Words
There are myths surrounding Nick Drake, a brilliant British singer-songwriter of the late 60s and early 70s. He is said to have been a quiet, introverted loner who unfortunately died far too early due to depression. There is no film footage, no interviews or diaries – only memories from friends, acquaintances and his family. He wrote around 30 wonderful songs in his early twenties, which were released on three or four albums despite the lack of commercial success at the time – thanks to producer Joe Boyd, who never stopped believing in him. The quiet, melancholy music was a poor fit for the flower power era, in which dazzling stars such as Jimi Hendrix and Cat Stevens attracted legions of fans. So Nick Drake shares the fate of artists who only achieved a certain degree of fame – or rather – venerable attention after their death.
So as a fan, like many before me and probably after me, I was drawn to the place where Nick Drake grew up and died unexpectedly in his parents’ home at the age of just 26, to Tanworth-in-Arden near Birmingham. A small village in the middle of a romantic, hilly landscape. I visited the unassuming family grave — the headstone with the inscription on the back (a line from a song lyric), left a white rose there and walked past the family home. It was an undertaking that unexpectedly touched me deeply, but if you have studied the history of an artist in depth, you are bound to experience feelings in places whose biography tells of them.
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