day ten - black eyed dog
Many years ago, I first heard the band Gomez performing a song called ‘Black Eyed Dog’ live on Channel V. It was a such beautiful piece, and really influenced me at the time. It started with an ethereal, indian-inspired guitar part with intricate melodies flowing in and around the vocal line. As the song built, more and more textures were layered and it grew into a percussive, complex and joyous work. You could see just how much the band was enjoying playing that piece together.
Several years later, when I was deep in love with the music of english singer/songwriter Nick Drake, I discovered that the original was his. It was however completely unlike anything I’d heard from him before, and so withdrawn from the Gomez version that it was scarcely the same song. It featured none of the rich open tunings, lush harmonic progressions, and complex fingerstyle mastery I’d grown accustomed from Nick’s early work.
This version was a guitar, using only three strings, tuned at an octave and a fifth. The guitar part was spartan, simple and minimalist. His voice was that of a broken man - shallow and hoarse. His early work is lyrically intricate and eloquent. This - basic, repetitive and cold. This was a harrowing listening experience, as if you were hearing straight into the deep depression and anguish at his core.
Nick died not long after from an overdose of anti-depressants. While there is conjecture as to whether it was an accident or suicide, there is no doubt that this song, one of the last he ever recorded, speaks to the deep depression he suffered in the later years of his life.
It occurred to be that these two versions are often the way people may see those with depression… or perhaps it’s the way people with depression let others see them. From one perspective, there’s this beauty, energy and excitement as an outward expression of ones self. From the other is the simple, gut-wrenching pain that seems bleak and definitive.
The life of the song however is a nice metaphor for healing after depression. What started as a solitary, raw, exposed wound, evolved into a rich, unrecognisably beautiful work,, shared by friends and full of life.
Kilt of the Day - Black Watch
Soundtrack of the Day - Black Eyed Dog - Nick Drake
