Pink Moon (Nick Drake)

British singer/songwriter Nicholas Rodney, "Nick Drake", is hands down one of the greatest musicians of all time. I will do my best to express in words just how incredible his music is, but ultimately you'll have to listen to find out for yourself. Only recorded three albums in his short life, Nick Drake's melancholy acoustic arrangements exemplified his simple, yet troubled life. His voice is haunting and beyond his years. In fact, the first time I heard him I thought he was a present artist (not one from the late sixties/early seventies). To me, his music teaches us how to slow down the rhythm of the world, pay attention to little things, colors, sounds, trees, tiny animals...everything that people tend to forget. He was an extremely shy person who probably could put Jesus to shame with his modesty and humbleness. However, despite being a shy and introspective individual, he rarely failed to leave a lasting impression on people. He goes deep into feelings but without sticky sentimentalism, asks some questions to life but without being aridly philosophical. He was a man who went deep into life, until it became too much, and the yearning for a better further place became too strong. Severe depression and insomnia lead to his unfortunate overdose of sleeping pills in 1974 (age 26).

This is my favorite picture of Nick Drake. I think I want it blown up in my room back in New Orleans. This photo, in my opinion, represents him the best. Paul Wheeler, friend of Nick, stated that "Your first impression of Nick was of incredible elegance. Only later would you notice his shabby lace-up shoes and ill-fitting jacket." In this photo the natural woods, guitar, book and especially his back turned away all encompass him and his music. When Nick would record, he would face the wall as to avoid glares from people watching. In fact, he only rarely performed live. There are hardly any photos of him, no footage other than of him as a young kid, and because of his introversion, interviews were hard to come by. This is what fuels his cult following. People who hear his music and learn his story want to engulf themselves in everything Nick Drake, but unfortunately they come to a dead end. At some point, his fans can look no further. I've currently hit this end, but his music still leaves much to be understood.


Nick Drake finally received the acclaim he deserved in 2000 when Volkswagen licensed the song "Pink Moon" for a U.S. commercial, leading to a large increase in record sales. I love this commercial not only because it uses a Nick Drake song, but because of the message behind the video. The commercial is basically selling the song because everything the song is about, is what the commercial is preaching. A group of kids drive in the night, roof down, enjoying the moon and as they drive up to the party, they realize they'd rather just go away somewhere quieter in the night.






Five Leaves Left (1969) was the first studio album of Nick Drake. Similar to his second album, but unlike his final album, accompanied orchestrations can be heard throughout. You can't fake these emotions; every poignant lyric, every aching guitar chord, and every weeping cello proclaim that this is the voice of a troubled and self-critical soul. This took him over a year to put it all together. "Cello Song" was covered by The Books (a great band that I will discuss in future posts) for the brilliant compilation album Dark Was The Night. I'm really struggling on how to describe this album. Just listen.




Bryter Layter(1970) is Nick Drake's sophomore album. "With a voice paradoxically feather-light and grave, [one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded." (Alternative Press 2001). Personally, though this album has some of my favorite Nick Drake songs, overall - I prefer his more acoustic works. One of my favorite lyrics is "Stay indoors beneath the floors, talk with neighbors only; the games you play make people say you're either weird or lonely...". Most people should recognize "One of These Things First" as it was featured on the Garden State soundtrack.



Pink Moon (1972) was Nick Drake's final studio album. Some people call this album an "English version of Robert Johnson's blues" - Not only do I love that comparison, but I couldn't agree more. This is my favorite studio album of his because it's simply just Nick and his guitar (with some piano sprinkled in here and there). The result is a bleak testament to melancholy and alienation that has a haunting and pristine beauty. The title track "Pink Moon" is a beautiful folk ballad, performed with just Drake's acoustic guitar playing and haunting vocals. Throughout the album you notice the depth of his lyrics and his guitar playing. Drake intended "Pink Moon" to be his final album, saying he had nothing left to record. When you lose yourself listening to these songs, you can actually convince yourself that this was true. The whole album is only 29 minutes, but that's all it takes. Nick Drake didn't need many words or songs to tell his story.



Made To Love Magic was an album released in 2004 of Drake's rare and unheard tracks. This was the first Nick Drake album I ever owned and contains the very first song that made me fall in love with his music. On the infamous mix cd that a friend of mine made for me a year or so ago, he put "Rider On The Wheel" on it. After that, I was hooked.


Heath Ledger/Nick Drake Connection

After the startling death of Heath Ledger, home-made videos of Heath Ledger became to reach the public eye. One of which featured usage of the song "Black Eyed Dog" by Nick Drake. In 2007, Ledger told the Venice Film Festival press conference "I was obsessed with Nick Drake's story and his music and I pursued it for a while and I still have hopes to tell his story one day. But it kind of died away, faded away, because I...He was a very mysterious figure and I felt like I would be taking too many liberties". The video was taken off of youtube, but this is all I could find from it: Heath Ledger Nick Drake video. The connection between the Drake and Ledger augmented when Ledger died almost the exact same way as Drake around the exact same age.


I have a list of certain unusual things I'd like to see/do before I bite the dust. In my top five things to do, one of them is to attend the Annual Nick Drake Gathering held every year in Tanworth-in-Arden (Drake's hometown and burial ground). Musicians from all over come and cover Nick Drake songs in his hometown. I've only heard one Nick Drake cover (The Books cover of "Cello Song"), but I'm sure the Drake organization is very picky about who they ask to pay tribute. Anyways, there's my little introduction into Nick Drake. I hope you take the time to listen to him, he really is unlike any other musician. I wish I could've met him.