I was fortunate enough to have popped into Les Cousins, Greek Street, London in early December 1969 with some friends. While they were drinking & chatting at the bar, I was drawn to the tall, self-absorbed musician playing a set. I sat mesmerised listening to his almost quiet reserved tunes flowing from him & his guitar, with no speaking from him between songs, while the rowdy patrons continued being absorbed in their chatter, paying scant attention to the minstrel or his tunes. In what seemed like a fleeting moment, his set was over & without any 'goodbye or see you in a short while', his spellbinding set was over & he melted into the semi darkness of the venue. I never even got to find out who he was, until I got back to Durban South Africa. And then it was 20 years later, through a casual chat while a friend 'introduced me' to Nick Drake on CD, that I recognised who I had the privilege of seeing & hearing. By then, Nick had escaped his insecurities & left the planet, almost as quietly as he did Les Cousins in December, 1969. At least I paid silent attention to his music, which many did not do at that time. And I felt blessed for doing so.😊
Such a rare and lucky experience.. From what I have read from others who frequented Les Cousins regularly, you never knew who might show up unannounced and dazzle you. I wish I was hanging out there in its heyday.
I'm not native english. But, when l listen River Man, since many years, At the end of the song, l always hear "Oh how they come go. Oh, how they come go". On some sites, the lyrics at the end of River Man are often "Oh, how they come and go..." l will need a hearing aid 🤔 ?
Thank you so much for giving Nick some spotlight! He was one of my favorite singer-songwriters back when I was in high school. His harmonic language was truly unique and special. It is a shame that he never lived to see how many people have been touched by his words and music. RIP
Thank you so much. He was a marvellously gifted musician. His tragic early death adds poignancy to his fine recorded legacy. The sad thing, as you say, is that he never knew success in his lifetime, and considered his career to have been a failure.
Every late summer, as it blends into a gray autumn, I come back to Nick Drake. His music is a season of my life. Not the happy seasons. But the deep and aching and fleeting daylight time when I feel some of his sadness and allow it to resonate in me. Happens every year.
Nick Drake changed my life when I was a depressed teenager searching for something to hold on to. I heard him the first time 30 years after he died and had an instant connection to his music. I knew I wanted to be a musician most of my life, Nick helped to confirm that for me. He’s a personal hero.
@@pamdice9633 I think you're right to say his lyrics aren't "mystical" in the way that so much pop songwriting of that era tried to sound (Lucy In the Sky, Magic Carpet Ride, 8 Miles High, and on and on.). This song's lyrics appeal to me like a poem that tells a story -- a somewhat unsettling story, in my mind anyway -- about the writer's concern for a friend looking for a reason to live. The music is just so right for it. Anyway, that's what comes out of it for me. I think it's very good as a poem. I don't expect every song of his to hold up like this one.
He is one of those artists that when you first hear him, he is so unique you don't know what to think at first. But, after digesting his music, you realise how much of a genius he was.
River Man was a track on one of those early 2000s Chill magazine compilations. That one track sent me on a Nick Drake rabbit hole. Mesmerising and beautiful.
Nick’s music is the theme of sadness in young adulthood, when it is desperate, beautiful, encompassing, so deep that you can drown in it. He never swam towards the light. He was in too deep. There is distinct beauty in tragedy that Nick knew so very well
A friend of mine in 1991, handed me Nick Drake’s Island Records Best of while we were shopping in Tower Records one day. He put it in my hands and said “just shut up, and buy this, you’ll thank me”. I laughed it off, put the CD back in the rack and started to walk away, then on impulse went back for it. So very glad I did. My 21 year old now in 2024 has discovered Nick and loves him as much as I do and it just reminds me how timeless and beautiful the young man’s music truly was. I truly hope he knows how deeply the world has come to love him in the years since he left us.
Why did I just hear this unbelievably beautiful song for the first time in my life, having had to wait for 56 damn years!!! This song, his music could have been a life changing experience if I would’ve heard it when I was still a teenager. 😢🧡🧡🧡
I always wondered what could have been if Nick had overcame his demons....A profound loss to the world when he passed so young. His music is like no other...Dreamlike ...ethereal and sublime.
I discovered his music only a year ago. When I heard it for the first time, it was instant fascination. Last night I was listening to Nick Drake again while playing on the playstation and my son (15) came sitting next to me on the couch to watch me play. He then payed attention to the music and told me "That music is beautiful, mum". I was so happy he could recognize good music. And Yes it is. Beautiful and complex. It's unique and timeless.
