Song Lyric Sunday: Saw It Written

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A song from a final album – that’s what Jim is inviting us to play for Song Lyric Sunday this week, as you can see from his post Everything Comes to an End. There are plenty of reasons as to why an album became the final one for an artist or band, such as break ups or retirement, or the lead singer going solo, but of all the reasons I think that death counts as the most final of all, and that is what I’m going with for this week. My chosen album is Pink Moon, the last of the three released by Nick Drake before his untimely death at just 26 in November 1974.

I’ll tell you more about Nick later but let’s get some music going. This is the album’s opening, and title, track:

As befits a song that runs for just two minutes the lyrics are also quite brief:

Saw it written and I saw it sayPink moon is on its wayAnd none of you stand so tallPink moon gonna get ye all
And it’s a pink moonHey, it’s a pink moonPink, pink, pink, pink, pink moonPink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon
I saw it written and I saw it sayA pink moon is on its wayAnd none of you stand so tallPink moon gonna get ye all
It’s a pink moonYeah, it’s a pink moon
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Nick Drake
Pink Moon lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc

 

I could tell you a lot about Nick Drake, but others have done it far better than I could. There is an excellent biography, Nick Drake: The Life, by Richard Morton Jack, which has a poignant foreword by Gabrielle, Nick’s sister (you may know of her as an actor). And his Wikipedia article is very informative, and can be found here. It boils down to a sad tale of an extremely sensitive and intelligent young man who, frankly, just couldn’t cope with life. He was painfully shy and eventually withdrew from live performances, to which he was never suited anyway, and was diagnosed with depression shortly after the February 1972 release of this album. He had high hopes of being successful in music when he set out, but his records sold poorly – the three between them only achieved 4,000 UK sales in his lifetime, but have all gone on to receive posthumous Gold Discs in the UK, as have some of the compilation discs that have been released: just the fifteen of them so far, with an impending release of one of those ‘everything we recorded’ versions of his first album, Five Leaves Left, a four disc collection due out shortly.

There is a simplicity and beauty to Nick’s music which I have always found attractive, ever since I first heard him on a sampler album Island Records released in 1969, and on another in 1970. For his first two albums he was persuaded into having orchestral backing added to some of the tracks, but he preferred to keep things simple and for Pink Moon it was just him and his guitar, the sole exception being his piano overdub on the track you just heard. Critics have said that his music reflects his battles with depression, and this album in particular was accused of that. But maybe they weren’t listening properly? I found this description of what ‘pink moon’ stands for:

“The pink moon is most famously named after the soft pink wildflowers that bloom in early spring, signaling the vibrant return of the season. But it’s also known by other names like the “budding moon” and the “egg moon,” both of which celebrate the new growth, fertility, and fresh beginnings that spring ushers in.”

So it is actually a time of hope for the coming season and Nick’s lyrics should, I think, be seen in that context. To further make my point I’m going to play you another track from the album, the one that closes it. This is From The Morning:

Although Nick couldn’t have known it at the time, this final song that he released was a lovely piece of positivity to counter the naysayers:

A day once dawned, and it was beautifulA day once dawned from the ground
Then the night she fellAnd the air was beautifulThe night she fell all around
So look, see the daysThe endless coloured waysGo play the game that you learntFrom the morning
And now we riseAnd we are everywhere
And now we rise from the groundAnd see she fliesShe is everywhereSee she flies all around
So look, see the sightsThe endless summer nightsAnd go play the game that you learntFrom the mornin’
Some of the most optimistic lyrics he ever wrote, and they provided a fitting memory for those of us who ‘got him’ at the time and cherished his music.
If Nick Drake is new to you and this has piqued your interest, I can recommend all three of his albums: Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, or there is an excellent introductory compilation called Way To Blue. And if you’d like to know what the rest of Pink Moon sounds like, its eleven tracks only run to 28 minutes, all of which can be heard here in the album’s running order.
That’s me done for today, and I hope I’ve introduced those of you previously unaware of Nick Drake and his beautiful music to something which you can enjoy as much as I have done for over 55 years.
I’ll leave you there, and will see you again for Tuesday Tunes. Have a good week 😊

 

33 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Saw It Written”

  1. Pingback: Caught In June | Take It Easy

  2. I have very little experience of Nick Drake, but it is a gap I will certainly try to fill. The two tracks you play here are, melodically, very reminiscent of John Martyn to me – and there’s not too much wrong with that!

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    • Thank you, Yvette, that’s kind of you.

      These are not alone in being optimistic but the dreaded critics didn’t really give him credit for that. I’m convinced they helped him to end things the way he did.

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  7. I found him in the early 2000s… what a tragic life but what a tremdous talent. Pink Moon was the first song I heard by him and that hooked me. Great post Clive.

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  10. This week and next on SLS, I fear we will be reading a lot about death …. the truly one and only definitive way to end a career.
    I was unfamiliar with Nick Drake and that is a shame. He had a lovely, soulful voice and played the guitar beautifully. What a sad, lonely and painful life he had, so much so that he couldn’t stand it. Too damn young to die.
    Thank you for sharing the music of Nick Drake, Clive; I wish things had turned out differently for him.

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    • You’re right, but I’m definitely not going down the death route next week!

      I thought Nick would be unfamiliar to many. A cult following has developed around him since he passed and posthumous record sales are very respectable. It’s such a shame he wasn’t appreciated in time to save him from himself. I’m pleased you liked him, and hope that you explore further. Try his song ‘Northern Sky’ as a starter – it’s lovely.

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      • Thanks for the tip; I’ll give it a try. Is anyone or perhaps a mental health facility benefitting from the sale of Nick’s records?
        I’ll be eschewing death next week, also, if I have anything to say about it! It’s definitely an easy route to take and there’s no lack of songs but it’s not the only way.

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  11. Nick Drake was an unknown legend in his time whose records sold fewer than 15,000 copies upon release.  Now Nick Drake is global, and his albums have sold in the millions.  Nice choice Clive, thanks for sharing your music.

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    • Estimates of his original sales vary – the figure of 4,000 I quoted may be a fairer reflection, I think. It’s good to see that his music has been widely recognised – it’s just a shame that he didn’t live to see it. Glad you liked my choice, Jim.

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  12. What a delightful little song. As is my usual, I did not know about this song or Nick Drake before this – so this was my introduction to both. Such a melancholy man- his story it goes well with this song. Thank you, Clive.

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  13. Nice overview, Clive. I discovered Drake in the late ‘80s, and his music really seeped into me. I wrote a short magazine bio in ‘93, during which I corresponded with his mother, Molly, who was real appreciative I was profiling her son. His music is special, but it’s so raw, and sad in some ways, that I don’t listen to him much anymore.

    Side note: I own 700 vinyl albums and – per Discogs – Pink Moon is now the most sought-after and valuable of all 700.

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