Five Leaves Left
Preface
River Man is my favorite. Fruit Tree is tragic, given the artist’s background. Day Is Done is the most poetic. Drake studied English literature and committed suicide at only 26. he was unrecognized during his lifetime, and was properly appreciated only years after he died.
The album pretty much sounds coherent: acoustic guitars with a unique whispering vocal, upbeat piano, and an unforgettable accompanying string quartet on most songs too. nothing too serious, slightly whiney, has several references to art and poetry, and sounds a lot like Pink Floyd’s early (post-Syd) albums. it’s a short listen too, good enough. the lyrics are too vague but it has its moments.
Review
I’ve heard and loved River Man for over a year. I expect great atmospheres, calm singing, and brilliant -but not so deep- poetry. it starts with Time Has Told Me, it sounds a lot like early 70s records. keys, acoustic guitar, and slightly upbeat and psychedelic.
You came with the dawn
A soul with no footprint
A rose with no thorn
River Man is the second track. it has a narrative, it sounds moody, unpredictable, and frustrated. it’s sad, but the lyrics are pretty unclear, pretty schizophrenic even. Three Hours sounds awesome, it’s very philosophical. the rhythm is what interests me the most here, they’re not common at all; it’s not tense and tough. it flows. many connected long syllables. there’s a double bass with some eastern percussion. it sounds oriental and enlightened, a bit sad and mysterious too.
Three hours is needed, To leave from them all
Three hours to wonder, And three hours to fall
Way To Blue, I like how short and straightforward the titles are. very humble. the strings are very classical in this one, a string quartet, considerately composed.
Have you seen the land living by the breeze?
Can you understand a light among the trees?
Day Is Done is my favorite so far, again accompanied by very classically written strings. the lyrics especially are amazing, very poetic. his voice is creepy for some reason. he whispers the words to you and only you. he speaks grand ideas: the sun, the meaning of life, rivers, and secrets of the earth but still manages to have a calm confident voice. as if he’s an enlightened speaker from another dimension. from the next lap, from someone who’s “already been there”, who knows the answers but isn’t panicked, spiritually elevated. he doesn’t try too hard to speak, because the words are loud enough.
When the day is done
Hope so much your race will be all run
Then you find you jumped the gun
Have to go back where you began
…Lost much sooner than you would have thought
Now the game’s been fought
…Down to earth, then, sinks the sun
Along with everything that was lost and won
When the day is done
Cello Song is weird (no surprise there), it’s really listenable, as in “listen on a radio”, and could be the single. no choruses, tribal percussions, and monotone chanting sounds. even the lyrics seem like it’s some sort of prayer: “And if one day you should see me in the crowd, Lend a hand and lift me to your place in the cloud”. This is even more obvious in the last section where he hums along with the crying cello.
Thoughts of Mary Jane is next, funnily enough, I think it’s probably about marijuana, because “Maryjane” and also the lyrics: “her journey to the stars”, “come from a strange world and leave her mind behind”, “her brightly-colored eyes”. The keys in Man in a Shed sound upbeat and pretty bluesy. the words seem hazy and cryptic but I like that he explains the analogies in the final verse. it’s a love song, he longs for mutual understanding although he’s suffering but he’s still a human being who craves connection.
it’s odd how ironic Fruit Tree happened to be: “Fame is but a fruit tree… It can never flourish ‘Til its stock is in the ground”. Drake didn’t get any attention during his lifetime, and became famous only when he died, and was “in the ground”, “‘Til time has flown, Far from their dying day”. I love the strings in the third quarter, so unsettling and alarming. there’s a clarinet that I like too, it sounds a bit like flamenco in the second part. this is now my other favorite song. the text is a gem, with many brilliant lines in it.
Forgotten while you’re here, Remembered for a while
A much-updated ruin, From a much-outdated style
Life is but a memory, Happened long ago
Theatre full of sadness, For a long-forgotten show
Seems so easy, Just to let it go on by
‘Til you stop and wonder, Why you never wondered why
it ends very well too, and concludes everything. in the final verse he “calls” the fruit tree as if it’s a person who he knows, he comforts the tree. the melody is reassuring and not alarming anymore, there’s comfort in the hope that someday he will be appreciated. Drake committed suicide at 26.
Fruit tree, fruit tree; No one knows you but the rain and the air
Don’t you worry, They’ll stand and stare when you’re gone
Fruit tree, fruit tree; Open your eyes to another year
They’ll all know, That you were here when you’re gone
Saturday Sun is a sweet clear ending. it talks of a great day that happened to follow a sad day. probably an analogy for his own life where he had a great childhood/youth but that child has matured into someone melancholic and there’s nothing we can do about it but to cry for a good day gone.
But Saturday’s sun has turned to Sunday’s rain
So Sunday sat in the Saturday sun
And wept for a day gone by