This Monday marks half a century as the death of a man whose harrowing transformation from a happy child to a man paralyzed by the deepest depression has no easy description. His slide into darkness, unable to perform even ordinary activities, was absolute.
The intensity of the agony is demonstrated by the song Black Eyed Dog, recorded half a year before his death. She calls him imploringly, transported to another world by a dog with black eyes, the personification of despair.”When I heard that, I realized that it was over. That he had reached a place where he couldn’t find his way back and neither could we,” recalls his friend in the five-hundred-page book Nick Drake: The Life, which was published in English last year by journalist Richard Morton Jack .
Nick drake quickly caught fire as a youngster playing incredibly mature, thoughtful music. He sacrificed everything for her, including his studies at cambridge University.but his three albums failed and he ended his concert career due to failure. At a time when his classmates were starting their first jobs and starting families,he moved back in with his parents.After several years of suffering,including hospitalization and electroshock treatment,he died rejected,almost forgotten.
After his death, however, sales of his records slowly grew from thousands to tens and finally hundreds of thousands. Today, his song Pink Moon has over 200 million plays on Spotify alone. In the new millennium, actor Brad Pitt narrated a radio documentary about him and Heath Ledger made a video. His song was featured in an advertisement for the Volkswagen car company. Other cover versions were created by singer Norah Jones, jazz pianist Brad Mehldau and rockers Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl. Simultaneously occurring, the interest continues: on this year’s double album, another generation pays tribute to Nick Drake, from rockers Fontaines DC to pop star Aurora. The younger ones recognize in his story current topics for their generation, from mental health to ambiguous sexual orientation.
Somewhere far away
The enigmatic Drake continues to fascinate. Even though he died in 1974, not a single video of him has survived. He never gave a proper interview. he owned the bare minimum of things. And there is no trace of his love life.
Richard morton Jack’s book, to which the singer’s 80-year-old sister Gabrielle Drake wrote the foreword, is the most complete summary of available knowledge to date. From dozens of interviews, testimonies and information unearthed in the archives, Nick Drake emerges as a lonely introvert. A tall, taciturn and shy boy who could stare fixedly at the wall for hours, but also impulsively ran away from London to Paris, where he wandered for weeks.
At one time he was addicted to marijuana and hashish, which may or may not have contributed to his downfall.He liked to dress in black and wear turtlenecks. Towards the end of his life, he communicated almost exclusively through music. “He started by playing something for me, but as he played he visibly disappeared into his own world
He had enormous talent. He learned the piano, saxophone and clarinet as a child, after which he discovered the acoustic guitar at the age of sixteen. On it, the self-taught Drake developed a distinctive playing style based on finger strumming, knowledge of alternative tunings and orientation in polyrhythms.
Even though he was influenced by guitarists such as Bert Jansch or bluesman Robert Johnson,his combination of folk,blues,jazz and elements of chamber music did not sound at all derivative. Because he had a tape recorder, he recorded his playing and listened to it immediately, thanks to which he quickly improved. In his best songs, whose complex shapes he supplemented with mysteriously suggestive lyrics, he often strummed multiple voices at once with all five fingers, from counterpoint to melody. Thanks to his massive hands, he could control the bass string with the thumb of his left hand.
Although he recorded his three albums at the turn of the 60s and 70s of the last century,politics passed him by. Through the otherworldly, he sang about melancholy, at first observed and later perhaps felt alienation or otherness. In particular, his first record Five Leaves Left from 1969 is not hopelessly dark, and perhaps thanks to the strings, the arrangement of which Drake and his classmate worked out all year, on the contrary, innocence shines through, almost like a child’s wonder.
On The Thoughts of Mary Jane, with its flute motif, he sings ambiguously about marijuana and a mysterious woman whose dreams no one can understand. The amazingly thought-out River Man in 5/4 rhythm with a dramatic shift in jazz harmony tells perhaps of disappointment in life, perhaps fear of death. And perhaps it refers to the river that the then twenty-year-old student crossed daily in Cambridge.
