Although he recorded only three albums, critics and fellow musicians hold his work in very high esteem. Drake failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime and had a strong aversion to performing. Since his death, however, Drake's music has gained a significant cult following.
Drake's father worked as an engineer. Although he was born in Rangoon, Burma, Nick's family moved back to England soon afterward, and Drake was brought up in Tanworth-in-Arden, a small village in the English county of Warwickshire. He went to public school at Marlborough College, where he learned to play the clarinet and piano. As a young adult, Drake enrolled in Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, to study English. His older sister, Gabrielle Drake, is an actress.
Drake was a fan of British and the emerging American folk music scene, including artists Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. While a university student, Drake began performing in local clubs and coffee houses. He was discovered by Ashley Hutchings, the bass player of the folk rock group Fairport Convention. Hutchings introduced Drake to the other members of Fairport Convention, folk singer John Martyn and producer Joe Boyd.
He delayed attendance to spend six months at the University of Aix-Marseille, France, beginning in February 1967. While in Aix, he began to practice guitar in earnest and to earn money would often busk with friends in the town centre. Drake began to smoke cannabis, and that spring he traveled with friends to Morocco, because, according to traveling companion Richard Charkin, "that was where you got the best pot". Drake's associates convinced Island Records to sign the young singer-songwriter to a three-album contract. Drake began recording his debut album Five Leaves Left later in 1968, with Boyd assuming the role of producer. The sessions took place in Sound Techniques studio, London, with Drake skipping lectures to travel by train to the capital. At the age of twenty, he released his first album Five Leaves Left (1969), which featured a chamber music quartet on several songs and had a light, breezy sound. Drake's second album Bryter Layter (1970) introduced a more upbeat, jazzier sound, with keyboards, horns and several brass instruments. Both albums were produced by Boyd and featured several members of Fairport Convention.
Many accounts of Drake focus on his mythology, but a large part of his enduring popularity is due to his meticulous songwriting, prosody, odd guitar tunings and lyricism.
Drake was pathologically shy and resented touring. The few concerts he did play were usually in support of other British folk acts of the time, such as Fairport Convention or John Martyn and were often brief and awkward. Partially because of this, his work received little attention and sold poorly. Whilst in the recording studio, he was so shy that he'd always play into the wall so as to avoid people's gazes.
Severely depressed and doubting his abilities as a musician, Drake recorded his final album Pink Moon (1972) in two two-hour sessions, both starting at midnight. The songs of Pink Moon were short (the album consists of eleven of them and lasts only 28 minutes) and emotionally bleak. Drake recorded them unaccompanied, in the presence of only a sound engineer (a piano was later overdubbed on the title track). Naked and sincere, it is widely thought to be his best work.
At this point, he considered other careers including the army and computer programming, but more suitably as a songwriter for other artists. However, none of Drake's plans materialized. In the next few months, Drake grew severely depressed and maintained relationships only with close friends such as John Martyn, who wrote the title song of his 1973 album Solid Air for and about Drake and with Sophia Ryde. He was hospitalized several times and lived with Hardy for a few months. Friends from that time have described how much his appearance changed: his nails grown, his hair and frame gaunt and thin.
In 1974, Drake felt well enough to write and record a few new songs. However, on November 25, he died of an overdose of antidepressants. The coroner concluded that the cause of Drake's death was suicide, although this was disputed by friends and relatives. Antidepressants of that time were quite lethal if ingested in any higher dosage than the one prescribed. His mother recounts that he must have had difficulty sleeping and had got up in the night to have a bowl of cornflakes. It's unclear whether he took more pills to help him sleep or to take his own life.
His simple gravestone in the Tanworth churchyard bears the line "And now we rise/And we are everywhere", taken from From the Morning - the last song on the last album Nick lived to complete.
