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Though Nick Drake is rightly considered a folk-rock singer-songwriter, some of the traits that made him more interesting than many other performers placed in that category was his use of shades of jazz and soul in some of his ork. "Poor Boy" is one of the leading illustrations of this in his slim catalog, with a melody and words that often don't sound far from what you might hear in a particularly downbeat section of a torch singer's repertoire. Much can be made of parallels between Drake's generally downbeat lyrics and his struggles with depression, but certainly the bleakness is more to the forefront in this song than in many others, with poor self-esteem leaking through at many turns. The first-person "Poor Boy" of the tune never seems to be doing anything worthwhile, and laments how no one sees how hard and empty his life is. Yet, although there's much self-pity to be heard, the song itself doesn't bog down in gloom and doom, with its attractive jazzy chord changes and bossa nova-tinged beats. Also, there's a key balance to the self-pity in the chorus, where the backup vocals of expatriate American soul singers Pat Arnold and Doris Troy almost act as a gently mocking counterpoint to Drake's despair, singing about the poor boy's tribulations in a downright uplifting manner, as if to make light of his heavy head-hanging. "Poor Boy" goes on for a good six and a half minutes without getting boring, with much credit due to the stellar support players, particularly Arnold, Troy, pianist Chris McGregor, and alto saxophonist Ray Warleigh, who's responsible for some of the jazziest flavors.
(Richie Unterberger, allmusic.com) |
