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scully
Fourth Love
United Kingdom
217 Posts |
 Posted - 17/08/2009 : 08:51:23
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[/quote]Originally posted by lemonade kid
I prefer to think Nick didn't commit suicide ----no note-- who goes down to eat corn flakes & then does himself in?
[/quote]
It's all speculative, no-one will ever know. Maybe it was somewhere between wanting to get some sleep and a 'who cares if I don't wake up'.
The Trevor Dann book states that Nick left a copy of Camus 'The myth of Sisyphus', an exercise book with his complete lyrics carefully written out and a letter to his (ex) girlfirend Sophia Ryde by his bed. Sophia has said that she doesn't believe NIck killed himself though, so it wasn't a 'suicide note'.
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Edited by - scully on 20/08/2009 04:15:13 |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 17/08/2009 : 18:16:37
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quote:
Originally posted by scully
quote]Originally posted by lemonade kid
I prefer to think Nick didn't commit suicide ----no note-- who goes down to eat corn flakes & then does himself in?
It's all speculative, no-one will ever know. Maybe it was somewhere between wanting to get some sleep and a 'who cares if I don't wake up'.
The Trevor Dann book states that Nick left a copy of Camus 'The myth of Sisyphus', an exercise book with his complete lyrics carefully written out and a letter to his (ex) girlfirend Sophia Ryde by his bed. Sophia has said that she doesn't believe NIck killed himself though, so it wasn't a 'suicide note'.
Right Scully. Speculative. Seems like all that were closest to Nick feel it was not suicide.....which is no proof of anything but perhaps a wish, based on their deep affection and knowledge of Nick.
I guess that's why we all are careful to say "prefer to think"....
I think Nick would be pleased to know that even in his death, there is some good with the debate about the use of anti-depression drugs and depression. But then, what is depression but a label. Just like all the other labels for the next vogue disorder so they can push their designer drugs on the next unsuspecting group of parents with children that don't fit into the mold that society wishes to shove them.....
(I'm not dismissing severe depression as a terrible problem, but you all know what I mean about the drug pushing pharmaceutical "mafia".)
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 17/08/2009 18:20:52 |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 18/08/2009 : 05:21:01
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I don't know about the no note theory. Nick wrote Sophia Ryde (Free Ride was for her) a letter (she had broken up with him)
that was on his desk when he died
No idea whats in the letter, unfortunately. Trevor Dann's book didn't disclose, so I don't know if you can rule out intent ..
My feeling is that Nick didn't try very hard to live
How many pills of the Triptizol did he even take? I mean, if hes taking the lot ...
I mean, I know I know the pills killed his heart, but I'm not sure if people knew the danger of the painkillers. Certainly his parents weren't expected the prescribed drugs to KILL HIM
so its a mystery I'm afraid. I don't think Nick deliberately set about to take his own life (the view of his sister)
but he certainly didn't try hard to live. I mean, he was barely even existing at the end, just sitting in his room, just sitting in his room.
It was clear that something was terribly wrong
Which makes Pink Moon even more disturbing  |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 18/08/2009 : 17:58:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Morris
I don't know about the no note theory. Nick wrote Sophia Ryde (Free Ride was for her) a letter (she had broken up with him)
that was on his desk when he died
No idea whats in the letter, unfortunately. Trevor Dann's book didn't disclose, so I don't know if you can rule out intent ..
My feeling is that Nick didn't try very hard to live
How many pills of the Triptizol did he even take? I mean, if hes taking the lot ...
I mean, I know I know the pills killed his heart, but I'm not sure if people knew the danger of the painkillers. Certainly his parents weren't expected the prescribed drugs to KILL HIM
so its a mystery I'm afraid. I don't think Nick deliberately set about to take his own life (the view of his sister)
but he certainly didn't try hard to live. I mean, he was barely even existing at the end, just sitting in his room, just sitting in his room.
