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.
Place To Be
Nick Drake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I never saw the truth hanging from the door
And now I'm older, see it face to face
And now I'm older, gotta get up, clean the place
And I was green, greener than the hill
Where flowers grow and the sun shone still
Now I'm darker than the deepest sea
And I was strong, strong in the sun
I thought I'd see when day was done
Now I'm weaker than the palest blue
Oh, so weak in this need for you
The lyrics of "Place To Be" by Nick Drake reflect the experience of growing older and facing a reality that was previously hidden. The song's opening lines refer to the singer's youth and his ignorance of certain truths that were present but not noticed. As he grew older, he was able to see and confront those truths, but doing so necessitated an effort on his part - he "gotta get up, clean the place."
The second verse speaks to the singer's emotional state. Again, in his youth, he was "green" and full of potential, but now he feels "darker than the deepest sea." He's lost some of his former vibrancy and is looking for a sense of belonging - someone to "hand me down, give me a place to be." In the third verse, the singer reflects upon his physical strength. He used to feel strong and capable, but now he is "weaker than the palest blue." His need for companionship and a place to belong feels overwhelming. The song's simple guitar melody underscores the contemplative and wistful tone of the lyrics, and the repetition of certain phrases ("now I'm older," "hand me down") amplifies the sense of longing and searching that pervades the song.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was young, younger than before
In my youth, well before now
I never saw the truth hanging from the door
I was blind to the realities that were right in front of me
And now I'm older, see it face to face
With age, I now directly behold the truth
And now I'm older, gotta get up, clean the place
Now, as an adult, I must tend to my surroundings
And I was green, greener than the hill
Inexperienced, with an idealistic view of the world
Where flowers grow and the sun shone still
A place of beauty, with life continuing unabated
Now I'm darker than the deepest sea
Presently, I am burdened with immense sorrow
Just hand me down, give me a place to be
I need someone to provide me shelter and comfort
And I was strong, strong in the sun
Once, I possessed a strength, under the warmth of light
I thought I'd see when day was done
I believed I could handle any situation that came my way
Now I'm weaker than the palest blue
However, now I am frail, barely visible like a light blue hue
Oh, so weak in this need for you
I am dependant on someone to buoy my spirits
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: Nick Drake
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@giovannibuscarini6732
When I was young, younger than before
I never saw the truth hanging from the door
And now I'm older, see it face to face
And now I'm older, gotta get up, clean the place
And I was green, greener than the hill
Where flowers grow and the sun shone still
Now I'm darker than the deepest sea
Just hand me down, give me a place to be
And I was strong, strong in the sun
I thought I'd see when day was done
Now I'm weaker than the palest blue
Oh, so weak in this need for you
@maditaylor303
My dad went to Cambridge University in the same year as nick. He had no idea who he was until i started playing his music to him. He said that nick just played guitar around the campus and no one even looked at him. He was a ghost. Incredible
@robertdegraw3551
Wow! I believe it.
@openedto
Now they know. 💚
@ZoeLateNight
I ❤️ Nick so much. Researched the “antidepressant” elavil, prescribed to alleviate his depression symptoms. However, elavil (amitriptyline) side effects can exacerbate schizophrenic symptoms. It’s posthumously supposed he suffered from schizophrenia. “Poor Boy” 😢
Anyone out there suffering whilst trying to find the Right Doctor/effective treatment, don’t settle for anything less than a Good one. It may save your Life.
God Bless You, Nick. I’ve recently seen a rare photo of your Smile and it’s Glorious ❤️ Rest in Divine Peace
@berniemaliko540
People with that much depth it's hard to live in this world
@bigyasitaula8873
Well, thanks Madi.... Every little detail about Nick's life seems like a movie!!
@KarenKayH
As soon as that guitar starts, I can feel my breathing and my heart beat slow down, and my mind get present and calm.
@tourzrap
Is not that kind of song...ffs
@KarenKayH
@@tourzrap for me it is, ffs. Music affects each listener in a unique way. Attend to your own groove.
@davidbeckey8188
Me too, Karen. Glad there are other Nick fans out there.......