04-04-2003
IMPRESSIONS
ABOUT AN ICON OF THE 20th CENTURY:
By
looking through Nick Drake's life, the first thing that comes into
my
mind is about a person dramatically misunderstood by a Society which
seems
not to accept the concept of hyper-sensitivity. Before getting
"killed"
by the Society itself, he was "murdered", spoiled by his very
own
frailties: Nick Drake was one of those few guys not able to fit in
the
modern days at all. By listening to his highly introspective, somber
music
you get the strong impression of a confused boy while he’s crossing
a
heavy traffic-like road without watching nor to left nor to right,
totally
unaware of what could happen to him. And, for sure, if you
go
through Drake's records, you can understand why
he
never achieved fame during his brief lifetime: his compositions
were
gentle, faintly beautiful portraits of a man struggling with
his
very own persona, finding extremely difficult to get on with ordina-
ry
life. Anyway, that's not the matter: Drake has to be judged for his
music,
not for his life: I'm not astonished about the fact he got killed
by
an overdose of anti-depressants; one way or another, the artist
from
Tenworth-in-Arden represented (and always he will) one of those
few
legends bound to die prematurely, leaving the music he produced
an
aura of unreachable mystic, fashion and deep melancholy
never
matched even by today's highly technological standards.
HAZEY
JANE II is a prime example of how Drake grandiosely used
to
blend gentle melancholy and soothing breathes of a typical late
Spring’s
atmosphere: you get the feeling of your heart keeping
pounding
with a slow, soft pace, while the trumpets seem to draw
paintings
of stunning impressionistic beauty. Both lyrically and
musically
the song kidnappes my soul and I feel like being kept
afloat
by hundreds of trumpets, while Drake’s voice progressively
falls
into deep melancholy and peacefully “dies” through the final
notes:
as a whole, we will all have one of most sensitive,
distinctive
musical touches of the Twentieth Century.
Already
in songs like TIME HAS TOLD ME, from his first LP,
FIVE
LEAVES LEFT, a certain sense of frightening solitude
and
mystical decadence, together with inconvertible resigna-
tion
were the key-points which went on to establish the immortality
of
his music: Drake masterfully sweeps along a yearning melody,
Unashamedly
revealing uncommon frailties, and at the
Same
time forecasting his bitter destiny: what we can see
Through
the lyrics is the figure of a man never-endingly
Struggling
with his restlessness and chronic lack of love.
For
sure, if you happen to come up against Nick Drake’s
World
you have to be quite a sensitive person, otherwise
It
would be impossible to you to fully understand the
Unique
mood and style of his records, along with his despe-
Rate
request of consideration, a consideration he will
Never
receive through his entire lifetime.
The
more his talent as an original, inimitable, intimystic
Composer
tended to grow-up, the more secluded he used
To
become, beginning to shun even his closest friends, being kept
prisoner
by increasing, raging forms of depression and
general
state disorder. Among all rock legends (even if certainly
his
compositions can't be dubbed as "rock") Nick Drake
inflexibly
stands as an icon of his own, leading a life that was light
years
distant from the ordinary rock firmament one: Drake's
persona
was about an extremely shy guy, so deeply happy
to
live in the countryside of his little town, Tenworth-In-
Arden:
it has become now a common statement Nick Drake
was
unbelievably in love with Mother Nature: a concept,
this,
that kept him far from the city's unbearable chaos
and
social dirtiness. In a way, he perfectly stands as
a
pure, immaculate icon of his/our time, and forever he will be
...as
well as I'll forever dance in the sky sustained by
the
trumpets of HAZEY JANE II....
"dying"
and peacefully fading into the realm of
a
deafening, irremissible melancholy...........
...forever
accompanied by Nick Drake's music...
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