Posted in: Musicouching by Dana820 on July 31st, 2009 | 0 Comments
Three songs off Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter record that take center-stage — in my humble opinion.
Barely coming down from an absolute affection for Nick Drake’s third record, Pink Moon, it seemed like there’s no turning back from its pure and unarranged perfection. But there are songs off its (I think) over-arranged predecessor, Bryter Layter, which I do admire and have picked individually from a digital store instead of purchasing the whole album. It may sound disrespectful (not buying the entire album) but for now, “One of These Things First”, “Fly” and “Northern Sky” take center-stage.
For those who are familiar with these three tracks, there’s no doubt about their tender (even romantic) melody and words. In their cases, the strings sounded like they belonged and complimented the songs entirely which I’m yet to find appreciation for on the other songs off Bryter Layter. I think if the other songs were stripped down, I’d feel differently.
Someone got me into “One of These Things First” and that was my discovery of Nick Drake. It was a challenging song to learn the lyrics to but it caught me immediately that I just had to learn the words. The phrasing is so simple but it said enough. And really, how he played the guitar (on all his songs) was remarkable, to say the least.
“Fly” and “Northern Sky” are gentle and sweet. The piano-playing on “Northern Sky” is simply magical. The lyrics to “Fly” get you instantaneously and then it drifts off, making you want to hear more… hoping that there were more.
With that said, discovering the music of Nick Drake is never too late. I’m just glad that I have the chance to listen to the work he left us which can very well be described as “timeless”.
