But they did an autopsy… zero evidence of intoxication, zero drugs in his system… no narcotics, not even anti-depressants. Nothing.

Met him a few months before he passed. A band I was with at the time were looking for gigs all over New york. For some reason, he was nice to us and gave us great advice.  Didn't know who he was or that a musician until he gave me a cassette. We gave him our demo and went our separate ways. It was a shame I was so young and too self-important at the time to pick his brain. Still have that cassette, though, and hold it dear to my heart

people who grew up without a father will understand

As a suicide survivor I have no doubt that he was suicidal. It seems like he was hoping to die when he walked into the river and had fantasied about drowning there for a while. He wasn't necessary trying to kill himself but I'm pretty sure it was an intentional risk.

Grace is still in the top 5 albums for me. Totally underated musician.

He barely knew his father as a kid before Tim Buckley died. Yet people expected Jeff to be the second coming of his own absent father. Tim Buckley's story was tragic as well: Never having mainstream sucess,. the decline in the quality of his albums near the end, and his accidental overdose.

As someone who is bipolar, I can embarrassingly say that I've done nearly every erratic thing listed in this video when manic, and after the mania wore off, my mind then drifts to sad topics and the songs I write become very dark.
When I found several interviews indicating Jeff likely also had bipolar, I thought "this would explain what people said about his behaviour those last couple months... and why he was described generally so reckless" but also the poor mismanagement of his money..
I saw myself in that even before I knew I had it, but didn't know until later when I saw a few interviews with friends of his that said he had told them HE had it... One source even says he went to therapy for it... Would that be the shock treatment he was talking about? Or was that a more abstract thought?
Tom verlaine was also surprised when Jeff told him that he was bipolar... He said this to many people, including Dave Lory, and I think this should've been brought up a bit more, because bipolar can and will wreck your life (just look at Kanye... No, bipolar doesn't make you a Nazi, but he's dug himself into a pit he's never getting out of) ; what most people will assume when they see you is that you are abusing drugs severely (has happened to me 😭), but that often isn't the case with bipolar at all, and all symptoms are just a direct cause of it... It literally raises dopamine and other neurotransmitters to levels the same way a lot of drugs do, so it is essentially like a never-ending binge.... These manic episodes will typically get worse and worse the longer it goes untreated. (I'm not discrediting the evidence we do have of him taking drugs, because yeah... Cannabis is also typically not a good thing to consume if you have bipolar, because it can aggravate it)
The whole calling erratically and telling people I love them all in a short span of time is also something I'm guilty of and it was really awkward at first when the mania wore off for me, but I got kinda used to it... I actually did this just a few days ago xD but it's okay... I'm also physically disabled, so I can't actually go out and do anything stupid.
But that lovebombing is also something I am guilty of even doing to strangers and it can be really awkward...
This was a really informative & well-made video, though... Lots of things I had no idea had happened.

It has always bothered me how his assistant just let him go swimming at a place here in Memphis no one would ever dare. I've never looked into if his assistant grew up in the area. Jeffs decision to go swimming is where the Wolf River spills out into the Mississippi River. There is so much debris in the river to get caught on not to mention the strong undercurrent and every pollutant imaginable - locals know to stay away from the river ... Tragic story....

You’ve missed the bottles of ginseng that he drank on the Tuesday night after her spent time at his neighbour’s house the day after the Barristers gig and 2 days before his swim. Also that he did not seem to have any apparent sleep from Tuesday to Thursday before he went swimming. Sgt Mary Grace first at the scene. I agree with Mick’s statement regarding the distinction between Jeff actually committing suicide and the possibility of him flirting with it, perhaps only to reawaken by way of mild attempt. Jeff was also questioned by a police officer on the road near his house, for disturbing the peace, I think on the day of Tuesday before the doom of Thursday. A friend was present when he consumed the ginseng that someone gave him the night before at Barristers. There were but 3 grams of alcohol found in his body in the autopsy carried out by Jerry Francisco on that Thursday 1 week after he went swimming and just after his mother departed from the search when he was found and identified by Gene Bowan, his tour manager and friend. He was unhinged in the end, as so many geniuses operating on that spectrum are. Poor Jeff. A musical savant and an angel that will forever burn in the hearts that knew him.

Mental Illness is a monster. It's even worse when someone as talented as Jeff was self-medicating for it. James, I am in complete agreement with you. Sony could have done something to help him and sell his albums. But, they didn't. Sad.

Having worked as an AMHP (Approved Mental health Professional)in the NHS for 25 years I must congratulate you on throwing a clear light on the neglect of one of my favourite singer-songwriters. Your conclusion is spot on and I must say despite my professional experience one that I missed!

Jeff was the real deal. He had everything, great looks, amazing voice and was a superb songwriter. What often goes unnoticed is his guitar playing - he was an amazing player. He is sorely missed, Grace was and is one of my favourite albums and I often wonder what he would have done on to achieve if he was still around.

Something about fame that also hurts creative people. Being pressured to make more more more. In the past, creating was something that flowed naturally. Many other talented artists get "discovered" and boom, it goes downhill when they probably just wanted enough to live on to continue to create.
You know these record company's are notorious in bad ways.

I get the impression that he really resented the 'professional' part of being a famous musician and dealing with the industry side of things. They were prob mapping out his future career and he was disgusted at the thought of having a brand instead of being a pure artist. His fragility and need for downtime and privacy would have made the slog of touring really tough on him also.

Sony again, not surprising. There sure is a long list of talented musicians left in their wake.

I am so glad people are talking about his erratic behaviour during the run-up to his untimely death. I know the feeling.
I've always thought how odd it was he drowned wearing his clothes and his behaviour beforehand, while sober. My mother always thought it was tragic how no one looked out for him

Another point in favor of this is the similarity of John Frusciante’s solo music from his mental unraveling and introduction into heavy drug use and Jeff Buckley’s second half of work on My Sweet.
Both have haunting and detached qualities,with arguably, their deep musical intelligence still making very raw art expressing whatever grief and pain they were in those very dark moments.
That’s not even putting words up or me trying to describe it dramatically.
Personally I enjoy how deep these bodies of work and songs get but at the same time completely acknowledge their darkest works are complete artistic cries of help, almost as if they just weren’t able or didn’t know how to find a help like a regular person, both were definitely musical savants, as seen in interviews, both were initially gently detached from society in a typical musician/artist fashion but both became victims of their own talents and the peripheral issues of having such immense talent.
Victims of their own hype and success that they stirred up.
John’s journey is very well documented through a lot of different forms of media and his early music gets pretty dark.
Jeff only ever gets the beautiful and whimsical side of his vaulted stuff released so I could not imagine what dark skeletons of music remain unreleased, my ears are curious but my heart remains fearful of how haunting the potential truly is.

This was a good video. Sony sucks. You made some great points. Remember Prince?

On "opened once," the thesis statement of this entire video is "I'm a railroad track abandoned." That's a sign of feeling neglected right there

This is about the saddest a YouTube video has ever left me. Been a JB fan since '93 and this video has expressed thoughts that have nibbled at the edges of my fandom since June of '97. Denial of the obvious over the years even after reading just about everything about him. I wish he had the help he so obviously needed in the last year. Thank you for taking the time to do an in-depth and needed dissection of his spiral.