”A Satisfied Mind” by Jeff Buckley

In 1954, Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes recorded what would become one of the most covered songs of all time. Everyone from Johnny Cash to Ella Fitzgerald has put their own special spin on “A Satisfied Mind.” The song’s simple lyrics pack a lifetime of meaning into just a few stanzas.

Hayes said he started writing a song about the things his mother would tell him. One day, his father-in-law asked him who the richest man in the world was. Hayes named a few people off of the top of his head before his father-in-law interrupted him. His father-in-law said, “You’re wrong, it is the man with a satisfied mind.”

One thing’s for certain, when it comes my time, oh yeah
I’ll leave this old world oh, with a satisfied mind

One young singer who was especially taken with the song was Jeff Buckley. Buckley originally performed his cover of the classic during a 1992 radio session. What he didn’t realize was that five years later, it would be his funeral song.

As the son of folk singer Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley inherited his father’s expressive voice. Although the two were similar in looks and musical talent, they had a strained relationship. Tim was never around while Jeff was growing up, leaving his mother to raise him. When Jeff was 9, his father died of a heroin overdose at age 28.

Credit: jeffbuckley.com

Jeff’s life was similarly cut short a few decades later. In 1997, Jeff went for a swim in Wolf River Harbor. His body was found floating in the river six days later. He was 30 years old.

His death came as a shock to the music industry. Unlike his father, Jeff wasn’t riddled with drug addiction or the stereotypical demons associated with rock stardom. When he went for a swim that spring afternoon in 1997, he was sober, happy and singing Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” at the top of his lungs. No one expected him to die so young or so suddenly.

Jeff Buckley left behind his cover of “A Satisfied Mind” as comfort to his friends and loved ones. His mother, Mary Guibert, played Jeff’s cover of the song at his own funeral, the words ringing out with new meaning:

When my life is over and my time has run out
My friends and my loved ones, I will leave them, no doubt
But one thing’s for certain, when it comes my time
I’ll leave this old world, oh yeah, ooh yeah, with a satisfied mind

Read the full lyrics for “A Satisfied Mind” here, or watch the video below to listen to Jeff Buckley’s rendition of the memorial song.