Summary
"I never felt magic crazy as this....."
For some it's a beacon of hope, for others a metaphor for love. 'Northern Sky' is the penultimate track on Nick Drake's 1971 album 'Bryter Layter'. The sound was shaped by the Velvet Underground's John Cale who added the piano, organ and celeste. His records didn't sell well much to Nick's disappointment, but after his death in 1974 his music and genius became much better-known. These are just some of the stories from whose lives have been profoundly touched by this iconic track.
Gordon Hunter had a difficult childhood and says hearing 'Northern Sky' brought a meditative sense of calm to his life, like "finding treasure."
Nick Drake's producer Joe Boyd remembers how John Cale became involved in the recording, and his sadness that Nick never got the recognition he deserved in his own lifetime.
Singer-songwriter Alex Hart took a job on the Covid-19 111 helpline during the first lockdown and listened to 'Northern Sky' on the drives home. Alex covered the track for one of her albums.
Musicians Neil MacColl and Kate St John fell in love on the 'Way To Blue' tour in 2011 and discuss their performance of 'Northern Sky' and Kate's string arrangements. Neil walks us through Nick's guitar tunings and the song's lyrics.
It's a song that reminds Laura Barton of spring and the first rush of love which she experienced as a student in Oxford.
"Brighten my northern sky."
Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol Technical Producer: Michael Harrison Editor: Emma Harding
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.2 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.3 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse |
| 0:21.2 | range of skills and strengths, we have trained journalists, people who love digging through |
| 0:26.0 | archives, we've got drama and even comedy experts. We really can do those stories justice. So if |
| 0:31.8 | you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories |
| 0:37.1 | from all around the UK. BBC Sounds where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:40.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:44.3 | The first time I heard Nick Drake's music, I think I was about 10 years old. I had quite a difficult childhood. |
| 0:51.4 | My mother was always very loving, but my father was a much more serious |
| 0:56.0 | character, very strict. He found it difficult to show love and I would often experience |
| 1:04.1 | physical and mental abuse, which was really hard. And then I was sent to boarding school and I think my father thought that |
| 1:15.6 | that would be the discipline role when he wasn't around. But I found it very hard. It was quite a |
| 1:24.6 | brutal environment, very unloving, unsupportive place, which I didn't feel |
| 1:30.7 | especially well equipped to handle. And I didn't fit in. I stood out for all the wrong reasons, |
| 1:36.4 | and as a result, I was bullied quite a lot. I developed a mental toughness to help me cope, |
| 1:43.9 | which was through an ability to go inside |
| 1:48.0 | into things which sparked my imagination. |
| 1:52.0 | And then one day I heard Northern Sky. |
| 1:56.0 | It immediately made a deep impression on me. |
... |
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