One of Tim Buckley's most traditional and lovely ballads of all time, "Once I Was" was not only one of the highlights of Goodbye and Hello, but it was also utilized to great effect in the anti-Vietnam War film Coming Home. A homey, four-chord melody surrounds the harmonica in the music, and it's led by Buckley's awesome vocal. Like some of Nick Drake's songs of the early '70s, there is a cross between a salty reality and a sweet vulnerability here.
(by Matthew Greenwald, allmusic.com)