Sefronia

This 1973 release was Tim Buckley's 8th and next-to-last album. It is an odd piece of work for many reasons. First, out of 11 songs, 6 were not written by Tim. This does not, however, affect the quality of the album. The material was well chosen. Second, it is an almost even mix of warm, earnest songs and downright sexy funk. He is good at both, so again, no problem. And third, some of the ideas expressed defy interpretation, or at least unambiguous interpretation."Dolphins" is one of the earnest songs, a ballad. The dolphins are a metaphor for an ideal world, as opposed to the real world which Tim feels "will never change the way it's been", and, he adds, "I only know that peace will come when all our hate is gone". This ideal world would also include a woman from the past to whom Tim sings "I wonder do you ever think of me?" Conversely, "Peanut Man", one of my favorites, is a fun R&B track in which Tim tells the peanut man (?), "Drops of perspiration Johnny/Coming over me, hey buddy/Pour another glass of cola/Pass it to me". That last line is sung in a high falsetto that is just hilarious. Returning to earnestness, "Martha" is a beautiful, bittersweet orchestral number that reminds me just a little bit of The Beatles' "Martha, My Dear": "Guess that our bein' together was never meant to be/But Martha, Martha, I love you, can't you see and...those were the days of poetry and prose/And Martha all I had was you and all you had was me". "Stone In Love" takes us back to lowdown sex-funk: "I can almost taste it...and I was born not to waste it Lord/Oh, now baby; I got midnight fever".By far, the strangest song is "Sefronia", which is actually in 2 parts, "After Asklepiades After Kafka" and "The King's Chain". What Tim was trying to convey is anybody's guess, but there are references to possible voodoo ("Sefronia shook the black cat's bone at me"), slavery and S&M ("She pried the whip out of her master's hand/And lashed at her own skin"), Africa ("...you hike in shells and feathers/Up the African beach"), and primitive sexuality ("Let me sip weakness from your dark nipples"). The instrumental arrangement for "Sefronia" takes a back seat to the unconventional, meandering vocal melody. After all this, the final track, "Sally Go Round The Roses", is tame, even though it does say, "Honey, the saddest thing in the whole wide world/Is to find your woman been with another girl", a pretty daring statement for 1973. But the mellow funk of the arrangement is rather soothing.Tim Buckley has to be the most under-appreciated musical artist who ever lived. Clearly he had limitless ideas, both musical and thematic, which he wanted to express, even at the cost of commercial failure. If he were alive in the present time, maybe life would have worked out differently for this gifted, intelligent, creative and bold singer/songwriter.

Sefronia is the only Buckley album with covers of other writers’ tunes. starting out with "Dolphins” by Fred Neil, the composer of “Everybody’s Talkin’”and Tom Waits’s “Martha” are standouts. “Stone in Love” has a great groove in the 'Greetings From L.A.'mode, and the album closes with a great version of the traditional “Sally Go ’Round the Roses”.

I discovered Tim thru his son Jeff, and was blown away on how great his father Tim was as a matter of fact I bought all 3 albums that have R&B,Funk,Soul Sound, Sefronia+Look at the Fool and Greeting's from L.A.. I made the purchase as MP3 as couldn't wait for the cd's and needed this FUNK on my ipod! I don't understand how the flower power and and Tim's so called fan base said he sold out??? If he sold his soul to FUNK then so be it this is some great nasty funk way ahead of it's freaking time. The man could sing his ass off and play guitar what a talent, i'm glad I introduced myself to Tim Buckley.

A different phase of Tim Buckley music. Most songs I really like, but certainly a bit more commercial sounding that any of his others. The Sefronia two-song parts are fantastic.

Tim u are missed. Although the folkies didn't like your new direction I did tremendously. P.S. they didn't like Dylan "plugging" in either. Get over it!

After 30+ years, this music still stands the test of time. It is original, passionate, somewhat erotic, and the quality of Buckley's voice defies comparison.

