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silver jews - why he got into (and out of) music

 
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billycasper



Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 00:13    Post subject: silver jews - why he got into (and out of) music Reply with quote

not sure if there's (m)any silver jews fans on here, but i'd certainly rank him as one of the highest of the many greenman highlights of recent years.

i can't stop thinking about dave berman's decision to stop recording, as posted on the silver jews message board earlier in the week. text below.

if this story's true, this makes the silver jews story even more incredible than the records and (albeit patchy) live shows already made me think. part of me hopes he's not made the story up...but for his sake most of me hopes he has. he always struck me as a bit of a one, but it seems like there's some real pain here. whatever, this strikes me as one the most remarkable retirement from music statements I can ever recall.

billyxo
--------
Now that the Joos are over I can tell you my gravest secret. Worse than suicide, worse than crack addiction. My father. You might be surprised to know he is famous, for terrible reasons. My father is a despicable man. My father is a sort of human molestor. An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world historical motherfucking son of a bitch. (sorry grandma). You can read about him here.

www.bermanexposed.org

My life is so wierd. It's allegorical to the nth. My father went to college at Transylvania University. You see what I'm saying. A couple of years ago I demanded he stop his work. Close down his company or I would sever our relationship. He refused. He has just gotten worse. More evil. More powerful. We've been "estranged" for over three years. Even as a child I disliked him. We were opposites. I wanted to read. He wanted to play games. He is a union buster. When I got out of college I joined the Teamsters (the guards were union organized at the Whitney). I went off to hide in art and academia. I fled through this art portal for twenty years. In the mean time my Dad started a very very bad company called Berman and Company. He props up fast food/soda/factory farming/childhood obesity and diabetes/drunk driving/secondhand smoke. He attacks animal lovers, ecologists, civil action attorneys, scientists, dieticians, doctors, teachers. His clients include everyone from the makers of Agent Orange to the Tanning Salon Owners of America. He helped ensure the minimum wage did not move a penny from 1997-2007! The worst part for me as a writer is what he does with the english language. Though vicious he is a doltish thinker and his spurious editorials rely on doublethink and always with the Lashon Hara. As I studied Judaism over the years, the shame and the shanda, grew almost too much. my heart was constantly on fire for justice. I could find no relief. This winter I decided that the SJs were too small of a force to ever come close to undoing a millionth of all the harm he has caused. To you and everyone you know. Literally, if you eat food or have a job, he is reaching you. I've always hid this terrible shame from you, the fan. The SJs have always stood autonomous and clear. Hopefully it won't contaminate your feelings about the work.

My life has been riddled with Ibsenism. In a way I am the son of a demon come to make good the damage. Previously I thought, through songs and poems and drawings I could find and build a refuge away from his world. But there is the matter of Justice. And i'll tell you it's not just a metaphor. The desire for it actually burns. It hurts. There needs to be something more. I'll see what that might be.

DCB
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Bev



Joined: 25 Aug 2002
Posts: 843
Location: Nottingham

PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 09:43    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, it puts the 'splitting up because of musical differences' thing into context doesn't it?

Damn shame, the Silver Jews were really good. Random Rules was the first track I heard, and still one of my favourites. He wrote some great lyrics. Damn shame.
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CranesAreFlying



Joined: 11 Apr 2003
Posts: 247
Location: Boston

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 09:35    Post subject: I don't Reply with quote

I don't get the reasoning.

Satan has spawned many a good child.

Shouldn't that put the fire in one's belly? Is the band resisting his efforts to take a stand on these issues? Is dad being an evil lobbyist really going to prevent him from living his life? And wouldn't his position be a perfect platform for speaking out against such things?

CREW - Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a phenomenal organization here in the United States. But wouldn't he be of more use to them as a public figure?

From wikipedia: "He also wrote that his intentions are to move to "screenwriting or muckraking"

I think that movie has been done before. Seriously? Take what you're best at, and make a revolution of it.
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"Even I know the solution: love, music, wine and revolution..." (magnetic fields)

Vodamusic.com
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John Mc



Joined: 29 Oct 2003
Posts: 1398

PostPosted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:31    Post subject: Re: I don't Reply with quote

CranesAreFlying wrote:
Take what you're best at, and make a revolution of it.


I will make a revolution of playing FIFA 09 on the Playstation.

I also don't understand how all the stuff about his Dad are linked to the band splitting up. Are the two things related at all? I'm confused. And cold.
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