@@kelvinmachado8427 Cool, and he was the one playing the guitar? I've spent several hours over several days trying to get it right and couldn't do it reliably. But I guess I shouldn't doubt that he was able to, unless I see hard evidence to the contrary. One has to assume he would gig with one of his more popular songs and would need to play it perfectly.
Self-taught and an unrecognized musical genius during his short and tragic life. What is fitting are the many famous artists that pay tribute to his work, and how it influenced there careers.
I discovered nick drake when some car company was using Pink Moon for a commercial. It sent me on a search, and i was not disappointed. So many beautiful melodies haunting but not morose. Diving into personal pain, but not without perspective. Universal but not taking itself too seriously. Wild and also disciplined- musically.
This is one of the most emotive and beautifully dark songs ever written. And certainly in my top ten of favourite songs ever! Played in 5/4 (although it sounds perfectly natural), Nick's sparse guitar style and haunting lyrics and vocal delivery paints a bleak image of folk desperation.... But, it's those strings which wrench at the soul.... taking the listener on an even darker course.... along the river, to the river man. 🥰
I came across this track only a few months ago and was stunned by its perfection. I couldn't understand how I'd never heard it before. I was there in 1969. I now have all 3 of Nick's albums and I'm nearing the end of Nick Drake - The Life, the excellent 576-page book by Richard Morton Jack. I never tire of listening to his music. In fact, it gets better the more I do. I just wish I hadn't had to wait 55 years to discover it.
“Thank You” for mentioning this book about Nick as I’d had no idea one had been written. Nick Drake is in a category all his own. There is nobody that can close to him. I do he knows how much we genuinely love him wherever he is now.
I heard first time ND in 1980 in a Radio Nightline (non stop music) of my favourite Rock Station (Mondoradio from Scandiano, Italy), I was 14 and a young guitar player. The song was exactly River Man. Every night I was sleeping with a little transistor radio under the pillow, listening to the nightlines of Mondoradio. The good music made a mix with my dreams. Never heard a mesmerizing music like that. This was one of the moments i'll remember forever. ND entered deep in my soul. Now I'm 58, still guitar player and Nick drake is a fixed point in my life and in my music.
My year of discovery was 2006. I was 20, my first date was in July. Back in late June I bought The Madcap Laughs (Syd Barrett), Piper at The Gates of Dawn (Barrett/early Floyd) and Five Leaves Left (Nick Drake). I would discover The Who a year later, but the two punch Syd/Nick combination was pretty much the greatest musical discovery moment of my life. And when Syd died, some weeks after, I reverted to Nick. Still believe Man in a Shed is the one underrated piece of music of the past 100 years.
Such a beautiful presentation of one of the most exquisite and haunting compositions I've ever heard. I discovered him 20 years ago with school friends. We listened to less popular music. I saw the documentary "A skin too few" then too. To this day, I can feel him around me as if he was a family member who passed. He is a precious, beautiful person.
In my late teens and early twenties I became addicted to buying CDs. I had thousands and thousands of them, and sometimes with buy one based solely on the sleeve and cover. Being a sucker for violins and shallows with my rock music, Drake's mid-90s greatest hits collection spoke to me, so not knowing who he was nor ever having heard a song of his I picked up the CD. It instantly became my favorite and he my favorite artist, leaving me proud that I discovered and deeply appreciated Nick Drake 5 years before pink moon and the Volkswagen commercial catapulted into superstardom
A similar late discovery, Nick Drake reached parts of me that other music stood aside for, knowing that he just did it better. Someone once asked which of his three official albums I like best. Never answered him. Never will. It's like Sophie's Choice isn't it?
@aVerveQuest......We are part of a unique group of people who enjoy this musical genius who possessed an intellectual and creative power and ability. He came and went so fast, but left a lasting footprint on our hearts. I pray that somehow he knows just how much he and his music is loved and appreciated now and forever. Rest well sweet Nick. 🌷😥
Nick Drake is the Vincent Van Gogh of folk music. Thank you Chris Blackwell, for hanging on to the tapes for all these years, and believing in the beauty of this music. Thank you Volkswagen-Porsche, for introducing Nick Drake to the world at large!
Nope… not even close brughhh sorry, Big Nick Drake fan but he created very little art in comparison to Van Gogh… .. not comparable….. Nick was up there in the mountains amongst the beautiful trees but Vincent was in the stratosphere in the clouds amongst the ancient winds.
It was Joe Boyd, not Chris Blackwell, that ensured Nick Drake's albums always remained in print. Well documented elsewhere but his book "White Bicycles" is highly recommended.
