I guess I can't be sure, but to me it makes a lot of sense that this song is about death or Thanatos or dwelling on mortality... River Man is the legendary guide on the River Styx who carries souls who have just entered the underworld into Hades.
It's pretty eerie coming from Nick Drake when you know that he did, in fact, kill himself, and you consider that this song may have been written during a time of rumination about where his own soul would go after death.
Gonna see the river man
Gonna to tell him all I can
About the ban
On feeling free
"the ban on feeling free"? well, everyone would commit suicide if we thought it was OK - if it wasn't sinful, or if our soul would simply melt away into heaven, right?
It's like the famous Shakespearean soliloquay about "To Be or Not To Be," where Hamlet considers suicide if it weren't for the mystery of "What dreams may come" - what follows death? and could it be worse than life?
Perhaps also borrowed from Shakespeare is this idea of "lilac time," which sounds like a reference to Ophelia, who killed herself in a fit of madness.
If he tells me all he knows
About the way his river flows
I don't suppose
It's meant for me
I dunno if this was indeed a specific intent of the song, but it runs chills down my spine. I listen to this song and think of my own mortality. Ironic, too, about the song, is that it is so beautiful and light, like his syrupy voice, that you can't even be sure it does exist :).
@Leroyskagnetti:- Played this at my partner's funeral in 2011 as he loved it & admired Nick Drake so much & identified strongly with River Man. A week before he passed suddenly, he told me he had a rare vivid dream in which, at a party, his friends of all his 60 years appeared as a series of passing faces. Later in the dream, a "magician or wizard" shook tiny black pieces of something from his wide sleeves. I believe he foresaw his own death & his soul leaving, in pieces, as it surely was. Unlike Nick Drake...
@Leroyskagnetti:- Played this at my partner's funeral in 2011 as he loved it & admired Nick Drake so much & identified strongly with River Man. A week before he passed suddenly, he told me he had a rare vivid dream in which, at a party, his friends of all his 60 years appeared as a series of passing faces. Later in the dream, a "magician or wizard" shook tiny black pieces of something from his wide sleeves. I believe he foresaw his own death & his soul leaving, in pieces, as it surely was. Unlike Nick Drake it was not obvious suicide but was the result of years of self-abuse. He understood depression & mortality. Interestingly, the majority of people at the service said later " Beautiful song.." clearly with nil comprehension of the lyrics. The atmosphere created by Drake's song was one of reflection & a deep longing, even without words. What sad men they both were and out of step with this harsh world.
I guess I can't be sure, but to me it makes a lot of sense that this song is about death or Thanatos or dwelling on mortality... River Man is the legendary guide on the River Styx who carries souls who have just entered the underworld into Hades.
It's pretty eerie coming from Nick Drake when you know that he did, in fact, kill himself, and you consider that this song may have been written during a time of rumination about where his own soul would go after death.
Gonna see the river man Gonna to tell him all I can About the ban On feeling free
"the ban on feeling free"? well, everyone would commit suicide if we thought it was OK - if it wasn't sinful, or if our soul would simply melt away into heaven, right?
It's like the famous Shakespearean soliloquay about "To Be or Not To Be," where Hamlet considers suicide if it weren't for the mystery of "What dreams may come" - what follows death? and could it be worse than life?
Perhaps also borrowed from Shakespeare is this idea of "lilac time," which sounds like a reference to Ophelia, who killed herself in a fit of madness.
If he tells me all he knows About the way his river flows I don't suppose It's meant for me
I dunno if this was indeed a specific intent of the song, but it runs chills down my spine. I listen to this song and think of my own mortality. Ironic, too, about the song, is that it is so beautiful and light, like his syrupy voice, that you can't even be sure it does exist :).
@Leroyskagnetti:- Played this at my partner's funeral in 2011 as he loved it & admired Nick Drake so much & identified strongly with River Man. A week before he passed suddenly, he told me he had a rare vivid dream in which, at a party, his friends of all his 60 years appeared as a series of passing faces. Later in the dream, a "magician or wizard" shook tiny black pieces of something from his wide sleeves. I believe he foresaw his own death & his soul leaving, in pieces, as it surely was. Unlike Nick Drake...
@Leroyskagnetti:- Played this at my partner's funeral in 2011 as he loved it & admired Nick Drake so much & identified strongly with River Man. A week before he passed suddenly, he told me he had a rare vivid dream in which, at a party, his friends of all his 60 years appeared as a series of passing faces. Later in the dream, a "magician or wizard" shook tiny black pieces of something from his wide sleeves. I believe he foresaw his own death & his soul leaving, in pieces, as it surely was. Unlike Nick Drake it was not obvious suicide but was the result of years of self-abuse. He understood depression & mortality. Interestingly, the majority of people at the service said later " Beautiful song.." clearly with nil comprehension of the lyrics. The atmosphere created by Drake's song was one of reflection & a deep longing, even without words. What sad men they both were and out of step with this harsh world.