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Only song I think I've written stoned. Hi5 to Corey Michael Smithson for his work on this!

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1.
John Lennon's Nose 03:50
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JOHN LENNON'S NOSE john lennon's nose tattoo heart beat up shoes yr eyes sure look smart you hit my target knew where t aim bull's-eye kid up there playin' i could not hear the words you sang i could not catch it all but the way yr eyes locked on to mine i was not sure coulda been the wine but ya carried me ya carried me away there was a girl there tonight she looked like my friend joan she was pretty n high she was amazing but it was only you the wall's receeding the roulette wheel stopped... 2 shots and a beer 2 shots and a beer jes you and me alone jes you and me alone touching...everywhere C we own the night
2.
Always 03:00 video
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ALWAYS always always i love you bitterly every night i hold you close + i let you go always there's something dark + impossible that keeps me comin back ya keep me comin back always always always i fight w/ you bitterly every night i want t say im sorry always there's something crazy + right that keeps me comin back ya keep me comin back always fools pickin thru the trash shattered + bleeding fools laughin in the grass but they know they're dreaming always
3.
Underground (free) 03:51
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Underground i worked it all out i had my act down good i reel ya in easy make ya feel understood then i throw ya a curve ball i throw you a line but ya get too close ya get too close inside i am nuthin i am empty n blank i rip off confession jes like robbing a bank but here's what's happened here's what I learned i'm in hiding from everyone i'm in hiding from everyone my heart's goin underground in this modern world, in the modern city i wear a smile, but im feelin down in this modern world, in the modern city i take a bus t th' end of the country i leave all my friends behind i say goodbye i tell em i love em but i don't give a damn i don't give a god damn C i fool my family i fool myself fool my best friend put em thru hell the whiskey, the beer the whip i use buries me deeper worse than abused can i dig myself out can i find my way home? C i'm hidin' from everyone...
4.
Happy Lesbians In The Snow 03:05
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HAPPY LESBIANS IN THE SNOW happy lesbians in the snow throwing snowballs making angels making angels back n forth all the boys stand around wishing they were lesbians they were lesbians C what do they do when they go home they lie on the floor with the labrador with the labrador will they close the iron curtain + keep the boys from hangin' out? happy world filled with girls C back n forth in each other's eyes
5.
How Can I Hate People I Don't Know? 03:54
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HOW CAN I HATE PEOPLE I DON'T KNOW? why do everybody try t make other people look bad? make tall make em small call 'em nigger when ya can yr a faggot a fatso yr a fuckin cunt it's th same t me wr all racist pigs i say wr sunk how can i hate people i dont know... it's easy, i do it all the time prejudice is simple ya just make up a lie judgemental is mental it makes ya die inside yr old, yr ugly, yr a frisbee freak i hate you why not? my face is buried in the ass of sheep C ya say you r my daddy well i guess i am yr son but it's worse than that mister cuz we jus' fightin' over crumbs red against the blue guns shootin up bystanders arabs killin' jews victimized r victimizer? what you teachin' me gang boy? wr all stupid here lightin fires... C look at Narcissus over there, he thinks he's the cat's ass check out polyester housewife she do anything her daddy ask how drunk can you get barfly? yr time is up mr priest with the acolyte boy take yr dick out fill my cup C
6.
E-ll-e 03:02
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ELLE e-ll-e in french don't that mean she? oh your smile 360 degrees r ya here really? like a cat in the dark ya tip toe thru my heart fireflies in yr hair suddenly ya r not there C a nurse by a bed nightmare in her head a ballerina moves in slow motion thru the room i wish i may i wish i might fly out the window with you tonight C
7.
House On Fire 04:04
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HOUSE ON FIRE high on a roof traffic down below we wr stoned + we were spinning feelin everything everything we wonder if the moon we wonder if the stars wr as clever as the 2 of us knowing how stupid we r the good ones often have sadness in their smile + the pretty can never come clean but you my friend made a trip across a wire all the way all the way to me yr naked with yr clothes on as fragile as a fighter you hold me with yr eyes when yr standing in a house on fire C you have a secret that inspires you a secret, sacred place + you wr cryin + shakin when ya told me + i'll never forget the look i can never forget the look on your face C
8.
Michiko 02:51 video
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MICHIKO my room mate michiko she doesn't eat i never seen her eat anything shoes she's into shoes high heel shoes my friends t- they give me all this shit they say what's up with yr hooker room mate, dude? i dunno, she's got issues my room mate michiko i did some recon she drive's a Beema she rents out a condo she's got a fiance she's got a fiance he's 70 yrs old 70 yrs old he's a god damn sugar daddy, you asshole i dunno, maybe he pimps her out my room mate, michiko she doesn't say much i think i want her outa here but when i met her when i met her i thought she was really hot i thought she was really hot but i was desperate back then, man god damn it + now i think she's fuckin' disgusting C the kitchen is immaculate
9.
Love On A Wire 03:48 video
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LOVE ON A WIRE every time i look at you i jump out of my skin everytime i think about you i smile like a question + ya keep me honest + ya keep me sane + ya keep me balanced on a wire the homeless boy on a icy street his smile frozen down his hands r cold + his pockets r ripped + he's starin' at the ground does he know my song? does he have a love like you? who will catch him when he falls? love love love love love love love love love love... i been shopping again in a hardware store for a socket that won't give out a pair of pliers that'll never let go + a light bulb like a bible + it smells like sawdust + it smells like paint + i believe if i believe enough y'll catch me C every time i look at you i jump
10.
Psycho 03:27
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PSYCHO are you a psycho? are you weird? you gonna fuck me? are you queer? see i never take a man home before before my apartment is a mess i gotta lotta art junk around here i guess look, im lonely that word says it best says it best don't touch me go away into that room over there ok aah, you can kiss me here then go just go its snowing its cold i stink yr old stay hold me hold me then go are you a psycho...
11.
The Fan 03:01
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THE FAN sneak outa the house steal money from his sister he feel like a giant zit drool on his t-shirt the one with the band lookin' bad ass no kid t go with song burnin up his bed vodka n coke in the parkin lot noddin his head starin at the band he's their #1 fan lookin bad ass he don't read books don't like tv watchin porn on the internet bitin his fingernails til they bleed starin at the band he's their #1 fan they understand invisible girl invisible friend invisible family invisible dead end invisible future invisible flight invisible drugs on an insane night starin at th band... where'd everybody go?
12.
Unknown Soldier 04:34
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UNKNOWN SOLDIER unknown soldier i will kiss yr feet unknown warrior there's a window open by the sea hold, hold out yr hand like a birthday candle hold, hold out yr hand like a sparkler panhandler where you lookin w/ yr sissy-eyed stare sittin on th couch in yr underwear can't drink whiskey can't write letters wondering out loud 'f things'll get better we all been there we all been there hold, hold out yr hand like a birthday candle hold, hold out yr hand like a sparkler panhandler overhearin voices naked in the park pettin' a dog you don' know coughin n spittin hopin for angels beggin for someone beautiful someone unknown soldier i will kiss yr feet unknown warrior there's a window open by the sea
13.
Your Light Is On 03:44 video
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YR LIGHT IS ON yr light is on yr still up i look out my window top of the hill it's christmas but it ain't sad smell like trees some boy been bad are you awake are you alone are you awake are you alone like me? i picture yr face it's beautiful lookin at the moon orchids in the air what r ya doin in the morning when ya step outside will ya think of me? if it were possible i'd call you up wouldn't say a word but you'd know me in yr heart + i'd know you in mine + that's enough + that's enough cuz yr light is on + so is mine yr light is on + so is mine a silver star a scully cap a can of beer a sleepy cat yr light is on + so is mine yr light is on + so is mine

