NickDrake.com

[Matt (admin)]

Hi all.

I had an email from a fan this week asking about the lyrics to Fly. She's always heard the line in the last verse as 'The sea she will sigh, but she won't need to cry'. It's printed everywhere (including here) as 'And the sea sure as I...'

Which do you hear? Bear in mind we're talking about the version on Bryter Layter, not the one on TONR which has different lyrics (although this line is, I think the same on both)

Let us know - I've voted but I won't tell you which I went for just yet

Cheers
Matt

[Midnightmoon]

Hm.

On BL, I hear: "And the sea she will sigh, but she won't need to cry".

On TONR I hear: "And the sea she will sigh, and I'll never deny".

So this line seems different on the two versions. But the "and the sea she will sigh" seems even more clearly pronounced this way on TONR.

And people say he started mumbling on PM, influenced by Martyn. He was always a bit of a mumbler wasn't he?

[bmore]

I raised this issue some time ago; along with other discrepancies in the lyrics of "Fly". It seems to have been a song partly inchoate with respects the lyrics.

http://www.nickdrake.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4913&highlight=fly

[lostmusic]

Uh Oh. I voted for "the sea she will cry"! Didn't mean to do that.
I believe it is "the sea she will sigh", most definitely, on every version I've heard.

[bmore]

The options for the poll are wrong. It is not either `the sea she will cry' nor `the sea sure as I'; but surely `the sea she will sigh'


Dig?

Surely,

Arthur.

[joenzi]

From what I have read, I think Nick really enjoyed people “mishearing” and creating their own versions of his lyrics. Maybe Joe Boyd mentions this somewhere.

One example, relates to the Northern Sky line: “I never held emotion in the palm of my hand”.

Somewhere I read that he visiting with John and Beverly Martyn. He was playing/working on Northern Sky. One of their kids was outside with Nick (I think their house was close to the ocean), and the child held up his/her cupped hand, lining it up by eye to the distant sea saying “you see Nick - I can hold an ocean in the palm of my hand.” Nick loved the comment – the story might have been related by Beverley.

Then I read this from Paul Wheeler in the Pete Paphides essay: “That right, yes. It’s all to do with the view from John Martyn’s house in Hastings. There’s the line, ‘Held an ocean in the palm of my hand’ – which is all to do with a remark that Nick made to me. He was holding a raspberry in the palm of his hand when he was stoned, and someone commented that it was actually a bunch of grapes. Nick laughed that this was unquestionably ‘true’.”

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[Matt (admin)]

[EKP]

I hear a distinct "w" on "will" in that line, but maybe it's just me!

[Matt (admin)]

I asked Cally about this difference in lyrics - here's what he said.

___

I have to say that that the (un-named) fan is absolutely correct in her detection.

Over the years I have spotted many a 'mistake' in Nick's lyrics and in the music book we are working on I plan to correct all of these.

They are often not mistakes, though. If you take 'Cello song for instance, the book will show how Nick originally wrote the lyrics out in his handwriting, from his notebook, then it will show the verses that never made it into the recording, then it will show the lyrics as sung. You may not be surprised to find that there are discrepancies throughout.

I have worked with many musicians who write a song, revise it, revise it again, record it, revise it yet again, and so on. Technology has rather forced us to view the recorded version as 'definitive', but this is a falsehood, in my opinion. I like to think that all art has a long life and if that means painting 8 variations on 'The Scream' then so be it.

It is unsurprising that each of the 8 owners of that painting claim that theirs is the definitive version when it may be considered that the 'definitive' version died with Munch, in his head.

Please can you pass along my thanks? I am constantly indebted to the care and attention Nick's fans take on his music,

With best wishes,

Cally

---

Cheers

Matt

[bmore]

I very much like this response of Mr Callamon.


A work of art, if it is alive, should carry on and differ regularly.


If you set Nick's music in stone then it will die.

Good on ye.

[Matt (admin)]

[wayne]

Matt, is this the long awaited 'Nick Drake work book' we've heard about before?

Has Cally mentioned when it's coming out?
_________________
www.thewindmillsofyourmind.com

[Matt (admin)]

I haven't got any more info yet but will see what I can find out. It's been in the pipeline for a while

[wayne]

Cool, thanks!
_________________
www.thewindmillsofyourmind.com

[Matt (admin)]