I lived in London, England during the time when Nick was recording his music and I know what the music scene was. A lot of flash. It was good flash but hard to compete with. The Faces, Led Zep, Who, Elton, Fairport Convention, Traffic, Pink Floyd, etc. A burgeoning rock and roll, folk and blues onslaught. Hendrix died, Janice died and who but who would have noticed Nick Drake. As a 14 year old American school kid adrift in a swirling world of mods, rockers and hippies I would have loved Nick Drake and his music would have been my salvation. I wish I'd known his music then. He was a man before his time and time has proved it.
This version is so real and honest. This recording was a private moment for Nick, and we get to take part of it. It moves me beyond expression to be honest.
Will anyone ever sound like this again. No. Never. He is my brother in depression and held my hand through the darkness. And still does. Like Van Gogh to see fame after his"stock is in the ground". He will always be raw and beautiful. Darkly Magical
@@Kensingtonlane You're welcome. I thought maybe you're from the US, in which case it could be a pronunciation thing. I even read a quote from Joe Boyd where he said "stalk" so you're in good company! (Mind you, Kensington Lane doesn't sound like a name an American would use. I live in Kensington, Australia. 😊)
I've been to Tanworth in Arden, at this cemetery where Nick is buried. I sat on the bench listening to this song, looking across this field and missed this man.
I'm not a spiritual man. Or a believer in magic. But, then, I think of Nick. And his music. This *is* otherworldly stuff. Absolutely transcendental. Oh, what a gift. He is everything to me. An angel.
This song always makes me weep, the longing desperation in his voice when he pleads Please , every time. It makes me feel sad for such a brilliant soul who couldn’t find peace within himself. As someone who has contemplated suicide myself you can feel the loneliness and despair in that word every time he sings it. I wish I had the chance to meet you. Rest In Peace Nick.
Hello from north wales I’m 66 now, island records had a big advert for pink moon, in the music press. I was intrigued who is this nick drake? So I bought it on cassette, got right into it back in the day! Later bought all the rest on c.d. Something I can’t explain happens, when I listen to his Stuff! And the first 6 albums by King Crimson, transports you to different place. Take care.
No matter in which state i am in my life, sad, happy, nostalgic, jelous, down... there is always a song by this "poet from the trees" that fits my mood and that my soul receives appreciatively. Nick came from the future to leave a message for us (the people of the future), and then went back to the future, forever, leaveving a few songs that help us to face life. Thank you Nick.
I relate to your insight and largely agree. He was a “ time master” in some sense … where dose the quote “ poet from the trees” come from ? I’m intrigued and it speaks to me… sort of like the way trees can 😂
The beauty of it brought tears to my eyes. With his usually steady voice, I wasn't prepared for the emotional force in this version. I'm so glad I found this version!
Beauty in this world takes many forms. Nick's poetry, musicality and sensitivity transcend the mundane and soar. Not only that, but when I play his music I feel very happy.
Love you Nick...thank you for your music. Your life meant so much more than you knew...now you can see all of the people you are helping with their depression through your music. Blessed Be.
Although, knowing about his life makes this beautiful version tough to listen to -- I feel really alive whenever I hear it. All the phony stuff of life drifts away. I feel close to him -- I know ridiculous for a 54 year old fan. I check in to Nick Drake every now and then to not get sad or run from sadness but accept it as part of my life. He's helped me so much. Miss him. Blesss you, Nick.
There are parts in the background of this recording where I am uncertain if I'm hearing the sound of Nick's fingers on the frets and strings of his guitar or if that sound is actually birds chirping and singing through a lonely window as he plays this song. I like to think it's beautiful songs of birds and that, while the rest of the world ignored his art, nature (at least) approved.
Please give me a second grace Please give me a second face I've fallen far down The first time around Now I just sit on the ground in your way Now if it's time to recompense for what's done Come, come sit down on the fence in the sun And the clouds will roll by And we'll never deny It's really too hard for to fly. Please tell me your second name Please play me your second game I've fallen so far For the people you are I just need your star for a day. So come, come ride in my my street-car by the bay For now I must know how fine you are in your way And the sea sure as I But she won't need to cry For it's really too hard for to fly.
It's a love song. He wrote beautiful love songs. Please, show me your second game. Please, tell me your second name. I've fallen far down First time around . . . So, come, come ride in my merry car by the bay. (That's very English) . . . The sea she will sigh and I will never deny It's really too hard for to fly.
