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Silver Jews' David Berman closes the curtain
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When on and off collide, we'll set our souls aside
I remember the day when I bought my first Silver Jews record like it was yesterday. I had stumbled across a review of their 1998 record, American Water, which called the album a cross between Abbey Road and The Band's second album. I ran out to the nearest record store... no American Water. So I picked up another album, Bright Flight, instead. I popped in the cd on my way home, and less than a minute later, the Silver Jews had me. The first track is called "Slow Education," it's the song you're listening to right now. When those pre-chorus drums kicked in and David and his wife Cassie sang "Oh, oh, oh... I'm lightning," I had to pull the car over. It was the music I'd been waiting my entire life to hear.
So today, after Berman's bizarre announcement on the Silver Jews message board that he's hanging up his guitar, my head is spinning, to say the least. The announcement was then followed up an hour later with David's admission that his father is none other than evil, right-wing corporate lackey/puppeteer Richard Berman. Anybody that reads about good government and corporate responsibility knows who Richard Berman is. We call him Dr. Evil. He had always been a behind-the-scenes, string pulling, inside-the-beltway kind of guy until 60 Minutes did an interview with him in July of 2007. In the interview, Rick Berman came off as just about the smarmiest, almost self-satirical villain that you'd ever want to see on television. Most recently, he's been busy trying to bust up unions. So I, uh... um... yeah. David Berman's father is Richard Berman. What is this, Empire Strikes Back? It's not often that I'm left speechless, but this one, well, cheap jokes aside, I just don't know what to say.
Since he's one of my heroes, and just about the best damn writer on the planet, I'll let David describe his father's exploits:
"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."
David's stated reason for quitting the music business is that he doesn't feel that the Silver Jews are a powerful enough force to undo all of the harm that his father has caused, and that "there needs to be something more."
I suppose that a small part of me is excited for this forthcoming chapter in the adventure that is David Berman's Journey Through Life, but for the most part, something feels dead wrong here. I learned a long time ago that life isn't fair, but it shouldn't cheat this much.
