This was released 43 years ago this week. Still stunning.
Artist, album and year: Nick Drake, Pink Moon, 1972
Why is it a classic? : It’s almost impossible to gauge or measure the seismic influence that English folk singer Nick Drake had on anyone who picked up an acoustic guitar because his plucking style, haunting voice and poetic lyrics helped to create the template that has been widely copied ever since.
Pink Moon is markedly different from Drake’s previous albums because it was recorded without a backing band and it featured just him on vocals, guitar and a brief piano riff.
The album is also extremely poignant because it offers a brief glimpse into the melancholy, anxiety and depression that was engulfing the gifted musician before his tragic death.
I always found this somewhat ‘negative’ description of Nick Drake’s work to be fairly short-sighted because the singer had an incredible gift to write songs about love, romance and the wonder in the world in a way that no one has since been able to replicate.
While the eponymous song on Pink Moon is the more universally known one from album, I always had a soft spot for Which Will because the string arrangement and plucking style is sublime while the lyrics are so evocative.
Unrequited love, waiting in limbo, wanting what you can’t have and a longing to be someone’s “one and all” are all universal feelings for most people and are captured here.
Like all of Nick Drake’s records, you can’t help but come away from listening to Which Will without feeling like you’ve just been given a brief glimpse into the heart, mind and soul of one of the most talented folk singers of all-time.
Did You Know? : The album was released 43 years ago yesterday, it only clocks in at 28 minutes, but has since been voted 321st in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The lyrical hook: “Which will you hope for? Which can it be? Which will you take now? If you won’t take me”.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
