Song Analysis #1 - "Cello Song"

“Cello Song” is a tune by Nick Drake, an English singer-songwriter who made melancholic folk music about the highs and lows of life. His songs were plainspoken and insightful, while possessing a mystic quality all the while. Drake’s life was cut short when he died from an overdose of anti-depressants. This song that I chose seems to represent a definitive perspective on the folly of life from an artist that struggled to find any optimism at all in it. What starts off as a bittersweet tribute to a fallen friend morphs into deep contemplation about what is awaiting Nick after death; he hopes that it is a heaven that will put an end to all of his suffering and reunite him with his blissful friend.

In the first stanza, Drake makes a vague allusion to a key component of the Biblical tales of old: Heaven. The speaker of the song admires his friend’s calm serenity and pure nonchalance, attributed no doubt derived from a rock solid faith in the existence of a final destination that underplays life as simply a means to an end. He enviously asserts, “You have nothing to fear / for the dreams that came to you when so young / told of a life / where spring is sprung” (4-7). God’s kingdom is portrayed as the light at the end of the tunnel; Drake isn’t so steadfast as his friend, leaving him susceptible to the daily emotional tumult that plagues him. Then, when his beloved friend passes away, “(sailing) to the sky on the crest of a wave” (13-14), Drake imagines the deceased’s transcendence from confined body to freed soul.

In telling the tale of his companion’s tragic end, Drake inevitably compares the liberties of someone else to his own incessant calamities. Metaphorical language is employed to describe the mental conflicts that the speaker faces within his mind. His dark bouts of depression are described as that time “in the cold of the night / when the armies of emotion go out to fight” (9-10). While Drake tries to keep his personal demons at bay, he fears for the safety of his friend, saying, “You would seem so frail.” But the friend, who piously places faith in salvation, manages to evade the inner turmoil that invades Drake’s consciousness.

The tone that permeates the first half of the song is strongly mournful and regrettable, not solely because of the death of the speaker’s close friend, but because of the wondrous escape through death that occurred, leaving him to wallow even more in his doubt and misery. Drake carries a negative aspect on most things, as evidenced by the forlorn proclamation, “The earth sinks to its grave” (12). With pessimism abound, he can only dream about a better existence that can possibly offer solace and nurture his emotional pain. Towards the closing of the song, the attitude of the singer slightly alters. With a heavy note of resignation, Drake resolves to ignore his pitiful state and “forget this cruel world” (15) and focus on perseveringly pouring out the blues in music, which may somehow dull the pervasive pathos. He aspires to wait it out, hoping that one day he’ll spot the hand of his long lost friend, who’ll lead him into a newly discovered paradise.

This mellow song deeply resonates as ample representation of the sad heart of a man dissatisfied and let down by all of life’s banality. It plays on the heartstrings of anyone who’s ever felt traumatized and despondent. Through the envious eyes of a restless man, death is portrayed not as a foreboding end, but a benevolent savior that will whisk one away to a place where expectations are met, not battered away into oblivion.

Lyrics

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.