Nick Drake Project! by

Grace Walsh, Nick Drake Project!

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 18:29:20 UTC

As Nick Drake is one of my favourite and possibly one

of the most influential musicians of all time I have

decided to do one of his songs as a project,mostly due

to a personal love of practically all his songs, but also,

because of how deep and meaningful they are.

Northern Sky Lyrics

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 18:47:03 UTC

I never felt magic crazy as this

I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea

I never held emotion in the palm of my hand

Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree

But now you're here

Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting

Been a long that I'm blown

I've been a long time that I've wandered

Through the people I have known

Oh, if you would and you could

Straighten my new mind's eye.
Would you love me for my money

Would you love me for my head

Would you love me through the winter

Would you love me 'til I'm dead

Oh, if you would and you could

Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this

I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea

I never held emotion in the palm of my hand

Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree

But now you're here

Brighten my northern sky.

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:01:06 UTC

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:09:42 UTC

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:27:58 UTC

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:33:45 UTC

For me, and for many this is an obvious love song, of which Nick Drake did Not write too many. Nobody really knows who it's aimed at as there are many people who it could be for.

In my opinion, this song is about someone who has been in a bad way for a long time and needed somebody to come along and help them, this person helped the author to feel again and sort of, come back to life.

For me, this is one of my favourite Nick Drake songs and it holds so much personal meaning for me. I listen to it when I feel like I have nobody and nothing, but also when I'm feeling good as it affects me in a different way each time I listen to it.

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:40:05 UTC

There is a vulnerability to Nick’s music and lyrics that is hard not to embrace. It’s almost as if he was writing from the edge of our human experience and hoping we would take notice. I’m guessing that in the end he was just too sensitive for this world. His artistic approach was to communicate gently and subtlety through simple yet deep music and lyrics.

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:42:56 UTC

I don't think this one really needs to be overthought - they're the thoughts of a lover in love. Knowing Nick's personal history, I think it was more abstract than concrete, but he was an intelligent, thoughtful man and doubtless longed, as we all do, for someone to understand him and love him despite what he considered unlovable in himself. He's reaching for an ideal; it's a timeless concept that we can all relate to.

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:45:09 UTC

He paraphrases William Blake's Auguries of Innocence in this:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

Tanworth-in-Arden

graciew10 — 2014-03-05 19:54:00 UTC