Pink Moon

The cryptic 2-minute title track of Nick Drake's third album, he got the name of this song from the Dictionary Of Folklore. It represents the blood-red color of the moon during eclipses.

Drake never had anything resembling a hit in America, but "Pink Moon" has become his most popular song in that country. This is due in no small part to its use in a 1999 commercial for the Volkswagen Cabriolet convertible, which shows four young people driving under the moonlight. When they reach their destination - a party - they tacitly agree to keep driving. The ad, which was created by the agency Arnold Worldwide, sparked a resurgence of interest in the song and in Nick Drake. The commercial was titled "Milky Way," and this song was not the first choice - "Under the Milky Way" by The Church was what they originally had in mind.

This song contains just Drake's voice, piano and acoustic guitar. These three elements are all that is heard on the entire album, as there were no outside musicians involved. In fact, the only man who seemed to know that Drake was even making an album was his producer/engineer John Wood, who recorded it. Even then, Drake was being called "the great silent enigma of our time." His record company, Island, claimed that they had lost track of him, and only knew about the album when Drake walked into the office and delivered it. Pink Moon would be Drake's last album; two years later he died after overdosing on antidepressant drugs in what was possibly a suicide. The singer was battling depression when he made this music, which is both melancholy and wondrous, providing an insight into his state of mind.