"The Sky Is a Landfill" is the first track on the posthumous Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk album release by Jeff Buckley. It was written by Buckley together with bandmate Michael Tighe, whom he had worked with on "So Real". Heavy, rocky and discordant, the track has a different tone from many of Buckley's songs from his debut album Grace.[1] Two live recordings, from performances at the New York's The Knitting Factory and Arlene's Grocery in 1997, can be found online and feature different lyrics.
| "The Sky Is a Landfill" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Jeff Buckley | |
| from the album Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk | |
| Released | May 26th, 1998 |
| Recorded | 1996, 1997 |
| Genre | Alternative rock |
| Length | 5:09 |
| Label | Sony Music/Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe |
| Producer(s) | Tom Verlaine |
The song is based on journalist Al Giordano's essay "The Medium Is the Middleman", which Buckley, a friend of Giordano's, adapted:[2] "He applied my critique of the media industry to the music industry, and we had the exact same conclusions," says Giordano. "The concept of the song was that the media turned the airwaves into a garbage dump."[3]
Performance artist Penny Arcade, a friend of Buckley's, had called the song his "magnum opus".[3] The A.V. Club says that the song "seethes with his inimitable flair for epic drama."[4] Pitchfork Media says "it's clear that Buckley was beginning to explore a more discordant and subversive approach",[1] and Rolling Stone notes the "explosive garage-rock theater" in the album generally, referencing the "barking vocal rage and twisted-metal guitars" of the song.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b LeMay, Matt (29 May 2007), So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley, Pitchfork Media, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
- ^ a b Hot Muckraker: Al Giordano, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug 2001, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
- ^ a b Kennedy, Dan (Apr 2001), Don't Quote Me: A conversation with Al Giordano, Boston Phoenix, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
- ^ Thompson, Stephen (19 Apr 2002), Jeff Buckley Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, The A.V. Club, archived from the original on December 16, 2009, retrieved 13 Jan 2012