Im a composer..Neo-Classical piano mostly...this is really great..lovely...the sweep of it...and when you think it might be nearing end...it takes off again .. blissfully
Nick Drake was an entity all of his own, but this song stands out even from his work. And the strings here are the high watermark, for everyone else to take note. Thank you for providing.
The chord changes set the mood, no doubt, but the sting arrangement is pure genius. This takes it to the next level. It's impossible to remove those strings and still have the same song.
actually, there's a version of it that's on the made to love magic compilation where it's just nick and his guitar, and although the orchestrated version is my favorite, the nick + guitar + cheap microphone combination is always a punch in the jaw of my heart
The first song by Nick that I ever heard was The Cello Song. I was working near Sydney in Oz at the time, and the song was played on the classical station there. That was in 2009, and prior to that I had never heard of Nick. Fame is so fickle. Can't believe Nick is not a household name. I read later that Nick was so painfully shy, he would not tour to promote his albums. His music has touched me deeply. I'm fortunate to have discovered Nick.
this is such a captivating song i am a john martin fan and solid air was written for his friend nick drake and you can feel the love that they had TWO GREAT MUSICIANS such a loss
I found this song at the perfect time. What a hauntingly beautiful yet oh so sad kind of song. Wow. Nick Drake. (I've heard all of Five Leaves Left, but this song missed me the first time around. Now I want to learn it cause it's so good).
Wow - why have I never heard of this guy until now?? He's halfway between Donovan and Colin Blunstone. That's the kind of voice that sings your innermost thoughts...
I'm sure it cannot anything to do with his recorded music coming out of copyright in Nov 2024... no no.. couldn't be that...all kinds of other stuff on him coming through the algorithm...pure happenstance, obviously...
When the strings kick in this masterpiece takes you to another place, a place old, grey, cold and calm. No their song has really hit a spot like this. Mind you almost every Nick Drake song takes you somewhere. Its beauty and a dark dream at the same time.
@@themusicprofessor Его популяризовал Борис Гребенщиков. Он больше десяти лет вёл еженедельную передачу на всероссийском радио. Благодяря ему я знаю про Robert Wyatt, Tim Buckley, Silly Wizard, Shirley Collins и других. Сейчас он за границей, конечно.
How on earth did I ever miss this guy? I'm a keyboardist/composer and love writing music with chord progressions that take you on a journey, which is exactly what this piece does. Bravo! Sting also strives for unusual, yet accessible/musical/listenable compositions. And as I listened to this, it hit me that Sting has drawn a LOT of inspiration from this piece, I can hear it. Though I have to say, Sting doesn't have quite as much warmth in his soul. I could wax poetic about this piece much, and many other comments cover such ground, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy it...again!
I just have to comment one more time and thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this. It's absolutely transcendent, and l have listened to it a great many times since l first responded.
я впервые в жизни слышу эту песню и узнаю про этого музыканта! спасибо ютубу и автору видео и комментаторам! это круто чувствовать связь с людьми планеты! :))😇😍❤💥🙏
always thought the strings on this song were just amazing, all elements of this song were incredibly well strung together and beautifully dramatic. But the writing on the strings are just phenomenal, really ties the whole piece together so so well.
Thank you for this beautiful analysis of this sublime tune. There's something about those tortured yet elegant strings that elevates the song to an entirely new level of magnificence....it's also great to see Nick Drake given the spotlight he deserves all these years later. Something tells me Jonny Greenwood has taken a few leaves out of Harry Robinson's book....
@@themusicprofessorJust So Beautiful the song is haunting but then when the strings come in it’s just another level & this song brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it. Great video you did wish I could read music. 😭👏👏👏👏🙏
I had a girlfriend who was emotionally unstable. I played this song for her and she nearly had a nervous breakdown. In the end, a year or so later, she left me, for which I am enterally grateful. But the power of this music shocked me.
@davidb5173 I can relate to what he's saying. You don't dislike the person you're with, but it is constantly exhausting everyday feeling like you don't know what version of the person you should love will wake up that morning.
@@davidb5173Music can be incredibly powerful. It can trigger extreme behaviour. Many people have been involved with a person that has inner demons or personality changes without understanding the triggers or the causes.
I get what you mean. Happy that you are free from her. Is incredible the power of this song and lyrics. Nick voice is the one that deliver sooo well the meaning of the lyrics.
