Nick Drake - "Day is Done"

Reflective and melancholic, this song, unusually for Nick Drake, has a lush string part by Robert Kirby. The rich treatment is appropriate to the theme of rueful frustration with the passage of time and human failings. The strings are high in the mix and the normally intimate acoustic guitar and voice are pushed back, at times sounding like private mutterings and head shaking.

Form
The form is simple except for the second and penultimate verses which have ten bars instead of eight, and five lines rather than four. There is no chorus. The intro is an instrumental verse, initially finger picked folk guitar, the string arrangement, probably a quartet, augmenting from the seventh bar. There is a strident middle-eight after four verses. There is no modulation so the middle-eight does not function harmonically as a bridge. There is no outro, just a neat rallentando. The overall form is: intro verse long-verse verse verse middle-eight verse long-verse verse. The last verse has the same lyrics as the first.

There is both symmetry and variation to provide interest. Verse-chorus form is much more popular now than simple verse form, however this was less true in 1968. This song is all the better for the lack of chorus. The hook is so strong we don't really want to get away from it and we don't look for contrast but to sink deeper into the melancholy. The lyrics and melody are not ambiguous so there is no other hand to examine.

Having said that the middle-eight does provide a chance to clear the head and survey the surroundings and is, despite some pleading, quite bouncy. The strings' counterpoint treads on dangerously mawkish ground at times. It could be argued that they are unnecessary since the guitar playing is highly decorated and gives plenty of interest along the way. However in this section they really show their worth providing strength and sonority beyond the capabilities of the guitar.

Some Final Thoughts
If this was a Paul McCartney song John Lennon would be rolling his eyes if the strings were any more exposed. What would George Martin have done with this? We could probably expect a bit more restraint and more progression in the arrangement. Phil Spector, of course, would have had a choir come in for the last two verses and have had Nick Drake do the vocals over the phone from a cave.

I expect the song, being the fifth of ten on the album, was the last of the first side. The intention would be to leave a lasting impression, so that, with a sigh, you fumble with vinyl and stylus, still transported to the other world created by the composer.