Eternal Life

paffy: I disagree. If anything, he is saying "quit hiding behind your religion to justify your ugliness." Since the beginning, man has hid behind religion to justify murder, hate, and all kinds of evil. (the usual "religion to control masses" type of deal.)

Buta true "believer" would agree with the above statement. I don't know what Jeff Buckley's religous beliefs were, but the fact that he pointed this wrong out says to me he was saying "that's not what it is supposed to be about! It's about love..."

At the end of the song he says, "You better turn around and blow your kiss GOODBYE to life eternal."

"This is a song about...its an angry song. Life's too short and too complicated for people behind desks and people behind masks to be ruining other people's lives, initiating force against other people's lives on the basis of their income, their color, their class, their religious beliefs, their whatever..."

• Jeff Buckley

same, i thank jeff for his music it has changed my life. this song is the really fast pace rock song on the grace CD and i really admire it. This song has so much pain and anger in it and jeff really shows that in his voice.... i really wish jeff was still making beauitful and i just wished that when he toured australia i would have been old enough to go and see him and really appreciate his music. Ive been told there are no words to describe how good he is live, i would now kill to see him live...........

I'm not sure about everything in this song, there are a few lines, "Got my red glitter coffin man, just need one last nail" for example; where I'm not sure if they have further meaning other than their face value.

Anyway, as far as I can tell:

"Eternal life is now on my trail" Essentially saying that by Christian/Islamic (and various other major and minor religions) standards heaven is now behind him.

"Got my red glitter coffin man, just need one last nail" Not entirely sure about this line, it appears pretty self explanatory but I can't see why he says it and I'm not sure whether 'red glitter coffin' has any further meaning.

"While all these ugly gentlemen play out their foolish games" Racists, warmonger, religious extremists, arms dealers, etc. Take your pick, pretty self explanatory but see: Masters of War by Bob Dylan.

"And as your fantasies are broken in two Did you really think this bloody road would pave the way for you You better turn around and blow your kiss hello to life eternal Angel" Again, see Masters of War by Bob Dylan. Not sure about the last line but he appears to be saying say hello to Heaven, possibly talking from their perspective.

"Racist everyman, what have you done Man, you've made a killer of your unborn son Crown my fear your king at the point of a gun All I want to do is love everyone" Pretty self explanatory, where he says "Man, you've made a killer of your unborn son" I think he's saying that you're escalating the situation and that violence only leads to more violence. Similar to the verse that the line, "You put a gun in my hand and you hide from eyes" from Masters of War. The next line is talking about the use of fear and scare tactics as a method of controlling people as far as I can tell.

"There's no time for hatred, only questions What is love, where is happiness, what is life, where is peace When will i find the strength to bring me release" Word.

The last verse is pretty self explanatory, though I will say that much of the song could be seen to be a realisation of the ‘truth’, hence the change in the last line to basically say ‘you’re going to hell’. Again very similar to the last verse of Masters of War, except that song just makes me think, 'Eat a peach Bush', written nearly 50 years ago n' all.

Might well be wrong about a few of those things but that's the way it seems to me. It’s a great song.

Lnbodibic

The meaning of this song is so important to me, there are so many issues in this world, and its all because of hate. Our world is so full of anger and ignorance, stereotyping, pain and suffering, I could go on and on. Jeff asks a simple question "where is love?" thats what our search is in life, this song reminds me to love thy neighbour, to forgive, to befriend and accept everyone!!!

this song is the rage to live

Are you saying that it's about hating big business and desk jobs, mycroft? What most of us are saying is that this song is about society, the injustices of the world and hatred breeding hatred due to uninformed, ignorant parents and what everyday life is for all of us. I don't think we're blaming people like you for all of the world's troubles. But...don't act like we couldn't use a few less of your kind!;) Especially the corrupt ones.

This song is about dying and leaving the world behind for an eternal life... I dunno. Does it really matter what Jeff Buckley's lyrics mean? They're so well written and his voice is so beautiful and he's a great guitar player that his music just should NOT be questioned.

i agree with 'title track'. i like to come on here and see what jeffs fans have to say, but i dont question his music..just listen and praise it's all we need to do. He is an angel.

Just for the record, the spill from 'ListenToCKY' is just before Jeff sings Eternal Life on 'Live at Sin E'. It is an incredible version of this song. you must have that album, i can't even start saying how much i recommend it