Posthumous popularity
Since Drake’s death, his music has grown steadily in popularity. Several modern musicians, such as Lucinda Williams, Badly Drawn Boy, Matthew Good, Sebadoh's Lou Barlow, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, Blur’s Graham Coxon, and Belle and Sebastian, consider Drake an important influence. In early 1999, BBC2 aired a 40-minute Nick Drake documentary, "A Stranger Among Us — In Search of Nick Drake", as part of its Picture This strand. The following year saw the release of a documentary by Dutch director Jeroen Berkvens, titled A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake and featuring interviews with Joe Boyd, Gabrielle Drake, audio engineer John Wood, and arranger Robert Kirby. Brad Pitt is a fan of Drake and, in 2004, he narrated a BBC radio documentary about the singer.
Island has responded to Drake’s popularity with several new releases including Time of No Reply (1986), an album of unreleased material including four new songs recorded in 1974, Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake (1994), a "best of" album, remastered HDCD releases of his three studio albums in 2000, and Made to Love Magic (2004), featuring one new track and some newly recorded orchestration for a previously released track. A replacement for Way to Blue called A Treasury was also released in 2004 on Hybrid-SACD.
In 2000, Volkswagen licensed the track Pink Moon, the title track from Nick's third release, for a particularly serene car commercial in the US. The advertisement caused a significant bounce in Drake’s popularity, bolstered by uses of Drake's music on a number of film soundtracks, including 1998's Hideous Kinky and Practical Magic (featuring "Road" from Pink Moon and "Black Eyed Dog" from Time of No Reply, respectively). In 2001, two Bryter Layter tracks appeared in mainstream films: "Northern Sky" in Serendipity, and "Fly" in The Royal Tenenbaums. In the same year, "Cello Song" from Five Leaves Left was featured in Me Without You. In 2004, "One of These Things First" appeared in Garden State and "Northern Sky" was featured again, this time in Fever Pitch.
Drake's "River Man" has become quite popular among Jazz musicians. A piano improvisation based on the melody was released by Brad Mehldau on the album "Progression: Art Of The Trio, Volume 5", and a Jazz vocal version by Claire Martin appears on the album Take My Heart.
Drake's posthumous popularity has made many fans consider the lyrics to "Fruit Tree" a song from Five Leaves Left prophetic: “Fame is but a fruit tree / So very unsound. / It can never flourish / Till its stock is in the ground. / So men of fame / Can never find a way / Till time has flown / Far from their dying day.” In 2004 two of his singles reached low positions in the UK charts - "Magic" and "River Man".
Most recently, Nick Drake has emerged as a key influence in the resurgence of 1960's and 1970's folk traditions, apparent in the works of artists including Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Six Organs of Admittance.
In 2005, performer Beck updated his website during Christmas time with covers of three songs from Pink Moon: "Pink Moon", "Which Will" and "Parasite."
Family Tree, the next Bryter Music/Island record was released in July 2007.
Don't Think Twice It's All Right
Nick Drake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It don't matter anyhow
And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don't know by now
When the rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I'll be gone
You're the reason I'm travelling on
Don't think twice it's all right
Well it ain't no use in turning on your light, babe
Light I've never known
Ain't no use in turning on the light, babe
I'm on the dark side of the road
Wish there was something you could do or say
Something to make me change my mind and stay
We never did too much talking anyway
Don't think twice, it's all right
And it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
Like you've never done before
It ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
I can't hear you anymore
I'm thinking and a wondering, walking down that road
I once loved a woman - A child I'm told
Gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul
Don't think twice, it's all right
So long, honey-babe
Where I`m bound, I can`t tell
Goodbye is too good a word babe
I'll just say, "Fare thee well"
I ain't saying you treated me unkind
You could've done better, but I don't mind
You just kind of wasted my precious time
Don't think twice, it's all right
In the song "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right," Nick Drake explores themes of acceptance, letting go, and moving forward after a failed relationship. The singer acknowledges that there is no point in dwelling on the reasons for the breakup and the pain caused. He tells his former lover that it doesn't matter anymore and there is no need for them to question why things didn't work out. He paints a picture of leaving town, emphasizing that he is not going to waste any more time on analyzing what went wrong, as he wants to move on and find a new path in life.
The lyrics suggest that the singer is in a dark and uncertain place emotionally. He mentions being on the "dark side of the road" and feeling a sense of ambiguity and confusion. There is a desire for the other person to do or say something that would make him reconsider and stay, but deep down he understands that their relationship lacked genuine communication and connection.
