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David Berman of Silver Jews has died

blame space

blame space

Resettlement Advisor
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,420
the purple mountains album and all of his interviews leading up to it made me think he was getting better. maybe nothing ever gets better.
 

Deleted member 5853

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,725
WHAT.

HE LITERALLY JUST RELEASED AN ALBUM.

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THIS ALBUM TO MUSIC OUTLETS.

WHAT.
 
Mr. Doop

Mr. Doop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
113
Honestly heartbreaking. Definitely not what I expected to read this evening. Purple Mountains is a phenomenal album and Silver Jews are such an important band to me. May he rest in peace
 
nachum00

nachum00

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,403
Fuck this really sucks.
I just listened to his new album the other day and found it to be amazing but incredibly depressing.

American Water is one of my favorite albums too. Fuck
RIP
 
Sabot

Sabot

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,945
Purple Mountains feels like a goodbye rather than a cry for help in retrospect now.
 
Illithid Dude

Illithid Dude

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,363
Genuinely shocking and deeply upsetting. Wow. At least he went out on a high note and delivered one last fantastic album.
 
Prolepro

Prolepro

Ghostwire: BooShock
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
7,310
This is devastating to hear... especially after his new album just releasing. I really hope this wasnt self-inflicted, but you could really hear the despondence in his lyrics underneath the music.

Course I've been humbled by the void
Much of my faith has been destroyed
I've been forced to watch my foes enjoy
Ceaseless feasts of schadenfreude
And as the pace of life keeps quickening
Beneath the bitching and the bickering
When I try to drown my thoughts in gin
I find my worst ideas know how to swim

Well, a setback can be a setup
For a comeback if you don't let up
But this kind of hurtin' won't heal
And the end of all wanting
Is all I've been wanting
And that's just the way that I feel
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Rest in peace, David. Tonight I'll pour one for you.

Sabot said:
Purple Mountains feels like a goodbye rather than a cry for help in retrospect now.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This. It's heartbreaking to hear now.
 
Rag

Rag

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,874
:( I love him. Here's one of my favorite poems of his:

It's too nice a day to read a novel set in England.

We're within inches of the perfect distance from the sun, the sky is blueberries and cream, and the wind is as warm as air from a tire. Even the headstones in the graveyard Seem to stand up and say "Hello! My name is..."

It's enough to be sitting here on my porch, thinking about Kermit Roosevelt, following the course of an ant, or walking out into the yard with a cordless phone to find out she is going to be there tonight.

On a day like today, what looks like bad news in the distance turns out to be something on my contact, carports and white courtesy phones are spontaneously reappreciated and random "okay"s ring through the backyards.

This morning I discovered the red tints in cola when I held a glass of it up to the light and found an expensive flashlight in the pocket of a winter coat I was packing away for summer.

It all reminds me of that moment when you take off your sunglasses after a long drive and realize it's earlier and lighter out than you had accounted for.

You know what I'm talking about, and that's the kind of fellowship that's taking place in town, out in the public spaces. You won't overhear anyone using the words "dramaturgy" or "state inspection today. We're too busy getting along.

It occurs to me that the laws are in the regions and the regions are in the laws, and it feels good to say this, something that I'm almost sure is true, outside under the sun.

Then to say it again, around friends, in the resonant voice of a nineteenth-century senator, just for a lark.

There's a shy looking fellow on the courthouse steps, holding up a placard that says "But, I kinda liked Reagan." His head turns slowly as a beautiful girl walks by, holding a refrigerated bottle up against her flushed cheek.

She smiles at me and I allow myself to imagine her walking into town to buy lotion at a brick pharmacy. When she gets home she'll apply it with great lingering care before moving into her parlor to play 78 records and drink gin-and-tonics beside her homemade altar to James Madison.

In a town of this size, it's certainly possible that I'll be invited over one night.

In fact I'll bet you something. Somewhere in the future I am remembering today. I'll bet you I'm remembering how I walked into the park at five thirty, my favorite time of day, and how I found two cold pitchers of just poured beer, sitting there on the bench.

I am remembering how my friend Chip showed up with a catcher's mask hanging from his belt and how I said great to see you, sit down, have a beer, how are you, and how he turned to me with the sunset reflecting off his contacts and said, "wonderful, how are you?"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
BourbonJungle

BourbonJungle

Member
Nov 1, 2017
2,124
Absolutely tragic, this hurts a lot.

His book Actual Air is amazing if you can track one down.

Was so happy he re-emerged into the world with a new album.

Had been planning to extend a Toronto trip by almost a week to see him play. Such a shame.
 
Futureman

Futureman

Member
Oct 26, 2017
9,400
I legit can say I don't think I've ever been affected by a celebrity/famous person death. Fuck this is terrible. Just released an amazing album after 10 years of silence and he was about to go on tour. RIP man.
 
andrew

andrew

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,906
fitting comment from Stephen Malkmus:

2:15 PM "I'm not up on astrology/cosmic slop ā€”is there something up ?? cuz a lot of xxxtra bad stuff is happening to friends and also in the [world] #hippytwitter"
8:53 PM "I didn't know about my friend DCB when I wrote this must have been in the air .His death is fucking dark ..depression is crippling.. he was a one of a kinder the songs he wrote were his main passion esp at the end. Hope death equals peace cuz he could sure use it"
 
Foxashel

Foxashel

Banned
Jul 18, 2019
710
Wow. Been listening to him for half my life. His recent Purple Mountain album is easily my favorite of the year, and his best since American Water. Reading about his life as of late, and listening to the album...I shouldn't be shocked. But the album had glimmers hope and humor. This just sucks all around. I wish the best for his family and friends and wife (I think they are currently separated, not sure if officially divorced).
 
Blah

Blah

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,602
I was listening to and enjoying Purple Mountains earlier today.

RIP David Berman.
 
swoon

swoon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
589
You can live again
but you'll have to die twice in the end
in the end/ we'll meet again


an amazing talent. seeing him live many years ago was so hard to bare witness to, i had hoped that it was behind him.

he meant so much to me
 
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