Jeff Buckley – Opened Once

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I once was open, and one with a traveling heart.
I loved this sweet guy.
Just like a fiction rushing in your riverbed,
Arise like applause in my head.
And in the half-light, where we both stand
This is the half-light, see me as I am.
Just like the ocean, always in love with the moon,
It's overflowing now, inside you.
We fly right over the minds of so many in pain
We are the smile of light that brings them rain.
In the half-light, where we both stand
In the half-light, you saw me as I am.
I am a railroad track abandoned
With the sunset forgetting I ever happened,
That I ever happened.

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Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

Track duration: 03:28

"Opened Once" as written by Buckley

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Opened Once song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Everywhere I have seen this lyrics has them different to how I feel he sings them.

    I am sure that he doesn't say "I loved this sweet guy", it sounds more like "this sweet God". Listen again you can definitely hear a "d" at the end.

    One thing's for sure is that this is an amazing song.
    Flag ChazSRon March 19, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:There's something so sad about these lyrics in particular:

    "I am the railroad track abandoned
    With the sunset forgetting I ever happened
    That I ever happened"

    The lyrics make me think that it's about coming to terms with being abandoned as a child and being accepted by whomever - lover, friend, perhaps even the parent who abandoned them - for who they truly are.
    Flag dulcamiaon October 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this text is heavily influenced by Arthur Rimbaud's "A Season in Hell" - Some of the most beautiful poetry I have ever read. Like Rimbaud Jeff uses a lot of symbols. "I loved this sweet guy..." might even refer to Paul Verlaine, Rimbaud's lover. Rimbaud left Verlaine after a terrible falling out and wrote "Une Saison en Enfer". Anyways, this is a masterpiece. I love the symbols in this song. I don't know if anyone else feel that way, but somehow I see a connection to Morning Theft, not only in terms of mood, but also in style.
    Flag Sendon November 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song like pretty much 90% of Sketches... I could listen to forever because Jeff was such an incredibly moving songwriter. It took me a while to see it, but perhaps the poem/lyrics is a persona poem of Tim Buckley, where Jeff tries to be empathetic from his father's point of view, "I loved a sweet guy..." meaning his son. And the last lines perhaps signify the pain both father and son feel now. Such a beautifully sad song.
    Flag thealmanon January 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:great translating, i cant even catch a word of what he says.
    Flag turjake2on September 06, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:such a perfect and fragile walk of bittersweetness, can't hardly bear it.
    Flag _ellieon March 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The last lines, including the sunset and the railroad track bit, are my favourite for a song, and I think that's practically fact that they are some of the best ever. "That I ever Happened....."
    Flag StandAbsolvedon March 01, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I totally think the lyrics are some of the best that go with a song. PERFECTION. I love this guy's music. This is probably one of the only songs that have ever almost forced me to cry.

    Listening to it gets a tear in my eye, and it's not because of anything in my life, but the sadness is reaised 110% by Jeff's own eventual circumstances.
    Flag StandAbsolvedon March 01, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One of the very few songs who's lyrics are just as perfect as the music. What compeles an individual to be able to create something this flawless is beyond me.
    Flag Roland Ripleyon February 23, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:So sad, so very sad. The last few lines make me want to cry, anyone who has gone through heavy emotional termoil will relate to this song.
    Flag Ammojamon January 08, 2005   Link

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