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Rating: Yes, I know, now I'm going to be slaughtered because this album has already been reviewed twice. Before being condemned without appeal by the Dereviewers, I would like to write the reason for this additional review: it is the attempt of a non-fan of Nick Drake to explain one of his albums to those who do not know him, but trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who does not have an excessive veneration for this artist.
Of course, I admit that the curiosity to listen to it was great as soon as I bought "Bryter Layter"... the feeling I had was that Drake's fans were a sort of "sect" for a few initiates, and this was fueled by the Drake-revival that some music critics have promoted in recent years (see the music supplement of La Repubblica, for example), to the point that I asked myself "how have I managed all these years without Nick Drake?" More seriously.... I am not writing this review to denigrate Drake's fans, but to add a perhaps (without offending anyone) slightly more objective voice....
First of all, I know that for many this is not the most representative album of Nick Drake, and I also apologize for the resulting objective limits, but I do not know the other albums. How to describe this music? First of all, a strong prevalence of acoustic guitar, hints of keyboards and piano, and wind and string instruments sometimes in the background. These last elements, especially, remind me (for example in the instrumental tracks, but also in "At The Chime Of The City Clock") of certain sequences from English films and television series of the late '60s, where perhaps the protagonist strolls through the streets of London, and the camera occasionally captures cityscapes.... it really feels like listening to that type of soundtrack, and those who have seen them might understand me.... The atmosphere, except for a few tracks, is one of delicate spheres, fundamentally melancholic mood, and instrumentation played almost not to disturb the listener too much, although, as already mentioned, there are slightly more lively pieces, like "Poor Boy" (even a bossa nova..) or "Hazey Jane I".
Let’s be clear, you can definitely hear that there was compositional talent, just listen to very fine pieces like "Fly", "Northern Sky", and the aforementioned "At The Chime Of The City Clock" to understand that the artist's fabric was by no means lacking. In "Northern Sky", for example, I seem to hear echoes (these are vague hints, sensations like "flashes") of "The Only Living Boy in New York" by Simon & Garfunkel, but it’s worth highlighting that Nick Drake was able to create a personal style, albeit, obviously, a child of his times. So what’s wrong then? Well, what some consider a virtue, to me is the real great flaw of Nick Drake: the voice. In my opinion, some songs are sung with such a fragile tone of voice that they weaken the final result; agreed that the musical atmosphere is "subdued," but my opinion is that certain songs, with another singer with a stronger and more extensive vocal range, would have gained in brilliance and accessibility. Another flaw is precisely the need to be at least a bit down to be able to listen to this album to the end; on a cheerful day, I would never dream of putting on this "Bryter Layter," even if I know his music was a reflection of his personality.
In conclusion, "Bryter Layter," for me, indicates Nick Drake as a singer who had considerable potential from a compositional skill point of view, but who, due to subjective limits, did not express himself in the most convincing manner. And now go ahead and crucify me.... but since I read on Debaser that even the Beatles can be questioned, why can't we question the "phenomenon" that is Nick Drake?
And anyway, I give four stars as a rating, not peanuts....
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 Hazey Jane I (04:31)
Do you curse where you come from,
Do you swear in the night
Will it mean much to you
If I treat you right.
Do you like what you're doing,
Would you do it some more
Or will you stop once and wonder
What you're doing it for.
Hey slow Jane, make sense
Slow, slow, Jane, cross the fence.
Do you feel like a remnant
Of something that's past
Do you find things are moving
Just a little too fast.
Do you hope to find new ways
Of quenching your thirst,
Do you hope to find new ways
Of doing better than your worst.
Hey slow Jane, let me prove
Slow, slow Jane, we're on the move.
Do it for you,
Sure that you would do the same for me one day.
So try to be true,
Even if it's only in your hazey way.
Can you tell if you're moving
With no mirror to see,
If you're just riding a new man
Looks a little like me.
Is it all so confusing,
Is it hard to believe
When the winter is coming
Can you sign up and leave.
Hey slow Jane, live your lie
Slow, slow jane, fly on by.
07 Fly (03:00)
Please give me a second grace
Please give me a second face
I've fallen far down
The first time around
Now I just sit on the ground in your way
Now if it's time for recompense for what's done
Come, come sit down on the fence in the sun
And the clouds will roll by
And we'll never deny
It's really too hard for to fly.
Please tell me your second name
Please play me your second game
I've fallen so far
For the people you are
I just need your star for a day
So come, come ride in my street-car by the bay
For now I must know how fine you are in your way
And the sea sure as I
But she won’t need to cry
For it's really too hard for to fly.
08 Poor Boy (06:09)
Nick Drake - Poor boy
Never sing for my supper
I never help my neighbour
Never do what is proper
For my share of labour.
I`m a poor boy
And I`m a rover
Count your coins and
Throw them over my shoulder
I may grow older
Nobody knows
How cold it grows
And nobody sees
How shaky my knees
Nobody cares
How steep my stairs
And nobody smiles
If I cross their stiles.
Oh poor boy
So sorry for himself
Oh poor boy
So worried for his health.
You may say every day
Where will he stay tonight.
Never know what I came for
Seems that I`ve forgotten
Never ask what I came for
Or how I was begotten.
I`m a poor boy
And I`m a ranger
Things I say
May seem stranger than Sunday
Changing to Monday.
Nobody knows
How cold it flows
And nobody feels
The worn down heels
Nobody`s eyes
Make the skies
Nobody spreads
Their aching heads.
Oh poor boy
So worried for his life
Oh poor boy
So keen to take a wife.
He`s a mess but he`ll say yes
If you just dress in white.
Nobody knows
How cold it blows
And nobody sees
How shaky my knees
Nobody cares
How steep my stairs
And nobody smiles
If you cross their stiles.
Oh poor boy
So sorry for himself
Oh poor boy
So worried for his health.
You may say every day
Where will he stay tonight.
Oh poor boy
So worried for his life
Oh poor boy
So keen to take a wife.
Oh poor boy
So sorry for himself
Oh poor boy
So worried for his health
Oh poor boy.
09 Northern Sky (03:47)
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 time 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
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Other reviews
By NicholasRodneyDrake
The result was actually something that borders on absolute perfection... listening to it gives you almost the sensation of entering a parallel world.
'Northern Sky' is a beautiful love song centered on the complete acceptance of the other.
By Dune Buggy
"You feel like leftover of something that’s gone, immersed in the instrumental sunset of the title-track."
"It’s hard to stay angry when there’s so much beauty in the world."
By maxgit
I was blown away by this record.
"Bryter Layter" is a very beautiful record. Perfect. The best I have ever listened to.
By luludia
This is one of those rare cases where the whole exceeds the sum of its parts.
"Northern Sky" is a song full of hopes, but which does not neglect the subtle cracks, the too-tight shoes of the dream traveler.
By zaireeka
Bryter Layter represents an oasis, an interlude, a hope of happiness in Nick Drake’s world.
I see, I saw, in Nick Drake’s voice in that section, the voice of a mountain stream, and in the saxophone that accompanies it, a butterfly that follows it, painting light paths in the air.
