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.
Tow The Line
Nick Drake Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This night is night that we win or lose all
This time is the time that we wait for awhile
This year is the year that we wait with a smile
If you call, we will follow
If you show us we can tow the line
And now that you're here we can try make it pay
And while you were gone it was hard, it was cold
While you were gone we were time, we were old
If you call we will follow
If you show us we can tow the line
If you call we will follow
If you show us we can tow the line
The lyrics of "Tow The Line" by Nick Drake evoke a sense of hope for a better future, a brighter tomorrow. The opening lines of the song, "This day is the day that we rise or we fall, this night is the night that we win or lose all" encourages the listener to seize the moment and take control of their destiny. The lines that follow, "This time is the time that we wait for awhile, this year is the year that we wait with a smile", suggest that even though things may be difficult right now, there is a sense of optimism and anticipation for what's to come.
The chorus of the song, "If you call we will follow, if you show us we can tow the line" solidifies the message of empowerment and encouragement. It suggests that there is a leader who is willing to guide and inspire, and all that's needed is for his or her followers to heed the call and take action. The second verse further strengthens this with the lines, "And now that you're here you can show me the way, and now that you're here we can try make it pay, and while you were gone it was hard, it was cold, while you were gone we were time, we were old". This stanza alludes to the fact that when the leader is present, everything becomes a little easier, and there's renewed hope for success.
Line by Line Meaning
This day is the day that we rise or we fall
Today is the day that determines our success or failure
This night is night that we win or lose all
Tonight is when we either achieve all or nothing
This time is the time that we wait for awhile
This moment is when we patiently wait
This year is the year that we wait with a smile
This year is when we wait eagerly and positively
If you call, we will follow
If you give us direction, we will obediently follow
If you show us we can tow the line
If you demonstrate how to succeed, we can do it too
And now that you're here you can show me the way
Since you are here, you can guide me towards success
And now that you're here we can try make it pay
Since you are here, together we can try to make it profitable
And while you were gone it was hard, it was cold
During your absence, it was difficult and isolating
While you were gone we were time, we were old
During your absence, time seemed to drag on and we felt old
If you call we will follow
If you give us direction, we will obediently follow
If you show us we can tow the line
If you demonstrate how to succeed, we can do it too
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ellen Palmo
And even when it was hard for him to feel he created such a incredible song. I never felt music the way I do Nick's...it is too deep and touches my soul for real.
Hardfolk
me pasa lo mismo, la experiencia de su música es muy profunda
Nourdi Chelld
exac
Caldera Records
Remarkable talent. Even here.. at his wits end & a little number he never intended anyone to hear is still a POWER HOUSE of burgeoning burning emotion. I often imagine myself being able to go back in time & thank the man for the copious amount of pleasure he has given me & many others! Its funny how desperate his songs make you to love him, & want to worship the ground he stepped on. :'(
If anyone are collectivists, I have a pristine remaster of this classic. I never ever mess with the song; I merely bring out the tiny details of his nuances & increase the gain a little so it doesn't suffer within playlists, without sacrificing the dynamics Nick was known for. Ask me & we'll Drop Box or Email the MP3.
Jeffry Hammel
P.S. I know little about Nick's history, other than he died in his mid 20's. It makes me, too, feel that we missed out on so much more. Yes, the kind of person you'd have loved to at least say hello to. Harry Nilson was another for me, but at least Harry made his 50's. Anyhow, u say that this one of Drake's last songs. Which meant '73 or so. Any added thoughts welcomed.
Jeffry Hammel
Thanks. Just listen to the final seconds of the song... chills one to the bone. I hope someone picks up your offer. I can only play Mr. Drake on really good amps and speakers.
Modern idiot
More people need to listen to Nick Drake.
paulph12002
Tow the line was unheard for 30 years before finally being released in 2004 on the Made To Love Magic CD.
Hardfolk
This day is the day that we rise or we fall
This night is the night that we win or lose all
This time is the time that we wait for a while
This year is the year that we wait with a smile
Amazing lyrics! I love you forever Nick!
Daniel Hollingworth
He wasn't suicidal all though in a fragile state as these lyrics attests, this was his swansong not Black-eyed Dog.