I love this video - it really brought the song alive for me. The last time I listened to Nick Drake was 20 years ago at university. I liked him back then, but my main memory of his music is of a friend and I laughing uncontrollably in her halls one night because one of his lyrics ends with '..with a weasel'. There may have been other reasons why we thought it was so funny, when I think about it. Anyway I will go back to his music, thank you. 😊
I was fortunate enough to have popped into Les Cousins, Greek Street, London in early December 1969 with some friends. While they were drinking & chatting at the bar, I was drawn to the tall, self-absorbed musician playing a set. I sat mesmerised listening to his almost quiet reserved tunes flowing from him & his guitar, with no speaking from him between songs, while the rowdy patrons continued being absorbed in their chatter, paying scant attention to the minstrel or his tunes. In what seemed like a fleeting moment, his set was over & without any 'goodbye or see you in a short while', his spellbinding set was over & he melted into the semi darkness of the venue. I never even got to find out who he was, until I got back to Durban South Africa. And then it was 20 years later, through a casual chat while a friend 'introduced me' to Nick Drake on CD, that I recognised who I had the privilege of seeing & hearing. By then, Nick had escaped his insecurities & left the planet, almost as quietly as he did Les Cousins in December, 1969. At least I paid silent attention to his music, which many did not do at that time. And I felt blessed for doing so.😊
Such a rare and lucky experience.. From what I have read from others who frequented Les Cousins regularly, you never knew who might show up unannounced and dazzle you. I wish I was hanging out there in its heyday.
Wow that was a story to the music of your life,anti comment aka read it all,a rare thing a,very could of been there 🥂🏴
A most wonderful account here, my friend. Thanks for sharing this.🙏
Thanks for your great comment ‼️ i love this musician ‼️
Beautiful, interesting comment!
The haunting sadness when Nick sing "Oh how they come and go" twice at the end. Wow!
I'm not native english. But, when l listen River Man, since many years, At the end of the song, l always hear "Oh how they come go. Oh, how they come go". On some sites, the lyrics at the end of River Man are often "Oh, how they come and go..." l will need a hearing aid 🤔 ?
@@gillesserrigny6324 Well he really says come 'an go and the second time he kind of almost skips the 'and'/ 'n
Thank you so much for giving Nick some spotlight! He was one of my favorite singer-songwriters back when I was in high school. His harmonic language was truly unique and special. It is a shame that he never lived to see how many people have been touched by his words and music. RIP
Thank you so much. He was a marvellously gifted musician. His tragic early death adds poignancy to his fine recorded legacy. The sad thing, as you say, is that he never knew success in his lifetime, and considered his career to have been a failure.
@@themusicprofessor Do you think he would have been happy if he lived to see how many people he enlightened?
I really hope so.
@@LioMcAllisterMusic-sw4vj I wish he could have, but depression is an evil master.
@@themusicprofessor It's great to see the score for this thing. Do you think it'd be good to see the harmony in jazz chord notation as well?
Four and a half minutes to secure one's immortality. RIP.
Ohhhh, so beautifully and poignantly put. ❤❤❤
Exactly right.
Every late summer, as it blends into a gray autumn, I come back to Nick Drake. His music is a season of my life. Not the happy seasons. But the deep and aching and fleeting daylight time when I feel some of his sadness and allow it to resonate in me. Happens every year.
Also well written. This guy inspires some delicate, nuanced writing.
It's autumn music, no doubt about it.
Same
go out more😂😂😂😂
@@AnaLipton-r4g ??? What's that supposed to mean.
Nick Drake changed my life when I was a depressed teenager searching for something to hold on to. I heard him the first time 30 years after he died and had an instant connection to his music. I knew I wanted to be a musician most of my life, Nick helped to confirm that for me. He’s a personal hero.
I just can't get over how incredible this song is. Words escape me.
Just enjoy and appreciate it. Haunting.
They escaped him too. His music is wonderful, but like so many greats from that era… his lyrics aren’t mystical, just bad.
@@pamdice9633 What?? Bad lyrics?
Same.
@@pamdice9633 I think you're right to say his lyrics aren't "mystical" in the way that so much pop songwriting of that era tried to sound (Lucy In the Sky, Magic Carpet Ride, 8 Miles High, and on and on.). This song's lyrics appeal to me like a poem that tells a story -- a somewhat unsettling story, in my mind anyway -- about the writer's concern for a friend looking for a reason to live. The music is just so right for it. Anyway, that's what comes out of it for me. I think it's very good as a poem. I don't expect every song of his to hold up like this one.
The harmonies in this song were way ahead of its time, almost like he was from the future
Absolute gorgeousness.
The composition, the voice, the guitar, the strings...