In the final verse, the singer bids farewell to his former lover, admitting that although she might not have treated him well, he bears no ill feelings towards her. He acknowledges that both of them could have done better, but he won't dwell on it. He concludes by expressing that his time has been wasted, but in a way that suggests a sense of closure and acceptance.
Overall, "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" showcases Nick Drake's introspective and introspective approach to songwriting, capturing the complexities of relationships and the importance of embracing change and moving forward.
Line by Line Meaning
Well it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
There is no point in constantly pondering the reasons behind our situation, my dear
It don't matter anyhow
None of it really matters in the end
And it ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe
Continuing to question the why won't bring any answers, my dear
If you don't know by now
If you haven't figured it out by now
When the rooster crows at the break of dawn
At the first light of day, when the rooster crows
Look out your window and I'll be gone
I'll be gone, my dear, when you look out your window
You're the reason I'm travelling on
It is your actions and choices that have led me to keep moving forward
Don't think twice it's all right
Don't dwell on it, everything is okay
Well it ain't no use in turning on your light, babe
There is no point in enlightening our situation, my dear
Light I've never known
I have never known that kind of brightness
Ain't no use in turning on the light, babe
It won't make a difference to me, my dear, as I am in a dark place
I'm on the dark side of the road
I find myself on the gloomy and uncertain path
Wish there was something you could do or say
I wish there was some action or words from you
Something to make me change my mind and stay
Something that would convince me to reconsider and remain
We never did too much talking anyway
We weren't really big on communication to begin with
Don't think twice, it's all right
Don't spend too much time contemplating, everything is fine
And it ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
There is no point in calling my name, my girl
Like you've never done before
As if you've never called me before
It ain't no use in calling out my name, gal
It won't serve any purpose to keep calling me, my girl
I can't hear you anymore
I am unable to hear you any longer
I'm thinking and a wondering, walking down that road
I am lost in thoughts and contemplation as I wander down that path
I once loved a woman - A child I'm told
There was a time when I loved a woman - some say she was naive
Gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul
I gave her all my love, but she desired my very essence
Don't think twice, it's all right
Don't dwell on it, everything is okay
So long, honey-babe
Goodbye, my dear
Where I`m bound, I can't tell
I don't know where my destination is
Goodbye is too good a word babe
The word 'goodbye' seems too optimistic, my dear
I'll just say, "Fare thee well"
I'll simply bid you farewell
I ain't saying you treated me unkind
I'm not accusing you of being unkind to me
You could've done better, but I don't mind
You had the potential to do better, but it doesn't bother me
You just kind of wasted my precious time
You simply managed to squander my valuable time
Don't think twice, it's all right
Don't spend too much time contemplating, everything is fine
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@folkchild7595
When I found out about this cover I literally almost passed out because I deeply love this song and nick is just magical so yeah you can imagine
@alanhand6178
Just found it🎶🌟🎶
@simonandthelyricalpoets
I didn't know Nick Drake covered this - what a treat, thanks for sharing.
@astridvvv9662
I didn't either! Had no idea. Must be an honor for Dylan.
@DennisAnthonis
Did you know that there is absolutely no live footage of this guy anywhere? Died way too soon. RIP you tortured soul.
@paulmatschull1923
Dennis Anthonis
There is some home movies of him shot by his family but it has not been released into the public domain.
Nick was incredibly shy and gave few concerts it all adds to the mystery of him.
@marianagoncalves3082
seriously? like grown up Nick? i found it very strange that there are lots of footage from his childhood around and none of the adult life, it's incredibly sad if they do have 'em and don't share any with us :( i'd give a hand to see those
@rhwinner
Want to make a million dollars? Find a long lost video of this guy in concert....
@alexjackson5693
There is one, its a 12 second clip of him in a carnaval walking away from the camera.
@karolaina7969
@Alex Jackson it was never confirmed that it was him tho there was some footage used in a documentary filmed by a friend of Nick where he's buying records but you can only see him from the back so no footage of his face moving yet