Nick Drake’s “Hazey Jane I” will always be the track that I hold closest to my head and heart. The older I get, the more its personal meaning keeps shifting its shape allowing me to understand my own sentiments. There are times when I feel the sadness in it, or when I feel the bracing in it. Then there are times when my own feelings, situations project new mixed emotions onto it.
There’s something about Nick’s arrangement and delivery in this song that has always felt so “Western” to me. Its this Western feel I’ve always felt more personally in tune with. Rightfully or wrongly, I have an inner slower pace of spirit that I’m trying to reconcile with a life that requires a higher frequency. I don’t think I can do justice in describing how deeply I admire this track for capturing this feeling. The part that rings the truest is when Nick states: “So try to be true, Even if it’s only in your hazey way.” Lord knows, I’m still trying to figure this out. Maybe in another year I’ll know more.