Authored by Dale Nickey:
Nick Drake – Pink Moon (1972)
Unbearable lightness of being
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“Pink Moon” finds Nick Drake parked in a chair alone with his guitar, foretelling his untimely death at age 26. After recording two elaborately arranged albums of autumnal perfection, Nick shuffles into the studio an unkempt and closed-off lone wolf. With the exception of Drake’s piano on the opening track, the whole of Pink Moon is pure, uncut Drake with no frills or production tricks. Nick’s guitar sound could have been recorded yesterday. It’s dry, full and clear. Arpeggios as solid as a Swiss watch. The melodies and lyrics hang seductively in the air and mist away. The album documents the thoughts of a chronically depressed, borderline catatonic young man who could no longer navigate interpersonal relationships. “Things Behind The Sun” is the finest song on the album. It is existential, obtuse and paranormal all in one go. The instrumental, “Horn” is as fragile as a cut class wind chime. At a scant 31 minutes, this album can be easily digested in one sitting and is best appreciated in that manner.
Nick is poster boy for the beautiful, doomed and depressed poet in all of us. His back story raises more questions than it answers. He sold a pittance of records in his lifetime. Yet, somehow in death he has become a cult sensation and a thriving cottage industry. We have still-photos but no moving images of the man. And he gave only one brief newspaper interview in his life. He refused to tour. Nick Drake remains forever young; an exotic rainforest creature frozen in amber.
Nick Drake had the whole enchilada. Talent, leading man looks, loving supportive family, charm, intelligence and the opportunity of a Cambridge education in the liberal arts. Island Records gave him carte’ blanch to make records how and when the spirit moved him. Somehow it wasn’t enough. Nick Drake died in his bed in his parent’s home, from an overdose of antidepressants at the age of 26. He died a failed recording artist in life who would become a legend in death.
THE MUSE PATROL 