Perfection.
He is one of those artists that when you first hear him, he is so unique you don't know what to think at first. But, after digesting his music, you realise how much of a genius he was.
"Im gonna see the river man going to tell him all I can about the ban on feeling free."I feel that so hard.
Never heard of Nick Drake before this. What a remarkable piece. Thank you.
... my first listening also.. I like it, I'm reminded of Jesse Colin Young.
I can definitely recommend you to listen to his three albums. All have a different story and vibe, but they showcase his brilliance nonetheless
All of his music is beautiful. This isn't a one-off.
River Man was a track on one of those early 2000s Chill magazine compilations. That one track sent me on a Nick Drake rabbit hole. Mesmerising and beautiful.
Nick’s music is the theme of sadness in young adulthood, when it is desperate, beautiful, encompassing, so deep that you can drown in it. He never swam towards the light. He was in too deep. There is distinct beauty in tragedy that Nick knew so very well
Such a haunting, dreamlike quality to this tiny masterpiece
Nick Drake's music is as hauntingly captivating today as it was 50 years ago. Three albums of pure genius. Such a talent, such a loss.
A friend of mine in 1991, handed me Nick Drake’s Island Records Best of while we were shopping in Tower Records one day. He put it in my hands and said “just shut up, and buy this, you’ll thank me”. I laughed it off, put the CD back in the rack and started to walk away, then on impulse went back for it. So very glad I did. My 21 year old now in 2024 has discovered Nick and loves him as much as I do and it just reminds me how timeless and beautiful the young man’s music truly was. I truly hope he knows how deeply the world has come to love him in the years since he left us.
I love this song beyond words. It’s so melancholic and beautiful!
This is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs I've ever heard. Love this man.
Why did I just hear this unbelievably beautiful song for the first time in my life, having had to wait for 56 damn years!!! This song, his music could have been a life changing experience if I would’ve heard it when I was still a teenager. 😢🧡🧡🧡
Same here. Simply wonderful...
how?
Same here. I'm simultaneously ashamed and grateful
@@angelawallismoore2283 HOW? AND WHY?
The word "poignant" comes to mind. A piercing quality... done with such softness.
I always wondered what could have been if Nick had overcame his demons....A profound loss to the world when he passed so young. His music is like no other...Dreamlike ...ethereal and sublime.
I discovered his music only a year ago. When I heard it for the first time, it was instant fascination. Last night I was listening to Nick Drake again while playing on the playstation and my son (15) came sitting next to me on the couch to watch me play. He then payed attention to the music and told me "That music is beautiful, mum". I was so happy he could recognize good music. And Yes it is. Beautiful and complex. It's unique and timeless.
Lovely story and comment
Thank you for this
my first time listening. took my breath away completely. 1969???? i cant believe it.
This song gets me every time I hear it, after fifty years I still make time to listen to Nick Drake, still fresh every time.
To all the guitarists out there who want to play this as cleanly and effortlessly as Nick - good luck!
If you get the 5/4 time down its actually not that bad, but doing it while singing is another thing entirely. Still tryin haha.
Effortlessly is a stretch. For me it is "play it".
@@justpassingby3175I doubt Nick ever mastered playing it live in 5/4 either
@@NaanFungibull the song was recorded live. guitar, voice and strings on the same room at the same time
@@kelvinmachado8427 Cool, and he was the one playing the guitar? I've spent several hours over several days trying to get it right and couldn't do it reliably. But I guess I shouldn't doubt that he was able to, unless I see hard evidence to the contrary. One has to assume he would gig with one of his more popular songs and would need to play it perfectly.
Self-taught and an unrecognized musical genius during his short and tragic life. What is fitting are the many famous artists that pay tribute to his work, and how it influenced there careers.
His mother was a musician.
And a good one too @@seabertotter4325
I discovered nick drake when some car company was using Pink Moon for a commercial. It sent me on a search, and i was not disappointed. So many beautiful melodies haunting but not morose. Diving into personal pain, but not without perspective. Universal but not taking itself too seriously. Wild and also disciplined- musically.
Just discovered, fall 2024. The song is already great, but then you have this wonderful string arrangement. PERFECT.
It's wonderful people are still discovering him for the first time. I was late to find his music, too, about 2004.
This is one of the most emotive and beautifully dark songs ever written.
And certainly in my top ten of favourite songs ever!
Played in 5/4 (although it sounds perfectly natural), Nick's sparse guitar style and haunting lyrics and vocal delivery paints a bleak image of folk desperation....
