.png)
Meshell Ndegeocello finds inspiration everywhere — in books, conversations, images and of course, music. Her own music is so difficult to label because it has so many disparate influences. One such influence is Nick Drake, the British singer-songwriter and musician. Drake, lauded for his poetic and personal acoustic music was on the verge of stardom when he committed suicide in 1974 at the age of 26, ending a long bout with depression.
For one of her Off The Record covers Ndegeocello chose to perform ‘Pink Moon,’ the title track of Drake’s final album. According to her, the song reflects both the beauty of his work and the sadness in his soul:
“I love Nick Drake and there’s something haunting about him and the song and just it’s circular motion is entrancing to me … It’s just a song I like to play. No other reason. Plus it’s fascinating, he had so much going for him and he was about to experience some great fame and he just outed himself so I guess it fascinates me what could propel a person to do that. That must’ve been an intense sadness.”
Watch Meshell Ndegeocello’s moving cover of Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’ above.
