Alas, I'm not one of the cool people who discovered this week's artist before the Volkswagen Cabrio commercial in 1999 that features this week's tune (apparently to his fans this is an egregious transgression). No matter--my citizenship in Coolsville was revoked many, many years ago....
Nick Drake was born in Rangoon, Burma (his father was an engineer, and eventually his family returned to their native U.K.) in 1948 and spent the first twenty years of his life bouncing around public and private schools. He bought his first guitar in 1965, began practicing regularly in 1966, and by 1969 had a record contract. Drake would release three studio albums over the course of his career, none of which sold very well, partly because of his aversion to interviews and performing live. Sadly, Drake suffered from acute depression and at the very young age of 26 died from either suicide or an accidental overdose of anti-depressants. Like Vincent Van Gogh (though obviously not nearly as successfully), Drake's legacy would grow greatly after his death, both commercially (all of his albums eventually went gold in the U.K) and critically. Artists as varied as Kate Bush, REM, the Cure, Iron and Wine, Radiohead, and Paul Weller have cited him as an influence. Drake has been inducted into the Folk Hall of Fame, and all three of his albums have been included on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.
Fun Fact #1: Way back in Friday Night Jukebox #247 I noted that the Dream Academy had written, and dedicated to him, that week's post ("Life in a Northern Town"), and that eventually Nick Drake would be featured in his own post--and voila! here it is....
"Pink Moon" was not released as a single but was the lead song on his ever so inventively named third album Pink Moon, which came out in 1972. The album did not chart in its initial release, nor after the success of the Volkswagen commercial (though sales did increase substantially).
Fun Fact #2: A pink moon occurs every April and is not named for a reddish tint (though it can occur on occasion) but for the floral growth that is beginning in the Northern Hemisphere in the spring. Contrary to some Drake fan posts, a pink moon is not foreboding, but rather is considered a sign of rebirth after the long cold winter.
"Pink Moon" lasts just a hair over two minutes. Lyrically, Drake uses less than twenty-five words, with two repeated stanzas and a simple "chorus." Instrumentally, it features Drake on acoustic guitar (Drake used numerous different tunings with his music), and about halfway through Drake adds in a stark piano (which he plays). Vocally, Drake's baritone is nothing short of haunting. Yet despite its brevity and simplicity, the song speaks volumes. What it says, exactly, I have no idea, but every time I hear it "Pink Moon" sounds better and more consequential that it did the time before. And while we rightfully mourn his all too early death, we can also give thanks that in his time here he shared such a wondrous and intoxicating song with us.
Lyric Sheet: "I saw it written and I saw it say/Pink moon is on its way/And none of you stand so tall/Pink moon gonna get you all..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Traitor
Peace,
emaycee
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