The photograph, by Keith Morris, used for the front of the album depicts Nick gazing out a window from his Hampstead flat. The play between the light and the dark sets the mood for the music: the whole thing is not cast in shadow, though certainly parts of it are. It also serves as a visual metaphor for the bleakness and the exuberance heard contrasting in Nick Drake’s guitar work and vocals.

The title might be a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet – which used to contain a printed note near the end saying 'only five leaves left'. A closer look on the table seems to show an ashtray and 'tobacco' ....

The photograph on the back side depicts Nick standing against a brick wall by the Morgan Crucible Factory in Battersea, gazing into the distance. Nick looks almost wistfully into the distance, unaware that, ahead of him, a (business)man is running into the frame in some sort of rush.

Considered from both sides: What's on a man's mind!?

Parts of the photo shoot by Keith Morris. Nick in the same pose while other people are passing by, carrying about with their busy live.

The late Keith Morris’s Archive is by far the single most important source of photographs of Nick Drake. Keith photographed him in London for all three of his albums over a two and a half year period from April 1969 to November 1971. All these photographs are collected in a Big Book.

Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. Drake released his debut album, Five Leaves Left, in 1969 when he was a 20 years old student at the University of Cambridge. By 1972, he had recorded two more albums: Bryter Layter and Pink Moon. He failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work has gradually achieved wider notice and recognition.

Drake suffered from major depression; often reflected in his lyrics. On 25 November 1974, at the age of 26, Drake died from an overdose of approximately 30 amitriptyline pills, a prescribed antidepressant. His cause was determined to be suicide.

Pink Moon