ReadyMade Revisits David Berman

In the spring of 2002 Michael Ray, then the editor of 7X7 Magazine and current editor of Zoetrope Magazine, wrote a fun article about David Berman, the lead man of the band, the Silver Jews. The article,  How to Become a Rockstar Without Leaving Home, covered Berman’s early years living in basements and guarding museums while he began building a broad discography and broader fan base.

For this week’s Readymade Revisited I’m trying to school myself on as much of Berman’s music as possible. This was a much easier task than when I originally read the article in 2002. I live in small-town middle-America. We had no real music stores, and even with N4pster, the most I could download with our dial-up internet was a shitty Whitman’s sampler of music that may or may not have been by the Silver Jews. After careful listening, I determined that I was not cool enough for the Silver Jews. 

Today, I can stream most of his music on any number of  services, and I quickly discovered that I’m still not cool enough for David Berman’s work -- and that’s a good thing. 

I was several hours into this project when I discovered that Berman had died in August of 2019 by suicide. This broke my heart, both as a person that’s struggled with depression and as a Fangirl and music lover. So many artists are lost before they’re even found. 

In the 17 years since Ray’s article, David Berman grew and changed as a musician. Even his earliest lyrics could lay you bare, but his musical compositions became a whole new beast. His work is never expected. There is always something new to be learned or felt from his carefully chosen lyrics and intricately layered sound.

The single “All My Happiness is Gone” is thick and textural. His voice is cleaner, more polished, and the music is delicate, almost poppy. It’s surprisingly chipper for the theme of the song, but building complex situations inside catchy tunes is where Berman truly shines.

His songs move from the cute and quirky “New Orleans” to the evisceratingly sad “That’s Just the Way I Feel,” which was one of the last releases before his death. If you ever want to listen to what deep unflinching pain sounds like, check it out.

The entire last album, Purple Mountains, has a deep element of sadness throughout. The album was released the month before Berman hanged himself. 

His death moved his family, fans, and other musicians to eulogize him on social media and video hosting sites. Jeffrey Lewis, of Jeffrey Lewis and the Voltage, shared an email that he sent to Berman after receiving an advanced copy of his last album.

Thursday, March 28, 2019 5:12 P.M.

I’m celebrating the finished art by loading up my five-disc CD player with Silver Jews albums, and I had a listening marathon last night, and then I listened to the remaining albums this morning. I’m sure you don’t need to hear it from me, but you are an absolute staggering matter of artistic power. It's a body of work of such strength and power -- the songs, every line, the music, the singing, the entire aesthetic concept, and execution and existence of what you have brought into the world is like an airdrop of sheer soul nourishment, delicious and nutritious home-cooked fantastic menus of wonderful food on an impoverished and starving war-torn zone behind enemy lines. You had to fly some unimaginably rigorous and brave and intense missions to bring us what you’ve brought us, and you knew you were the only one who could do it. Even when your commanders told you not to, even when it seemed like an impossible mission or a worthless mission, you did it over and over. The souls that get their hands on these meals will be nourished heartily by them, and we thank you for your service. Life, our brains, our souls, our hearts, society -- it’s a war zone, and we’ve had the shit kicked out of us, and you’re Rambo. Well, even if Reagan put Rambo on a stamp, it wouldn’t have healed his warrior heart of the horrors he’s endured, but maybe he can stand up straighter and accept a salute. That’s part of his job too.

Rest in peace, Mr. Berman. I’m sorry that it took me 20 years to truly discover your talent, but I promise that I won’t take it for granted.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyMade_(magazine)

http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/index.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/08/obituary-david-berman-poet