Nick Drake is like one of those classical painters who died penniless before their work became widely known. The three albums he recorded before his suicide at age 26 sold fewer than 10,000 copies combined. But after his death, mostly in the last two decades, all three have reached Gold status.

1971’s Bryter Later was his second album and many critics consider it his best. I’m familiar with only his final album, the wonderful Pink Moon, but a single listen to this one had me swooning.

Drake is a master of melancholy. His music has set the perfect mood for TV commercials and Wes Anderson movies. Even his love songs, like today’s beautiful SOTD, are a little sad.

Dream Academy wrote their own great “northern” song, ‘Life in a Northern Town,’ about Drake in 1985, 11 years after his death. That was 33 years ago, and both songs hold up splendidly.