Nick Drake

Yeah, I was like, wow, what's your deal fella?!

Pretty strong reaction to, well, any artist. There is something deep going on here...I hope it isn't a tragedy.

Anyway, don't take t out on a greatly talented and sensitive songwriter who lived his own tragedy, please.

 

Can’t argue too much with that. But rich and privileged boys are human beings too, and suffer just like the rest of us. This one was just a genius at sharing those feelings. I’ll say one thing, you sure jumpstarted this thread. Thanks!

 

Early train, taxi.

 

OUCH. A new thread would be better suited, at a different forum for troll's. The local Gort's don't take kindly to trolling.

 

Kicking depressed people when they're down doesn't help their depression. And I've never listened to Nick Drake and thought of sadness and self-pity.

 

There’s a happy/sad thread in off topic perhaps better suited.

 

Then go away....Please, let's get off this train, and get back to why we visit this thread...appreciation for an artist we love. This is the wrong thread for trashing...

 

Thank you, alexpop...this is getting surreal. Hope the Gorts steer him that way.

 

I can see a whole bunch of posts getting deleted in this thread.

 

If the dudes got the blues ..good place to vent.

 

A whole bunch and soon, please!

But please don't close it...this is just a strange side trip.

 

Why did he buy all his albums I wonder then decided to chastise him?

 

he brought more to the world than you have. and you annoy me.

 

Sounds like the music is speaking to you on a level that you aren’t able to fully appreciate yet

 

Actually it should have read “ wasn’t “ bloodyauto correct!!!!

 

Someone at the crossroads.

 

My friend - I think your choice of language here ( ... despise ...) is unfortunate but given that English is probably not your first language it may be that you have underestimated the force of what you are saying.

You are, of course, welcome to your opinion, but I think you are wrong and I think you are wrong in a number of ways.

I have been a fan of Nick's music for 49 years now (no, that is not a typo; 49 years is correct). I listen to Nick's music at least once a month and often, more than that. I do not sit at home, watching leaves falling down and have, hopefully, taken the reins of my life.

In the past 49 years, I have met many people who have not liked Nick's music - I hae never met anyone who described 'Bryer Layter' as dour. I have met and spoken - occasionally at length - with people who played on that album. You know something - some of them can hardly remember the sessions. Why not? Because there was nothing untoward about them. They remember having a great time playing the music, they recall enjoying being with Nick and the other musicians and Robert, the orchestrator but, trust me, they were not going in to the studio every day worrying about their mental well-being.

Yes, Nick did suffer from mental breakdowns and depressions but so do many people in many different jobs and walks of life. Two things are important here:

1) Nick did not become depressive because of his music (although he did get quite seriously pi$$ed off, that Bryter Layter didn't sell more copies.)

2) His later work probably 'reflected' his mood but was not under any circumstances, a deliberate ploy to be depressive. The writing process was not: 'I am depressed, so I will write a depressing song' it was much more of a 'How can I express how I am feeling' but was, more than likely, not even that conscious of a process.

So ... a few more points.

Nick was a cherished son, who loved his sister dearly. To despise someone, anyone, artist, film-star, postman, waiter, athlete, who has suffered from depression and mental anguish is, at the very best, unfortunate and probably a viewpoint not worth sharing publicly with others.

Nick did not create any kind of cult, glamourising or romanticising depression. He - and his family - suffered. With little control over what was happening to them.

Since his wider appeal (thanks to a VW advert, of all things), there have been may attempts to construct some sort of pathway through life that Nick took, that just wasn't there.

Yes, it is true that some have tried to impose some kind of mystique around him, but this is a superficial misunderstanding of both him and his body of work by a superficial fandom wanting to not be seen to miss out on the next 'big' discovery.

Nick wrote songs because that's what he had a talent for, that's what he did just like my friend who is a bus-driver. That's what he does, he drives busses.

What makes Nick stand head and shoulders above so many others is the beauty of his guitar-playing, his unusual tunings, the choice of phrase, the imagery , the honesty and integrity in his recordings.

Your view suggests a lack of integrity and a dishonesty in a deliberate attempt to 'glorify and romanticise depression'

Like I said above - I think you're wrong.

One final thing - I've often found that if and when I really don't like something, finding a thread on a forum to tell people forcefully how much I dislike it, doesn't really bring any advantage and is time that could be better spent, taking the reins of one's life.

Best Wishes,
David

 

To annoy you

 

Actually I used to like his music.
But I read a book about his biography and I felt upset and offended

 

A thoughtful post.
Thank you.

 

I see, weak people annoy and offend you. Okaaaaaaayyyyy.

 

so....you're butt-hurt...

 

annoying people get the "ignore".

 

I’ve read a few of his biographies and, yes, for the most part they’re just grasping at straws. There’s not even any existing film footage of ND as an adult, so the books can only be romanticized, mythmaking (and at times, salacious) exercises. So I stopped reading them and went back to the music.

That said, the book that came out a couple years back includes his father’s journal entries covering the last few years of Nick’s life. Nothing romantic or “cult like” about it - his family suffered, and that journal does more to show what living with depression is really like during a time when so few understood it.