But, it's those strings which wrench at the soul.... taking the listener on an even darker course.... along the river, to the river man. 🥰
I came across this track only a few months ago and was stunned by its perfection. I couldn't understand how I'd never heard it before. I was there in 1969. I now have all 3 of Nick's albums and I'm nearing the end of Nick Drake - The Life, the excellent 576-page book by Richard Morton Jack. I never tire of listening to his music. In fact, it gets better the more I do. I just wish I hadn't had to wait 55 years to discover it.
Right there with you. How on earth had I not heard of this before.
“Thank You” for mentioning this book about Nick as I’d had no idea one had been written. Nick Drake is in a category all his own. There is nobody that can close to him. I do he knows how much we genuinely love him wherever he is now.
Riverman is one of the most mind pleasing songs I have heard. Its astonishing simplicity is the key for it to be so pleasingly harmonious
Nothing simple about it.
I heard first time ND in 1980 in a Radio Nightline (non stop music) of my favourite Rock Station (Mondoradio from Scandiano, Italy), I was 14 and a young guitar player. The song was exactly River Man. Every night I was sleeping with a little transistor radio under the pillow, listening to the nightlines of Mondoradio. The good music made a mix with my dreams. Never heard a mesmerizing music like that. This was one of the moments i'll remember forever. ND entered deep in my soul. Now I'm 58, still guitar player and Nick drake is a fixed point in my life and in my music.
I was also listening to Mondoradio Rock Station in those years...
Wow! I'd not heard this song before and it's utterly gorgeous. Thanks for making the video!
Thank you Tom.
My year of discovery was 2006. I was 20, my first date was in July. Back in late June I bought The Madcap Laughs (Syd Barrett), Piper at The Gates of Dawn (Barrett/early Floyd) and Five Leaves Left (Nick Drake). I would discover The Who a year later, but the two punch Syd/Nick combination was pretty much the greatest musical discovery moment of my life. And when Syd died, some weeks after, I reverted to Nick. Still believe Man in a Shed is the one underrated piece of music of the past 100 years.
Lovely flowing melidy...indicative of the eddys and currents in a river!
Marvellous!❤
He was a unique genius who could not exist in this world. His songs are precious, fascinating jewels. They go straight to your heart.
A really beautiful piece of music, I love the Lee Ritenour version with Kurt Elling singing.
Such a beautiful presentation of one of the most exquisite and haunting compositions I've ever heard. I discovered him 20 years ago with school friends. We listened to less popular music. I saw the documentary "A skin too few" then too. To this day, I can feel him around me as if he was a family member who passed. He is a precious, beautiful person.
Nick was born in the year my mum was born and he died in the year I was born. It's a bit of a weird connection, but we share our love for his music. 😊
I was born under a Pink Moon 1972.
Keep listening 🤠
In my late teens and early twenties I became addicted to buying CDs. I had thousands and thousands of them, and sometimes with buy one based solely on the sleeve and cover. Being a sucker for violins and shallows with my rock music, Drake's mid-90s greatest hits collection spoke to me, so not knowing who he was nor ever having heard a song of his I picked up the CD. It instantly became my favorite and he my favorite artist, leaving me proud that I discovered and deeply appreciated Nick Drake 5 years before pink moon and the Volkswagen commercial catapulted into superstardom
A similar late discovery, Nick Drake reached parts of me that other music stood aside for, knowing that he just did it better. Someone once asked which of his three official albums I like best. Never answered him. Never will. It's like Sophie's Choice isn't it?
@aVerveQuest......We are part of a unique group of people who enjoy this musical genius who possessed an intellectual and creative power and ability. He came and went so fast, but left a lasting footprint on our hearts. I pray that somehow he knows just how much he and his music is loved and appreciated now and forever. Rest well sweet Nick. 🌷😥
Nick Drake superstardom? I've never heard of him. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that much.
Betty said she prayed today
For the sky to blow away
Or maybe stay
She wasn't sure
For me these are the most achingly beautiful lyrics I ever heard
Fabulous!... (my daughter went to the same Cambridge University college as Nick, only years later... she had a room close to where Nick's was)
Sheer beauty. Ageless.
5 Leaves Left is a brilliant album. Timeless classic.
i can listen to Nick Drake forever......thank you.
Nick Drake is the Vincent Van Gogh of folk music. Thank you Chris Blackwell, for hanging on to the tapes for all these years, and believing in the beauty of this music. Thank you Volkswagen-Porsche, for introducing Nick Drake to the world at large!
