SONGSTORY

Hazy Jane I - Nick Drake By Tony Bitzionis

Again with the Nick Drake. What can I say? I love the Drake!

In my previous post, the one where Dave made me out to be a pirate for whatever reason[1], we raised an interesting discussion about Drake’s ability to write stirring, soft, simple, ‘dreamy soundscapes’. It’s true; the man had the rare ability to write songs whose sounds surround you, like some kind of surrounding sound thing surrounding you, not unlike the sound of dinosaurs in the forest, coming for you and you know it. I should point out that my only resolution this year is to mention dinosaurs a lot more.

Onward! Hazy Jane I is a gorgeous song that I hold close to my heart [There is a Hazy Jane II, much different and maybe better (in my opinion) than this one, but I’ll be posting that one later].

Everybody knows the feeling of having a song you love made even more special when you associate it with a certain person, event, or place. I first really noticed this song a couple of summers ago when I was in Greece. My cousin, friends, and myself would take a bus every morning from my dad’s village to the beach; about an hour each way. I was listening to this song one day, my mates asleep in the back, and me staring out the bus window, stunned as usual by the rolling hills and mountains. The music fit in perfectly with the early morning sunlight cutting its way through the clouds and into the eyes of the old wrinkled farmers already putting in their fifth or sixth hour of work that day. Then I noticed the lyrics:

“Do you feel like a remnant Of Something that’s past? Do you find things are moving Just a little too fast?”

Now I know this is a song about a girl or maybe drugs, but I just appreciated the way it all fit into that particular moment, which I can’t help but think of every time I hear this song.

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