It was clear that something was terribly wrong
Which makes Pink Moon even more disturbing
It's hard to say.....but to say he wasn't trying to live takes a lot of projecting on your part..seeing it as relating to you. It is possible that it took every bit of strength he had to just get up and EXIST, there in his room. Maybe it didn't seem like a lot to some, but when mere existence becomes the most difficult thing one can do...it's hard for someone who hasn't been there to empathize.
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 20/08/2009 : 03:16:30
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theres a great quote by Linda Thompson, who said, basically, that Nick had no survival skills
whether he meant to take his own life..
Its clear by his last year (1974) he wasn't in a good place and had stopped taking care of himself physically (letting the fingernails grow long, etc) and he was pretty upset about not being more famous ("Hanging on a star") |
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sometimesmylifeissoeerie
Fourth Love
198 Posts |
Posted - 20/08/2009 : 08:02:06
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Tryptizol was an antidepressant (not a painkiller, though it has been used in that capacity)that he took for insomnia.
I was just reading some interviews on the IGUANA Nick Drake A-Z website, and most of the people that were around him back then said he was in good spirits and probably took too many pills because he couldn't sleep.
That drug was the most dangerous, powerful AD on the market back then, and it wouldn't have taken more than 200mgs(4 or 5 pills) to stop your heart.
His father said that they didn't know the drug had that side effect on the heart.
That's why someone made a zillion dollars inventing Prozac- no slowdown of the QT heartbeat interval.
All that said, it's impossible to be 100% sure either way. |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 21/08/2009 : 05:51:36
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It might have picked up a little after the fellow who owned
Island (Chris Blackwell) allowed Nick to stay on his
houseboat but from Bryter Layter onwards
Nick wasn't communicating much
Of course, everyone was in awe of him and didn't really
pick up on the fact that, "Hey, he doesn't speak, is
there something wrong on the inside"
I'm surprised noones ever mentioned as to what was in the
letter to Sophia Ryde that Nick left on his desk night
he died
He must've been despondent at the time (November 1974).
He had tried to be a computer programmer, I think
he even got his haircut and tried to join the military
He really did need someone to talk to, from BL onwards,
and as he wasn't touring how was anyone to hear his music?
Wasn't Peel the only dj playing it on radio at the time? |
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rocker
Old Love
USA
3606 Posts |
Posted - 21/08/2009 : 14:44:25
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.."no survival skills"..
Apt quote. Sometimes I think perhaps if some kind of personal intervention came in Drake wouldn't have had to experience life the way he did. I'm sure he had problems with that word "success" especially in the music industry. To be a "star" is fraught with peril. It's evident though that his music has seeped more into the public sphere. In fact, before Tower went out of business here they devoted a whole section to his cds and suggested that people pick up his work. |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 21/08/2009 : 18:22:39
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Another interesting quote from "A Skin Too Few" is when Nick's father said he suggested to Nick that he should finish out his schooling at Oxford so he would have a "safety net, so to speak"...to fall back on.
Causing his Father a fair bit of distress, Nick replied, "A safety net is just what I DON'T want". He wanted to take real chances...not go the safe route. What good is putting yourself out there with your music and really doing something radical if you always know you have something to fall back on. That would be more like a Paris Hilton with all her "hobbies"...a reach, but you know what I mean....
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
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kdion11
Old Love
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 21/08/2009 : 23:05:43
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[quote]Originally posted by lemonade kid
Causing his Father a fair bit of distress, Nick replied, "A safety net is just what I DON'T want". He wanted to take real chances...not go the safe route. What good is putting yourself out there with your music and really doing something radical if you always know you have something to fall back on. That would be more like a Paris Hilton with all her "hobbies"...a reach, but you know what I mean....
KD: Hey LK. Interesting that Nick would say that from THE SAFETY NET
of his parents mansion in the country where of course he always had
his room made up and dinner on the table.
Free the rooms !