Nope… not even close brughhh sorry, Big Nick Drake fan but he created very little art in comparison to Van Gogh… .. not comparable….. Nick was up there in the mountains amongst the beautiful trees but Vincent was in the stratosphere in the clouds amongst the ancient winds.
It was Joe Boyd, not Chris Blackwell, that ensured Nick Drake's albums always remained in print. Well documented elsewhere but his book "White Bicycles" is highly recommended.
@@zatoichimasseur6767 Comparing one artistic genre to another is arbitrary and pointless anyway.
@@iancunliffe9799 The book is very good. I have read it twice so far.
Pink moon
Thanks for sharing, this has to be one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. I wish you, peace, Mr. Drake, wherever you are.
I love this song so much. Stumbled across it on a free CD Q Magazine gave away one month in the very late 90s, it blew me away
Pure genius taken from us far too early but what a legacy he has left.
Complex, mysterious, beautiful .... lovely. My first time!
Im a composer..Neo-Classical piano mostly...this is really great..lovely...the sweep of it...and when you think it might be nearing end...it takes off again .. blissfully
This gave me goosebumps... I never knew such a song existed. Brilliant.
It's a marvellous song.
Nick's music is incredible! All three of his albums are just haves👌
@@tonyjonesbassoonwhippet2271 I haven't listened to Bryter Layter yet. What are some good songs from that album?
@@natestein5988Hazey Jane I and II, Northern Sky, Fly, One of These Things First
Nick Drake was an entity all of his own, but this song stands out even from his work. And the strings here are the high watermark, for everyone else to take note. Thank you for providing.
String section gives me goosebumps every time.
I love Nick Drake. He was brilliant! What a waste that he died so young.
The chord changes set the mood, no doubt, but the sting arrangement is pure genius. This takes it to the next level. It's impossible to remove those strings and still have the same song.
actually, there's a version of it that's on the made to love magic compilation where it's just nick and his guitar, and although the orchestrated version is my favorite, the nick + guitar + cheap microphone combination is always a punch in the jaw of my heart
The first song by Nick that I ever heard was The Cello Song. I was working near Sydney in Oz at the time, and the song was played on the classical station there. That was in 2009, and prior to that I had never heard of Nick. Fame is so fickle. Can't believe Nick is not a household name. I read later that Nick was so painfully shy, he would not tour to promote his albums. His music has touched me deeply. I'm fortunate to have discovered Nick.
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing this.
this is such a captivating song i am a john martin fan and solid air was written for his friend nick drake and you can feel the love that they had TWO GREAT MUSICIANS such a loss
I found this song at the perfect time.
What a hauntingly beautiful yet oh so sad kind of song.
Wow. Nick Drake. (I've heard all of Five Leaves Left, but this song missed me the first time around. Now I want to learn it cause it's so good).
I wish he’d stayed. What a beautiful talented man.
I fell in love for the first time listening to this music.
A fine dissection of this haunting work by the man who went too soon
Thank you.
Wow - why have I never heard of this guy until now?? He's halfway between Donovan and Colin Blunstone. That's the kind of voice that sings your innermost thoughts...
I'm sure it cannot anything to do with his recorded music coming out of copyright in Nov 2024... no no.. couldn't be that...all kinds of other stuff on him coming through the algorithm...pure happenstance, obviously...
All this amazing music and genius and he never got to 25 years old. Such an amazing unique gifted soul. God bless you Nick Drake 🙏 ❤️
He died when he was 26 years old.
Oh my goodness, first time hearing this. I'm stunned.
I was mesmerised by this beautiful, haunting song when I first heard it ........ and will remain so for however long I live
Ravishingly gorgeous.
I love Nick’s music and am so thankful I found out about him about 15 years ago. Tragic loss. 💜💫
Exquisite. Boy George did a respectable cover of this gorgeous song.
When the strings kick in this masterpiece takes you to another place, a place old, grey, cold and calm. No their song has really hit a spot like this. Mind you almost every Nick Drake song takes you somewhere. Its beauty and a dark dream at the same time.
Любимая песня любимого музыканта. Спасибо за видеоряд. Гравюрный стиль подходит своей строгостью.
Спасибо. Думаю, Ник Дрейк был бы рад узнать, что у него есть поклонники в России.
@@themusicprofessor Его популяризовал Борис Гребенщиков. Он больше десяти лет вёл еженедельную передачу на всероссийском радио. Благодяря ему я знаю про Robert Wyatt, Tim Buckley, Silly Wizard, Shirley Collins и других. Сейчас он за границей, конечно.
