I get you in my car, drive you to my house Cuz I'm a mack, I cold turn you out I wont ask, and I sure won't beg Reach right over and rub your leg I let my hand slide between your miniskirt Slip a finger in your panties, straight go to work What time is it, don't watch the clock Lay back...
@Title_Track I've been working on this for 16 years, hope you like it...."I saw you walking down the street, and I had to stop Turn up the radio and drop the top I see you look so good, and your so fine Young tender, would you be mine I get you in my car, drive you to my house Cuz I'm a mack, I cold turn you out I wont ask, and I sure won't beg Reach right over and rub your leg I let my hand slide between your miniskirt Slip a finger in your panties, straight go to work What time is it, don't watch the clock Lay back baby doll and I'll rock the c__k Funky Fresh I am, and I always can, Freak Nasty I'm the man"

Such a beautiful, beautiful song.
When Jeff sings, "Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun," is he implying that he left her so he could "have fun" and drink and be a man and bed many women? Then, does he realize that that kind of lifestyle, he "awake[s] to find that really, he has no one"?
That's the way that I interpreted it... A man leaves his girlfriend for freedom, for the pursuit of all "fun" and manly things, only to find that it leaves him empty. It doesn't fill him up the way his lover did.
Is there anything I missed/misinterpreted?

He's regretting being so immatureand probably wrote about it 'cos the guilt was eating him up, I love the beginning of the song, where he describes a funeral and then he changes the subject and moves onto how he's feelin' bad about hurting some chick's feelings, like he doesn't give a s**t! Yeh, I love this track!!!!

What a great song.
To me, it's about denying closure. He is expressing how much he needs this person, knowing in the back of his mind that she isn't going to come back due to the excessive amount of mistakes he made in the past. But he feels some form of comfort knowing that there is that small possibility, so he waits and waits.
I can really feel this song after a breakup. It hurts yet it's comforting at the same time.

i feel like he's singing about his loss, not of a relationship he had that has ended, but the loss of a relationship that never began. he regrets missing the opportunity, the potential of being with this person. and all the "it's never over/it's not too late" is him hoping, trying to believe that maybe there's still a chance.
I sympathize completely.
I sympathize completely.
I don't know if that is what Jeff Buckley meant with this beautiful song, but it's exactly what it means to me.
I don't know if that is what Jeff Buckley meant with this beautiful song, but it's exactly what it means to me.
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
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
The man was a genius, and puts into words what I feel far better than I ever could. Sucks to feel this way about someone who doesn't feel the...
The man was a genius, and puts into words what I feel far better than I ever could. Sucks to feel this way about someone who doesn't feel the same way about you.