About the Album:
British folk singer/songwriter Nick Drake died in 1974 from an overdose of antidepressants. He was only 26 years but had recorded three studio albums – Pink Moon was his last and “the bleakest of them all.” AM “After two albums of tastefully orchestrated folk-pop, albeit some of the least demonstrative and most affecting around,” AM nobody expected a third album. “Nick was crushed by the commercial failure of Bryter Layter and a complete lack of recognition from the general public…He apparently told his mother he’d thought he’d failed in everything.” AD While he was clearly being hard on himself, “making music this beautiful, pouring your heart and soul into it – to see it largely ignored…must have been truly soul-destroying.” AD
Going Down in a Haze of Obscurity
Pink Moon “is the sound of Nick Drake cracking up. That’s not exactly true – some have long thought that his death by an overdose of an anti-depressant was an accident, and not suicide – but this album, recorded over two late nights, certainly sounds like a fever dream.” AZ “It is not an easy album to live within, for the creator or the listener.” PM “It’s hard not to see his battle with depression within the haunting and desolate structure of Pink Moon.” PM
“This isn't at all an easy record… This is a unique record, a work of beauty and another fine testament to the talents of Nick Drake.” AD “The calm, focused anguish of this album [is] as harrowing as it is attractive.” AM “Drake’s elegant melancholia avoiding sounding pretentious in the least thanks to his continued embrace of simple, tender vocalizing.” AM “Meanwhile, the sheer majesty of his guitar playing…makes for a breathless wonder to behold. If anyone needs confirmation as to why artists like Mark Eitzel, Elliot Smith, Lou Barlow, or Robert Smith hold Drake close to their hearts.” AM It “made Drake the cult figure he remains.” AM
The Recording
He ”chose a radical change for what turned out to be his final album. Not even half-an-hour long, with 11 short song…he famously remarked…that he simply had no more to record.” AM
“Nick was a fan of blues music, and rather taken by Robert Johnson amongst others.” AD Nick even copied Johnson’s technique of recording with just his guitar, facing a fall, and no one else in the studio. AD There are no side musicians or outside performers on the album. “Aside from a splash of piano, the only instrumentation on this stark and spooky collection is Drake’s eloquent acoustic guitar.” AZ “If Bryter Layter for some was over-orchestrated, Pink Moon is too unadorned.” AD
It was “recorded by regular producer Joe Boyd but otherwise untouched by anyone else.” AM Engineer John Wood “captures Nick’s voice well, even though it appears he wasn’s singing with any great self-confidence. He’s almost mumbling in places” AD but “it becomes part of the overall mystique and appeal of Pink Moon.” AD
The Songs:
Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.
“Pink Moon”
The lead-off title track is the only song on the album to feature any overdubs. AD It was“used in a Volkswagen commercial nearly 30 years later, giving him another renewed burst of appreciation – one of life’s many ironies, in that such an affecting song, Drake’s softly keened singing and gentle strumming, could turn up in such a strange context.” AM
“Place to Be”
Place to Be features “a beautiful vocal, reaching deep. The lyrics contain less of the imagery present on Five Leaves Left…but still are rooted in nature and emotion. It’s a lovely song.” AD
“Road”
“Road has some of the most enjoyable guitar playing on the album, hypnotic and beautiful. Nick’s voice comes in, quiet and deep, lost in a world of its own. The guitar is crystal clear and the contrast between the guitar playing and the vocals is striking and very effective.” AD
“Which Will”
“Which Will contains one of albums happiest guitar melodies, almost back to the kind of sound heard on Five Leaves Left only without all the overdubs and orchestra parts…But these songs are the pure essence of Nick Drake.” AD
“Horn”
“Horn is sometimes described as filler. It’s an instrumental, just over a minute long. It’s very hard to explain or write about the sound of someone’s inner turmoil, however brilliantly and effectively it’s being expressed. A simple guitar figure, long sustained notes going off into the ground, before a new section comes in – a repetition re-iterating the message of the song. It’s a plea for help without any words…It is utterly haunting and possessing a strange kind of beauty.” AD
“Things Behind the Sun”
Things Behind the Sun is “even more striking. It sounds full thanks to Nicks guitar playing. The lyrics are back to the symbolic, poetic nature of Five Leaves Left and indeed, this song dates from that era, it’s a song Nick had been working on for a while, playing the guitar pattern to himself over and over. It’s a brilliant song.” AD
“Know”
Know “is typical of the stark pure beauty of Pink Moon.” AD “A bare, repeating guitar figure. Nick starts humming the melody of the lyric. It's a two and a half minute song. He doesn't start singing until it’s half-way over. When he does though…it’s effective, to say the least.” AD
“Parasite”
“More beautiful guitar playing, more quietly deep affecting vocals. The lyrical matter here comes across as bitter – reflects Nick’s state of mind at this time. That it’s still utterly beautiful, through the poetic nature of the lyrics and vocal work, says something to me about how developed Nick’s talent was.” AD
“Free Ride”
Critic Adrian Denning says this song, “is completely impossible to describe. I don’t know what's going on in the song, guitar wise, lyrically..... how do you translate such material as this?” AD
“From the Morning”
This “was a favourite of Nick’s parents and ends the album on an optimistic note. It’s a song full of spring-time and beautiful air. Wonderful lyrics, vocals and playing – and it does sound happy.” AD
Notes: Drake’s three studio albums (Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon) and a posthumous archival collection (Made to Love Magic) were gathered together on the box set Fruit Tree.
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