I hear his mother so very much. His resignation is more evident vocally.
This is such a beautiful song and captures the melancholy feeling I have about him in general.
He really was the Van Gogh of music.
This is a beautiful, beautiful piece of music. So bittersweet. What a talented soul he was😢
Had a multi artist cd with this on, best track on there by a mile. Absolutely adore this song, stunning masterpiece.
Discovered him through John Martyn and solid air.Two unique talents, as writers, singers and guitarists.😁😀👍👏
For some reason after this video the meaning of the lyrics finally make total sense. It seemed ambiguous before.
How on earth did I ever miss this guy? I'm a keyboardist/composer and love writing music with chord progressions that take you on a journey, which is exactly what this piece does. Bravo! Sting also strives for unusual, yet accessible/musical/listenable compositions. And as I listened to this, it hit me that Sting has drawn a LOT of inspiration from this piece, I can hear it. Though I have to say, Sting doesn't have quite as much warmth in his soul. I could wax poetic about this piece much, and many other comments cover such ground, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy it...again!
Welcome to Nick world.
TY
Just had this recommended. Had never heard of Nick Drake. Instantly fell in love with it. Thanks!
Thank you! Great exposition in a compelling form. The much ignored genius of Nick Drake.
Such a remarkable talent.
I love the way you presented this video explanation of this song. Very thoughtful and helpful. Thanks!
Stunningly dark and enchanting❤
Never heard this till now. It's beautiful.
The river man - beautiful composition
That VW cabio commercial changed my life , I soon afterwards bought Nick Drake’s _pink moon_ CD and was mesmerized… been a fan since!!
I just have to comment one more time and thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing this. It's absolutely transcendent, and l have listened to it a great many times since l first responded.
So glad you like it!
This song crushes every single time. She's going to tell the river man, about the ban, on feeling free ...
The strings blow me away.
His brief life sounds like a movie, but he was an ethereal real life talent.
Hi from France! This was a great vidéo for one of the greatest songs ever made. Thanks a lot !!!
я впервые в жизни слышу эту песню и узнаю про этого музыканта! спасибо ютубу и автору видео и комментаторам! это круто чувствовать связь с людьми планеты! :))😇😍❤💥🙏
Спасибо! Добро пожаловать на канал!
Thanks for explaining this so I can love this song even more.
This is nearly too beautiful. Like being touched by the hand of God.
always thought the strings on this song were just amazing, all elements of this song were incredibly well strung together and beautifully dramatic. But the writing on the strings are just phenomenal, really ties the whole piece together so so well.
It just adds a little more heaven to Nick's creation.🌷
Thank you for this beautiful analysis of this sublime tune. There's something about those tortured yet elegant strings that elevates the song to an entirely new level of magnificence....it's also great to see Nick Drake given the spotlight he deserves all these years later.
Something tells me Jonny Greenwood has taken a few leaves out of Harry Robinson's book....
Thank you. I agree.
@@themusicprofessorJust So Beautiful the song is haunting but then when the strings come in it’s just another level & this song brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it.
Great video you did wish I could read music. 😭👏👏👏👏🙏
Yes, for example the strings on Radiohead’s Spectre appear almost as a copy of River Man.
ua-cam.com/video/CLiDemXYSLc/v-deo.htmlsi=_LwXFvVcgOXSStFe
@@mortensigsgaardBeck’s “Around the Bend” is also very similar
I had a girlfriend who was emotionally unstable. I played this song for her and she nearly had a nervous breakdown. In the end, a year or so later, she left me, for which I am enterally grateful. But the power of this music shocked me.
What an incredibly strange thing to say
Perhaps its his sense of humor
@davidb5173 I can relate to what he's saying. You don't dislike the person you're with, but it is constantly exhausting everyday feeling like you don't know what version of the person you should love will wake up that morning.
@@davidb5173Music can be incredibly powerful. It can trigger extreme behaviour. Many people have been involved with a person that has inner demons or personality changes without understanding the triggers or the causes.
I get what you mean. Happy that you are free from her. Is incredible the power of this song and lyrics. Nick voice is the one that deliver sooo well the meaning of the lyrics.
I love this video - it really brought the song alive for me. The last time I listened to Nick Drake was 20 years ago at university. I liked him back then, but my main memory of his music is of a friend and I laughing uncontrollably in her halls one night because one of his lyrics ends with '..with a weasel'. There may have been other reasons why we thought it was so funny, when I think about it. Anyway I will go back to his music, thank you. 😊
Fair brings a tear to the eye. Beautiful.