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1.
Me & Van Gogh 02:59
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Me n Van Gogh Me n Van Gogh we cover the terrain the colors r insane acid on my brain I say hey vince don't cut off yr ear he says it's for a portrait I think it's kinda queer Wild eyes spin like ferris wheels I stay humble in his shaky arms Orange sun, boats of blue, fields of yellow I ask him about that failure thing His face don't tell me nuthin' His brother is an angel He creeps me out Sees right thru me I love him like a wife Smile change my life Wild eyes spin like rooster tails I stay humble in his shaky arms Orange sun, boats of blue, fields of yellow Rings of saturn round his head murderer scary in someone's bed Ya gotta like a face like his drive-by kisses, whiskey lips Orange sun, boats of blue, fields of yellow...
2.
Criminal 03:02
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CRIMINAL I don't know how ya get to be so beautiful When ya look like that I gotta say it's criminal Are you an angel? Are you sad? When th door flies open 's that good thing or bad? I'm talking to an idiot just so I Can look at you & not give away anything If we hang out I'd get so lost Yr laugh yr voice yr face yr hands Im shakin with it I don't know how ya get to be so beautiful I'm too scared t talk t you ain't got a strategy Take you home in my mind Make up yr story write every line We'd get along great Nobody hurt You never get ugly I'm never a jerk Oh baby Im shakin with it
3.
I'm A Slut 02:07
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SLUT I'm a slut I'm a ho I’ll be anyone you lookin for I'm a slut I'm a ho & all ya gotta is want me I'm a slut I'm a ho I’ll do anything you lookin for & I’ll listen & I’ll laugh I am yr pornographic piece of ass I'm a priest I'm a politician I'm a rock star & I'm a fag I'm a CEO & I'm a newsman I'm yr Mommy/Daddy & I'm a bear I'm a slut I'm a ho I am woman & so much more & I’ll listen & I’ll laugh I am yr pornographic piece of ass I am a slut I'm a ho & all ya gotta do is want me
4.
Buddha 03:42 video
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(I Am) The Buddha It’s a sad sad world & I am just pretendin to be good Inscrutable Mona Lisa in the hood It’s a blue blue sky Faces as transparent as rain on a pane of glass it’s a blue blue sky I am the Buddah It’s a cold cold night Outa work and outa love Standing single file It’s a cold cold night I am the Buddah
5.
Don't Talk About Joan 03:24
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Don't Talk About Joan Don't talk about Joan Don't talk Don't talk about her I'm in love with her She walks into a room She doesn't know me but I don't care & love is not always easy Love is not always kind If I get away with this it'll be a perfect crime She drives this old convertible the sun is warm in her hair I look outside my window & she is at a stoplight drinking a beer she doesn't know I'm here I saw her yesterday she was standing alone in a crowd Her sunglasses on her hair pulled back & she was crying I was no help at all
6.
The Ride 04:00
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The Ride forty beers at the peoples republic + nobody in there's Chinese guys r so ripped they piss from a distance on yellow blistering knees a phoney soprano a bearded buffoon orders another cheap round harvard queens r arguing cross-eyed intellectual cocks on the prowl i don't know if this is where i ought to laugh i don't like the reflection an oncoming car up my ass skywalker car a ashtray of butt wheels like a velveteen surf radio's off yr cel phone is on Virginia Woolfe on yr face like a smirk leave the city behind a discarded can on the slope of a tinfoil sky ahead on the road is a rich people's park - Nahant with a Mafia vibe oh i don't know if this is where i ought to stop i don't like yr reaction hey is that a cop? every few minutes the beer takes over + we pull off t spit atlantic ocean a breakwater jam with waves like a communist fist it's dark out here on a finger of land with a house like a chapter + verse crown on the grass like the buzz of a punk dazed + beautifully hurt suns on the rise tomorrow is work for the sad takin' showers on speed hope against hope for a cry or a twist or a skirt or a spray or a scream we've run outa words + wr peacefully sexy in the stench of this long ride whaddya call it? a Kerouac night on a quest like a headbanger's high i don't know if this is where i ought to say goodnight my friend am i or are you betrayed?
7.
Party Dress 03:05
