Nick Drake

I love the AV Club’s weekly feature where the staff takes turns answering a question about pop culture; this week’s revolved around artists/pieces of art they didn’t get the first time they checked them out. Josh Modell chose Nick Drake, writing that

there was a surge of interest in the ’90s, probably the third such surge since his death in 1974. This wave could probably be credited to people like Elliott Smith and Badly Drawn Boy, who were clearly influenced by Drake.

Now, that might be right, but I think the answer is far more mundane than that: There was a kickass Nick Drake commercial in the 90s. OK, it was a VW commercial, but it might as well have been a commercial for the folksy songwriter. You remember it:

That is one of the all time great car commercials. I can’t tell you how much it resonated with me and my friends; back when gas was less than a dollar a gallon we’d spend several nights a week during the summer just driving around, checking out the backstreets, listening to music, relaxing. It also got me into Drake, though only a little. Good times…