For some, the first album is to loaded with strings, which sound inappropriately monumental compared to Drake’s introverted speech. In any case, the record was not a success, so the label forced him to approach a rock sound on the following Bryter Layter. Only the third and last, dark record Pink Moon was recorded by himself with an acoustic guitar.
But there was no response. It didn’t help that Drake was signed to the prestigious label Island Records, which supported him for the rest of his life. That Richard Thompson from the popular folk-rock band Fairport Convention performed on his first album, part of the second album was produced by John Cale from the famous Velvet Underground, and Elton John sang a few of his songs during Drake’s lifetime. He wasn’t interested anyway.
The label didn’t know how to deal with him.”We didn’t promote Nick much.Its a fact that we didn’t even release a single for him,” admits the sales manager at the time, david Betteridge, in the book. Stores had no reason to display a record by an unknown musician. But at the same time, Drake didn’t give interviews, he didn’t like to play on the radio and he wasn’t good at concerts either.
According to eyewitnesses, he always just arrived on stage, did not greet the audience, sat down and without a word began to play for himself. He refused to entertain people or make eye contact with them. He relied on mesmerizing them with his virtuosity, but his songs probably sounded similar to many, he did not have a stunning voice in the classical sense of the word, and he retuned the instrument for a long time after each composition. “They sent him to play in a factory or a pub, but there they were all shouting, drinking, clinking glasses and not listening to him at all. The one time he told us, he laughed, but I think he was terribly disappointed,” his mother Molly recalled.
A concert career of about thirty appearances lasted from September 1969 to August 1970, when he stopped mid-song, left the stage with a “frightened look on his face” and called his record label to say he was quitting.His music would have a hard time even today, but back then he was in a time that particularly favored loud rock. “He was terribly apologetic for letting us down. He was devastated and embarrassed,” recalls Joe Boyd, producer of the first two records.
Also, according to a book biography published in 1999 by Patrick Humphries, rejection from listeners contributed to Drake’s condition.
The diary that the father kept about his son’s mental state gives a painful report. And from which it follows how he gradually stopped talking, lifting his eyes from the ground, changing his clothes or getting out of bed. As he fell into manic states and outbursts of aggression, he suddenly enlisted in the army or wanted to start working in a bank and IT, only to change his mind after a while. During repeated hospitalizations in a psychiatric hospital, doctors suspected schizophrenia. At one point, according to friends, Nick Drake lost the ability to sing and play guitar at the same time, which he always managed without problems in challenging odd rhythms.
In the last year of his life, he told his father that “he is done, and the sooner it comes, the better”. A few months before his death, he was last in the studio, where he recorded only a few older songs, including black eyed Dog. the combination of drake’s innocent falsetto and an unusual guitar accompaniment working with so-called flagolet tones contributes to its terrifying impact.
He was plagued by creative block. He took every invitation from the publishing house or friends to record something as evidence of failure and loss of talent. When he ceremoniously burned his older guitars in the garden, he was probably showing that everything he derived his identity from inside him was dying. And once he lost the ability to express his pain through music, he rapidly declined until he overdosed on anti-depressants and died.
“Like most mental illnesses, his was grim, repetitive and relentless. It cruelly deprived him of his muse.It brought despair to him and lifelong sorrow to all his loved ones,” the nurse summarizes in last year’s book. Its last two hundred or so pages dispel the idea that anyone could have helped Nick Drake. “I didn’t know what else to do for him,” Chris Blackwell, head of Island Records, also shrugs.
But there is no reason to remember Nick Drake with suicide songs,when you can play,for example,the beautifully strummed,melancholic Joey about a strange girl from another world. And anyway, there is no reason to remember only the tragic ending.The book also captures moments when he was probably happy: when, after finishing high school, his classmates go on a road trip through France. they sleep under the stars, hang out on beaches, read Oscar Wilde and sit up late into the night by the fire where Nick Drake plays guitar.
From a similar time comes his preserved monologue, a tape-recorded speech of a teenager who came home from a party at night, sat down at the piano drunk, started playing and “I felt so good at the piano, just playing and singing”. An honest confession that Nick Drake was best alone with music.
– What were the main themes in Nick Drake’s music that resonate with listeners today?