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Party Dress Will I ever see you again? Were we ever more than friends? Southern California roof top kid Change of color, change of skin Ya read all them body shop hard ass red dogs They like you a lot I bet they did Bet they did You chase yr brain all around the world Heart of sand, hand of pearls The mirror hurts but you laugh at the mess Mascara meltin on yr party dress Party dress Lightning bottle smile, a boy on a bike Nervous eye dancin', pokerface insight They shut you down, mr shiny & new The canary dies in the coal mine singin the blues Speed of sound Speed of light Speed aint nothin face-to-face in the starless night
8.
A Letter 03:39
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A Letter (for Mark Anthony Houseworth) Dear Rick, How's the civilized world out there? You know I'm writin' you this letter from prison... Last night I dreamed that I was free but when I woke up I’m still in prison you see I am so ashamed of the last year of my life the money, the drugs, & the sleeze There is so much pain I brought it all on myself while others got hurt along the way & so I cry in the shower where no one can see Sometimes it hurts so bad I get a headache you would not believe I told so many lies with my body before my feelings, my voice - I used 'em I'm just a love whore The people who wanted to help me, I just push aside I'm in prison now but I think that I spent a good part of my life imprisoned inside I feel just like a caged animal I'm losing my whole summer, you see I want another chance so bad, my friend It's hot in here & there's no breeze I think I'd rather sleep in the Common then be locked up in here I don't mean to be such a baby boy
9.
Beerbelly 02:28
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Beerbelly I got a beer belly Aint nuthin gonna do about it Got a beer belly Ain't gonna change Get a 6 pack after work I love my corner bar Cold one in my hand 's Heaven I don't trust anybody 'f he don't drink I don't trust myself when I'm drinkin South Beach diet dat f hairdressers ...not me. Got a big t-shirt n baggy pants When I'm drunk I got a dirty rant Anything pretty after 18 beers... C'mere baby Got a beer belly Wanna touch it? Ain't gonna change Don't want to
10.
Last Man Standing 04:06
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Last Man Standing Are you the last man standing? Well I doubt it if I can see you you can’t be alone Are you the last man standing? Say somethin I jus’ need directions home I been workin the street too damn long I been riding this train, it ain’t no sleeper I been runnin’ outa drugs t get me high Naked packs of wolves w/ switchblade eyes I see starlight in your face Bloodshot, baggy insolent When you smile are you laughin’ at me? I don’t think so…answer me Does it take more guts t quit than to continue? Is jealousy part of life or a life apart? Is the war inside us something even winnable? Do my questions hit yr heart? Are they off the mark? I see honesty in your face Lines all over, a mirror cracked Are your silent or are you deep? Am I the clown? Are you the witness? Rain + dust + diamonds + pain Shattered glass, innocence + longing Take me, break me, turn my life around Tell me…tell me now Before the sun goes down Are you the last man standing? Say something. I just need directions…
11.
Rock n Roll Romance 02:51
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Rock n Roll Romance Kids are loud & laced with neon Baby faces bounce & fall Alcoholic mask of rubber Hopelessly romantic doll Singer got a pink stiletto Stinkin up the microphone Drummer look real psychedelic Glasses of mercurochrome It's just a rock n roll romance Seems like you know everybody All the kids around the scene Stayin high & hug & kissin' Dancin like a jungle Queen Love is not exactly feeling Just emotion on the make What th' Hell doesn't matter What is real & what is fake It's just a rock n roll romance Girl on piano Gin on the drums Drugs in the bathroom & a boy on the run It's just a rock n roll romance
12.
Do You Still Love Me? 02:46
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Do You Still Love Me? Do you still love me? I really need t know Do you still want me around? or is it better that I go? Thought of writing you a letter Thought of giving you a call Do you still like me? Do you think I'm funny or strangely slow t pick up the pieces of a broken heart the way I used to not so long ago Maybe I've become a coward cuz i don't want you to say no Sitting in the kitchen with our lives inside my head My heart is so damn full it's gonna break I'll never understand how something beautiful as the sun Get's stuck inside a cloud + leaves ya standin' in the rain