"Dolphins" opens this Tim Buckley album beautifully with the line "Sometimes I think about Saturday's child, and all about the times when we were running wild". What the? I know this song! Where have I heard this before I wonder? Wow, haha. "I've been searching for the dolphins in the sea" and the way Tim carries out the "seeeea!" sounds SO familiar. I can't figure out where I heard this before! Tim's right- this old world WON'T ever change. At least the negative part won't change. This song is a perfect example of vocal tenderness."Honey Man" opens with great guitar playing in the blues/country style. "I wish I was, I wish I was your, I wish I was your honey man!" I actually don't care for this vocal melody but I guess those who like Tim's constant experimenting would admire a song like this. I just don't care for this type of sleazy blues singing unless it's done a certain way (like for example, Mick Jagger's style which appeals to me). I feel Tim's singing strength lies in other types of music."Because of You" opens with guitar playing that would be appropriate for an early 70's detective movie that takes place late at night in the city. Tim's singing emotionally in a similar way he does on "Dolphins" which sort of reminds me of the king of rock Elvis Presley. I like this song. The line "It always seem so strong, since we made love this strong, I think it's time we tried to bring these dreams alive and drain 'em dry" is when Tim gets really emotional and the song's more interesting that way. Really good guitar playing occurring throughout this song in the background. Actually this singing style is more like Gary Puckett's."Peanut Man" (that isn't me- not a big fan of peanuts unless it's peanut butter!) has some speedy vocals. For some reason this song reminds me of Harry Nilsson's "Put the Lime in the Coconut" based on the offbeat singing style and the lyrics about coca cola ("Pass another glass of coca cola!") "I'm looking through you yes I can, and that should do you peanut man!" Nice saxophone after the verse melody. This melody is comical! "Martha" a cover of the Tom Waits song... well hey! It's pretty awesome and daring to cover a Tom Waits song don't you think? This is a VERY good cover version. Seriously maybe just as good as Wait's. It even has the same piano and dramatic orchestration so it doesn't lackanything."Quicksand" has a really catchy funky groove. Awesome singing style too. "Oh the sky is closing up above me, every time you touch me I'm like a tiger now, prowlin' in the moonlight!" The guitar does a cool thing during the line "Sometimes love takes a funny turnaround, you can make a paradise out of flat champagne". Also love the "I'm telling you love is like a quicksand, pulling me under and I wonder how deep does it go" lyrics. An awesome song for sure."I Know I'd Recognize Your Face" has female vocals. This is very typical of Carole King-like mid 70's songwriting and balladry. Great duet either way with pretty strong vocals. I could probably listen to a thousand songs just like this one and enjoy them. Only the 70's did ballads sound like this. "Stone In Love" opens with a really strange funky guitar line. I mean REALLY strange! Either way Tim makes it work and sings along to it really well. "I'm a stone in love and I can almost taste it!" Love the female "do do do" part when the pace picks up as Tim sings "We're gonna shake it on down to the bone!" Awesome guitar solo too. "Just like the sun chases the moon around, just like the fox he chases the rabbit down, well I've been wanting you woman!""Sefronia: After Asklepiades, After Kafka" shows a singing style similar to David Coverdale. Noticeably passionate vocals (maybe *too* passionate- that is if you have a problem with Tim's style of singing but I do not unless it's "Honey Man" we're talking about) and quiet orchestration. This leads into the equally soft "Sefronia: The King's Chain". Wow Tim's voice is superb on this song. The way he hits those high notes is amazing. Dark nipples? Not sure what the theme is here, but both "Sefronia's" go together well the way they start off quiet and set a mood only for Tim to release that incredible singing voice of his. "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" starts of quietly with another example of Tim's emotional vocals but it's a little repetitive with the "Sally go 'round the roses" lines. "It's been a long time since I had my way". How selfish! Just kidding. I think we all feel that way. The song picks up with handclaps and becomes better.This is a pretty awesome album actually. I'm going to go ahead and give it 5 stars in fact. I wasn't expecting this to be so good but there's really no weak points anywhere... except for "Honey Man". That's some bad honey!