Five Leaves Left is currently my favorite album by Nick Drake, only in competition with Bryter Layter for his best (not like there’s much to compete with). All the strings in this album accentuate the music perfectly. The piano often may as well not be there, but it doesn’t bother much. Also, I’m pretty sure “River Man” is one of the best folk songs ever written.

I hear many people describe Nick Drake’s music as sad or depressing. To me, his music sounds content. It’s the sound of acceptance. The thing about that is that there are multiple sides to everyone’s perception. Many things you accept because you feel helpless to change them. Whether you want to change them or not can make the difference between someone who is frustrated and someone who is satisfied with the way things are.

When I listen to Five Leaves Left, I hear the sound of a man who is satisfied. I hear the tender voice of someone who realizes how insignificant he is in the grand scheme of a big world filled with many people with as much importance as him. Someone who is perfectly in tune with nature and his place in it. I never knew Nick Drake as a man, so when I listen to Five Leaves Left, that man is me and those feelings are my own. Nick Drake’s gentle voice gives rise to my own, and that’s a very touching feeling.