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{{Infobox song
This is the first track on the posthumous [[Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk]] album release by [[Jeff Buckley]].
| name = The Sky Is a Landfill
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = [[Jeff Buckley]]
| album = [[Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk]]
| released = May 26th, 1998
| format =
| recorded = 1996, 1997
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = [[Alternative rock]]
| length = 5:09
| label = [[Sony Music]]/[[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer = Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe
| producer = [[Tom Verlaine]]
}}


"'''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 (Jeff Buckley song)|So Real]]". Heavy, rocky and discordant, the track has a different tone from many of Buckley's songs from his debut album ''[[Grace (Jeff Buckley album)|Grace]]''.<ref name="PF">{{citation | title=So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley|last=LeMay|first=Matt|publisher=[[Pitchfork Media]]|date=29 May 2007|accessdate=13 Jan 2012|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/10266-so-real-songs-from-jeff-buckley/}}</ref> 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.
It has a different tone to many songs from previous album "[[Grace]]", taking on a heavier, rocky tone. The lyrical content is similar to Eternal Life's: It is believed to be a social commentary on the monotony of daily life; the dronelike effect in people, who don't stop to think about the state they're in.


The song is based on journalist [[Al Giordano]]'s essay "The Medium Is the Middleman", which Buckley, a friend of Giordano's, adapted:<ref name="RS">{{citation|publisher=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=30 Aug 2001|accessdate=13 Jan 2012|title=Hot Muckraker: Al Giordano|url=http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1462/a04.html}}</ref> "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."<ref name="BP">{{citation|publisher=[[Boston Phoenix]]|title=Don't Quote Me: A conversation with Al Giordano|first=Dan|last=Kennedy|date=Apr 2001|accessdate=13 Jan 2012|url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/dont_quote_me/documents/01285285.htm}}</ref>
Among many other points, he sings of the environment, the media, the political landscape, and overall the "Machine", that he references in the last chorus.


Performance artist [[Penny Arcade (performer)|Penny Arcade]], a friend of Buckley's, had called the song his "magnum opus".<ref name="BP"/> [[The A.V. Club]] says that the song "seethes with his inimitable flair for epic drama."<ref name="AV">{{Citation|url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/jeff-buckley-sketches-for-my-sweetheart-the-drunk,18044|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091216051702/http://www.avclub.com/articles/jeff-buckley-sketches-for-my-sweetheart-the-drunk,18044/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 16, 2009|publisher=[[The A.V. Club]]|title=Jeff Buckley Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk|accessdate=13 Jan 2012|date=19 Apr 2002|last=Thompson|first=Stephen}}</ref> [[Pitchfork Media]] says "it's clear that Buckley was beginning to explore a more discordant and subversive approach",<ref name="PF" /> 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.<ref name="RS" />
The song could be viewed as an anti-establishment outcry.


== References ==
{{song-stub}}
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.jeffbuckley.com/|Jeff Buckley official website}}
* [http://www.narconews.com/themedium1.html ''The Medium is the Middleman'', Al Giordano]

{{Jeff Buckley}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sky Is a Landfill, The}}
[[Category:Jeff Buckley songs]]
[[Category:1998 songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Jeff Buckley]]
[[Category:Songs written by Michael Tighe]]

Latest revision as of 20:22, 14 November 2024

"The Sky Is a Landfill"
Song by Jeff Buckley
from the album Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
ReleasedMay 26th, 1998
Recorded1996, 1997
GenreAlternative rock
Length5:09
LabelSony Music/Columbia
Songwriter(s)Jeff Buckley, Michael Tighe
Producer(s)Tom Verlaine

"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 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]
  1. ^ a b LeMay, Matt (29 May 2007), So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley, Pitchfork Media, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
  2. ^ a b Hot Muckraker: Al Giordano, Rolling Stone, 30 Aug 2001, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
  3. ^ a b Kennedy, Dan (Apr 2001), Don't Quote Me: A conversation with Al Giordano, Boston Phoenix, retrieved 13 Jan 2012
  4. ^ 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
[edit]
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