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 21/08/2009 : 23:31:35
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quote:
Originally posted by kdion11
[quote]Originally posted by lemonade kid
Causing his Father a fair bit of distress, Nick replied, "A safety net is just what I DON'T want". He wanted to take real chances...not go the safe route. What good is putting yourself out there with your music and really doing something radical if you always know you have something to fall back on. That would be more like a Paris Hilton with all her "hobbies"...a reach, but you know what I mean....
KD: Hey LK. Interesting that Nick would say that from THE SAFETY NET
of his parents mansion in the country where of course he always had
his room made up and dinner on the table.
Free the rooms !
He said that when hopeful about his career and was moving on looking to make it big. Living at home was a last desperate move...he tried to live away, in dirty flats, with friends...the total lack of income and getting a small "allowance" to survive from his producer friend.....it just really weighed down on him and he wasn't happy living at home--he said he just couldn't live anywhere else--he had hit bottom....listen to the autobiographical "Parasite". --definitely felt a burden to all. Even when at home he would disappear for days or a week and show up at various friends' doors for shelter...then just leave again and end up at home.
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 22/08/2009 : 01:41:48
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Not sure if Nick was seeing a stipend from Boyd in the
last years though.. He had left Island to Robinson, to
work on a Hendrix film, but Robinson admired Nicks
output
Cash doesn't seem to have been a concern - more of a
shame at not having accomplished anything with his
music
Again though.. how was he to get the word out without
playing live? only Peel played him on his show I think |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 22/08/2009 : 18:19:02
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Morris
Again though.. how was he to get the word out without
playing live? only Peel played him on his show I think
Right, Joe. Just knowing the money is 'there" doesn't make it any less depressing to have to ask for it....or to make one feel like a parasite.
Nick just couldn't take that smaller venue, club scene....or opening for the high powered folk-rock of a Fairport.
He hoped people would want to listen, not drink and talk-- and he didn't have the personality to just tell them to shut up and listen. The fact that every song he wrote had a different tuning didn't help. He said nothing between songs while taking what seemed like forever to retune his guitar. His music wasn't really made for those kind of live performances of the day...high powered, knock me out of my seat live sets. Nick was more like, lets sit down and get the beautiful blues together.....what Nick needed was the long gone days of the coffee houses of Greenwich Village and Cambridge.
I always enjoy that "Dream Letter-Live" Tim Buckley quip, while taking quite awhile to tune his guitar---"....when you consider how long it took for the tree to grow.....it's better than reading an English paper." He could handle the crowds, and HE was rather quiet and humble...but a real go-getter compared to Nick! .....until his music moved so far above their heads that no one wanted to listen!
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
Edited by - lemonade kid on 22/08/2009 18:21:23 |
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Joe Morris
Old Love
3491 Posts |
Posted - 23/08/2009 : 00:23:27
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You should check out NickDrake.com's forum -
lots of good thoughts there. I often post there
At the moment I'm upgrading all my Nick Drake video to
dvd-r. I think he was featured on VH1
He was on BBC Choice (Rock Shrines) and BBC (A stranger
among us) and of course A Skin too few is
with the Fruit Tree box (the vinyl set is nasty from what I understand
\
Excellent article on Nick in Mojo a few months ago btw
He even made the cover! |
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lemonade kid
Old Love
USA
9873 Posts |
Posted - 23/08/2009 : 06:28:54
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quote:
Originally posted by Joe Morris
You should check out NickDrake.com's forum -
lots of good thoughts there. I often post there
At the moment I'm upgrading all my Nick Drake video to
dvd-r. I think he was featured on VH1
He was on BBC Choice (Rock Shrines) and BBC (A stranger
among us) and of course A Skin too few is
with the Fruit Tree box (the vinyl set is nasty from what I understand
\
Excellent article on Nick in Mojo a few months ago btw
He even made the cover!
A good site, Joe. I tried to post there but "they" never got back to me to affirm my signing up....so I gave up.
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Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity;
and I'm not sure about the universe. --Albert Einstein |
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Nick Drake Dug FC!