about

“For the uninitiated, be prepared; the songs are startlingly confessional,
filled with the kind of soul-bearing + rapid-fire beauty that has always
been Berlin’s trademark.” (Kevin O’Hare/Newhouse News)

Hi-N-Dry Records is proud to announce the release of Boston-based
songwriter/singer/piano player RICK BERLIN's “ME & VAN GOGH”. Berlin’s first release on the label, "ME & VAN GOGH" was recorded at
the Hi-N-Dry loft in Cambridge, MA, on the late Mark Sandman’s (phat,
low-end) acoustic piano. Billy Conway (Morphine, Twinemen) produced. Tom
Dube (Richard Thompson) engineered. Featuring 12 original tunes, “ME & VAN
GOGH” is a return to an earlier, more innocent format (Rick Berlin -
piano/voice). Simple, skeletal portraiture. The Song Itself - unadorned.

As true as a torn pocket (“Buddha”). As confused as a kid stuck in jail (“A
Letter”). As sad as a beautiful girl alone on a street corner, her heart +
loss a thousand miles away (“Don’t Talk About Joan”). Absurd as a leering
drunk with a beer gut (“Beer Belly”), or a drive past midnight to nowhere
(“The Ride”), Berlin creates a world, a town, a topography that seems as
familiar as it is unusual. If Van Gogh was alive + wrote songs, they might
sound like this album (the title track: “Me & Van Gogh”). “Berlin’s songs
evoke characters as colorful as the crowds that gather to hear them, and he
willingly shares the highs and lows of his life with a level of depth rarely
captured through song.” (Christopher Muther/Bay Windows)

Rick Berlin is a giant on the Boston music scene. His colorful songwriting
and strong stage presence have influenced countless other artists since the
early 1970s, when his innovative band Orchestra Luna was on Epic Records and
harnessed a potent blend of theater and music years before the Tubes.
“Berlin is a throwback - to the androgynous glam of Bowie and the New York
Dolls, the glammy punk of Talking Heads and Blondie, and the proto-new wave
of Roxy Music. Berlin is the traveling troubadour of the Boston scene,
bringing the stories of one neighborhood to another in his songs. Berlin is
Boston.” (Jon Garelick/The Boston Phoenix)

Throughout the decades and the shifting fortunes of the business, Rick has
continued to make music with intelligence and integrity, building an
international reputation around his knotty, singular piano playing,
straight-from-the-heart singing and a style of character-based songwriting
that's drawn favorable comparisons to the likes of Tom Waits and Leonard
Cohen - although Rick rocks more than both. “Er heißt nicht nur Berlin, er
ist wie Berlin: Wild, ungezügelt, hart, ein Chansonnier, der rauhe Wärme
ausstrahlt, immer unfertig, immer auf der Suche, voller Gegensätze. Es ist
unmöglich, ihn zu hören, ohne wirklich zuzuhören.” “His name is not only
Berlin, he is like Berlin: Wild, harsh, unleashed, a singer-songwriter of
raw energy, always searching, never finished, full of contradictions. It is
impossible to hear him without truly listening.” (Robert von Rimscha -
Washington Bureau Chief “DER TAGESSPIEGEL” - Berlin/Germany).

“...plucked-from-life stories, tough piano playing. Berlin approaches the
piano like a good punk-rock guitarist, driving the grooves in a spare
forceful way, yet darting into angular blocks of sound and laying snatches
of melody over his rhythm lines. Next to his voice — which rises and sinks
like an emotional barometer of his lyrics, his homespun piano style is a
most distinctive instrument. He holds nothing back. There’s something
genuine and special in the chemistry of his voice, playing, and songs.”
(Ted Drozdowski Cellars By Starlight/The Boston Phoenix)

You can learn more about Rick, read his short fiction, the script for his
musical "The Kingdom", view clips of interviews for his documentary-in-
progress (Jamaica Plain-Spoken – Small Town America In The 21st Century?) at
www.rickberlin.com

credits

released April 19, 2004

Produced by Rick Berlin, Billy Conway + Tom Dube
Engineered + mixed by Tom Dube
Recorded at HI-N-Dry

Mastered at JPMasters by Dave Locke
Photos: Rick
Design: Shaun Wolf Wortis

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Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND) image

Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND) Jamaica Plain

A giant on the Boston music scene. His colorful songwriting + strong stage presence have influenced countless other artists since the early 1970s. He continues to make music w/ intelligence + integrity, building an international reputation around his knotty, singular piano playing, straight-from-the-heart singing and a style of character-based songwriting that's drawn comparisons to Waits + Cohen ... more

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