Nick Drake is definitely one of my favourite artists. His songs are like a whisper in the wind, his fingerpicking on the guitar is firm, and he died from an overdose of antidepressants while still very young. What more can you ask from a legend? sadly, he hasn't become really well known till after his death. In this perspective his words in "Fruit Tree" sound almost self-prophetic: So men of fame can never find a way till time has flown far from their dying day

Time has told me You're a rare rare find A troubled cure For a troubled mind. And time has told me Not to ask for more Someday our ocean Will find its shore. So I`ll leave the ways that are making me be What I really don't want to be Leave the ways that are making me love What I really don't want to love. Time has told me You came with the dawn A soul with no footprint A rose with no thorn. Your tears they tell me There's really no way Of ending your troubles With things you can say. And time will tell you To stay by my side To keep on trying 'til there's no more to hide. So leave the ways that are making you be What you really don't want to be Leave the ways that are making you love What you really don't want to love. Time has told me You're a rare rare find A troubled cure For a troubled mind. And time has told me Not to ask for more For some day our ocean Will find its shore.

Time has told me Paul Harris, piano Richard Thompson, electric guitar Danny Thompson, bass

Betty came by on her way Said she had a word to say About things today And fallen leaves. Said she hadn't heard the news Hadn't had the time to choose A way to lose But she believes. Going to see the river man Going to tell him all I can About the plan For lilac time. If he tells me all he knows About the way his river flows And all night shows In summertime. Betty said she prayed today For the sky to blow away Or maybe stay She wasn't sure. For when she thought of summer rain Calling for her mind again She lost the pain And stayed for more. Going to see the river man Going to tell him all I can About the ban On feeling free. If he tells me all he knows About the way his river flows I don't suppose It's meant for me. Oh, how they come and go Oh, how they come and go

River Man Arranged by Harry Robinson An excised verse culled posthumously from Nick's lyric notebook: Betty fell behind awhile Said she hadn't time to smile Or die in style. But still she tries Said her time was growing short Hadn't done the things she ought Where teacher taught And Father flies

Three hours Danny Thompson, bass Rocki Dzidzornu, congas The following verse is included on the original vinyl record cover (but not sung): We had all the time, but failed to make sense From one side to the other we fell to the fence The one hope of failure had turned to the best While three hours had taken the hope of success

Three hours from sundown Jeremy flies Hoping to keep The sun from his eyes East from the city And down to the cave In search of a master In search of a slave. Three hours from London Jacomo's free Taking his woes Down to the sea In search of a lifetime To tell when he's home In search of a story That's never been known. Three hours from speaking Everyone's flown Not wanting to be Seen on their own Three hours is needed To leave from them all Three hours to wonder And three hours to fall. Three hours from sundown Jeremy flies Hoping to keep The sun from his eyes East from the city And down to the cave In search of a master In search of a slave.

Way to blue Arranged by Robert Kirby

Don't you have a word to show what may be done Have you never heard a way to find the sun Tell me all that you may know Show me what you have to show Won't you come and say If you know the way to blue? Have you seen the land living by the breeze Can you understand a light among the trees Tell me all that you may know Show me what you have to show Tell us all today If you know the way to blue? Look through time and find your rhyme Tell us what you find We will wait at your gate Hoping like the blind. Can you now recall all that you have known? Will you never fall When the light has flown? Tell me all that you may know Show me what you have to show Won't you come and say If you know the way to blue?

When the day is done Down to earth then sinks the sun Along with everything that was lost and won When the day is done. 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 When the day is done. When the night is cold Some get by but some get old Just to show life's not made of gold When the night is cold. When the bird has flown Got no-one to call your own Got no place to call your home When the bird has flown. When the game's been fought You speed the ball across the court Lost much sooner than you would have thought Now the game's been fought. When the party's through Seems so very sad for you Didn't do the things you meant to do Now there's no time to start anew Now the party's through. When the day is done Down to earth then sinks the sun Along with everything that was lost and won When the day is done.

Day is done Arranged by Robert Kirby

Strange face, with your eyes So pale and sincere. Underneath you know well You have nothing to fear. For the dreams that came to you when so young Told of a life Where spring is sprung. You would seem so frail In the cold of the night When the armies of emotion Go out to fight. But while the earth sinks to its grave You sail to the sky On the crest of a wave. So forget this cruel world Where I belong I'll just sit and wait And sing my song. And if one day you should see me in the crowd Lend a hand and lift me To your place in the cloud.

'Cello song Clare Lowter, 'cello Danny Thompson, bass Rocki Dzidzornu, congas

Who can know The thoughts of Mary jane Why she flies Or goes out in the rain Where she's been And who she's seen In her journey to the stars. Who can know The reasons for her smile What are her dreams When they've journeyed for a mile The way she sings And her brightly coloured rings Make her the princess of the sky. Who can know What happens in her mind Did she come from a strange world And leave her mind behind Her long lost sighs And her brightly coloured eyes Tell her story to the wind. Who can know The thoughts of Mary Jane Why she flies Or goes out in the rain Where she's been And who she's seen In her journey to the stars.

The thoughts of Mary Jane Arranged by Robert Kirby

Man in a shed Paul Harris, piano Danny Thompson, bass

Well there was a man who lived in a shed Spent most of his days out of his head For his shed was rotten let in the rain Said it was enough to drive any man insane When it rained He felt so bad When it snowed he felt just simply sad. Well there was a girl who lived nearby Whenever he saw her he could only simply sigh But she lived in a house so very big and grand For him it seemed like some very distant land So when he called her His shed to mend, She said I'm sorry you'll just have to find a friend. Well this story is not so very new But the man is me, yes and the girl is you So leave your house come into my shed Please stop my world from raining through my head Please don't think I'm not your sort You'll find that sheds are nicer than you thought.

Fruit tree Arranged by Robert Kirby

Fame is but a fruit tree So very unsound. It can never flourish Till its stalk is in the ground. So men of fame Can never find a way Till time has flown Far from their dying day. 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 Till you stop and wonder Why you never wondered why. Safe in the womb Of an everlasting night You find the darkness can Give the brightest light. Safe in your place deep in the earth That's when they'll know what you were really worth. Forgotten while you're here Remembered for a while A much updated ruin From a much outdated style. Fame is but a fruit tree So very unsound. It can never flourish Till its stalk is in the ground. So men of fame Can never find a way Till time has flown Far from their dying day. 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 Paul Harris, piano Danny Thompson, bass Tristam Fry, drums & vibraphone

Saturday sun came early one morning In a sky so clear and blue Saturday sun came without warning So no-one knew what to do. Saturday sun brought people and faces That didn't seem much in their day But when I remember those people and places They were really too good in their way. In their way In their way Saturday sun won't come and see me today. Think about stories with reason and rhyme Circling through your brain. And think about people in their season and time Returning again and again And again And again And Saturday's sun has turned to Sunday's rain. So Sunday sat in the Saturday sun And wept for a day gone by.