If anybody struggles with mental health, you have my sympathy. I've known people succumb to it completely, it surely is the black dog. This is a beautiful song and I feel sad for Nick that he couldn't make it through.
As much as I love this to death, Cale’s viola in the studio version makes it better. It’s like the strings are dancing around the song, adding a layer of glory and grace.
This is one of the reason why in Tanworth in Arden in 2019 during the Annual gathering we gave birth to #nickdrakegreatspiritualmovement NICK IS A VERY POWERFUL SPIRIT OF LOVE..MAGIC 💜 🙏🌟🧚♀️🧿☀️🌝
The only shocking thing about this video is that 6 people gave it a thumb's down. You'd have to have your humanity gene removed not to feel something - something melancholy and wistful and beautiful and unbearably fragile - when you hear this.
This song is exactly how I felt as a teenager. It was just so hard having to study when I had my own artistic vision. I just needed to be myself so much and have the space to do that but felt so much academic pressure. I imagine he must have felt so much too going to Cambridge. I felt I just didn't want to be me because it was inconvenient. I listened to Nick Drake at that time and even reading the lyrics for one of these things first it was amazing to feel there was someone who related to how I was feeling.
wow almost doesnt sound like nick in some parts....goes to show what a hard song it is to sing...but the guitar work is unmistakable. so much emotion too...so stunning
wow he's your cousin! madness. hope you are enjoying his music. I'm so happy that my parents played it to me as I was growing up but now I've discovered it for myself and I actually don't even know what to do with the love I have for his music. It's a bit much!!
+Stephen Allan His lyrics are some of the best poetry ive ever read or heard. That's the beauty of his music. It has so much depth...that voice, that picking, those lyrics, the artistry combined is just sublime
Love and acceptance is worth giving. Life is worth holding on to. This is someone who knows. There is a world of comfort reaching outside from within. There is still a bit of good in this world too full of sin...
Yep, far better than the Cale version, where he's trying to do that lovely baroque thing he'd do on Paris 1919, which was perfect there, but spoils the tissue-delicacy of this. I like the studio version; I start welling up even before I press play on this.
Neil Kulkarni on Nick Drake: "he’s playing an acoustic guitar, but if you’re a human being you’ll realise - my god WHAT a thing he turns it into. Not simply an up and down thing of strum, or a finger picking thing of detail but the fretboard as dancefloor, the soundboard as rumpus room, a labyrinth of geometry and shadow, a rhythm section all to itself. One of the funkiest guitarists of all time... Anyone who’s ever tried to learn how to play a Nick Drake song knows that it’s not contained in the chords, or the structure. It’s contained in the unplaceable tunings, the shape of the way he leans into what he’s playing, the way his fingers, deep within themselves, are actually possessed of an almost frighteningly inhuman mechanical grace, the way he absolutely resolutely refuses to play everything he could be playing. And where a lot of musicians allow their bad cliched habits as players to inform their equally uninteresting songwriting, so Drake’s songs are always pitched in a totally unique place, somewhere between reverie and resistance, somewhere between being buffeted away by a breeze or a whim and being the heaviest blackest darkest shit you’ve ever heard in your life. There’s a private humour to Nick Drake’s songs that allows that heaviness to not hurt or become wearisome, there’s a cellular bleakness that stops it being all air and light, that slowly has his vision closing in on you, closing you down, enveloping you."
This is a beautiful version, and you can hear Nick's finger-picking more clearly here than on the album. That said, they made the right call. The John Cale viola part on the album version is incredible. I am reminded of the early version of Fairport Convention performing "A Sailor's Tale" that appears on the Richard Thompson collection Watching the Dark. It's a great version with a better guitar sound, but the final version on the Unhalfbricking album that adds Dave Swarbrick on violin is ultimately the better take, and was the right call.
pot session iQ test . try and play when head shot . my old mate would put Nick Drake on half way through a smoke. [sorts the men from the boys .] hard enough to play stone sober let alone stoked, putty fingers and drivel by me , most times. but i was a lad and new it all back then . but the FLY it's really too hard for to fly... you really got to listen to Nick stoned to really appreciate him he's no way depressing or down . his tunes are clever in a optical illusion sort of way a marvellous bloke by all accounts, and sadly missed RIP