Engaging Interview: The Timeless Tragedy of Nick Drake
Time.news Editor: Welcome to our special edition! Today, we’re exploring the life and lasting impact of Nick Drake, an enigmatic figure in music history who, despite having left us over four decades ago, continues to resonate with audiences today. Joining us is Richard morton Jack, the author of Nick Drake: The Life. Richard, thank you for being here.
Richard Morton Jack: Thank you for having me! It’s a pleasure to discuss Nick’s life and music.
Time.news Editor: Let’s start with the poignant change Nick underwent throughout his life. From a gifted young musician to someone consumed by depression, how did his early experiences shape his artistic expression?
Richard Morton Jack: Absolutely. Nick was incredibly talented from a young age, learning various instruments and showcasing a profound ability to create thought-provoking music.However,as his mental health deteriorated,that early talent became intertwined with his struggles. His lyrics and melodies reflect not just introspection but also a deep sense of alienation and despair. For many, music became his only bridge to the outside world.
Time.news Editor: You mention his struggle with mental health,which is such a relevant topic today. How do you think his story resonates with younger generations facing similar issues?
Richard Morton Jack: It’s striking to see how Nick’s journey, filled with themes of mental health and identity, connects with today’s youth. Many find solace in his music,as it speaks to feelings of isolation and the search for understanding. In today’s world,were conversations about mental health are more open,Nick’s story provides a kind of validation and recognition for those grappling with similar challenges.
Time.news Editor: That’s interesting. Despite his profound impact on music, he was largely unappreciated during his lifetime. How did that lack of recognition affect his work and legacy?
Richard Morton Jack: It’s tragic, really. Nick recorded three albums, but at the time, they went largely unnoticed. He was a unique artist with a distinct style, yet he was never given the proper promotion—primarily as he was introverted and largely refused to conform to the expectations of a performing artist. Ironically, it was only after his death that his work began to resonate with a broader audience, leading to the cult status he enjoys today.
Time.news Editor: speaking of his unique style, he combined various musical elements. What set his sound apart from his contemporaries?
Richard Morton Jack: nick had an exceptional ability to blend folk, blues, jazz, and even elements of chamber music. His fingerpicking technique and innovative use of alternate tunings made his guitar work incredibly distinctive. Even if he was influenced by other musicians, such as Bert Jansch and Robert Johnson, Nick created something entirely his own—timeless compositions that continue to inspire countless artists today.
Time.news editor: His most famous song, “Pink Moon,” has seen an astonishing resurgence online—over 200 million plays on Spotify alone. What do you believe fuels this renewed interest in his music?
Richard Morton jack: The haunting beauty of “Pink Moon” captures the bittersweet essence of life and loneliness. The song’s ethereal quality minimizes the need for a narrative; it evokes a feeling that transcends time. Furthermore, it has featured in various media, attracting new listeners. Artists like Norah Jones and Eddie Vedder covering his work also contribute to keeping his spirit alive while introducing him to new generations.
Time.news Editor: In your book, you delve deeply into the man behind the music. What surprised you most during your research about Nick’s personal life?
Richard Morton Jack: One of the most compelling aspects was how little we know about him on a personal level. He was an introvert who preferred to communicate through music rather than spoken words. His friendships, particularly with those who stood by him despite his struggles, illuminate a different side of his life that was frequently enough shrouded in mystery. The fact that he owned so little and that not a single video of him exists makes him all the more enigmatic.
Time.news Editor: Nick Drake remains a symbol of tragic brilliance. What is your hope for how readers will engage with his story and music after reading your work?
Richard Morton Jack: I hope readers will come away with a deeper understanding of Nick not just as an artist but as a person. His story is a reminder of the importance of empathy and awareness regarding mental health. I hope more people discover his music, allowing them to find solace in his haunting melodies and understanding in his poignant lyrics.
Time.news Editor: Richard, thank you for this insightful conversation. Nick Drake’s life is indeed a profound narrative of beauty,struggle,and resilience that will continue to inspire generations to come.
richard Morton Jack: Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure to discuss Nick’s legacy.