about

“For an untrained musician who writes everything by ear, Berlin has a gift for the kind of emotive, subtle chord voicings that seem to draw from the heart of the American songbook.” (Jon Garelick/Boston Phoenix) 

Hi-N-Dry Records is proud to announce the release of Boston-based songwriter/singer/piano player  RICK BERLIN's “OLD STAG” on SEPTEMBER 16, 2008.
 
Rick Berlin’s 2nd release on the label, "OLD STAG" was recorded in Rick’s livingroom in Jamaica Plain, MA, by Joe Stewart (engineer). With a microphone out a window to get sounds of the street, and enough strange looking gear to start an insurgency, songs were recorded – verite – like a Truffaut film: with grit, romance and a black 'n' white mise en scene.

What is most breathtaking about this record, however, is the work of the string quartet arrangements by Brendan Cooney - a pianist, banjoist and composer living in W. Philadelphia.  He has arranged for several Philly-based bands including Dr. Dog and Buried Beds. Featuring Joseph Simcox - viola, Katie Franich - cello, Christiana Hornby and Meredith Cooper - violin, Cooney's arrangements lift the material into an emotional realm that is beautiful, musically inventive and always right.

Members of the Boston band Sand Machine add backup vocals on 4 tunes. 

The record was mixed by David Minehan (The Neighborhoods) at Woolly Mammoth Sound. A two time winner of the Best Producer at the Boston Music Awards, Sir David pulled disparate elements (strings, outdoor sounds, backups, piano, vox) together to spectacular effect.

The songs: As simple as the longing of a fan for a performer (“John Lennon's Nose”), as confusing as the white water turbulence of a relationship gone bad (“Always”), as envious as a straight-guy in a dyke bar (“Happy Lesbians In The Snow”), as lonely as war vet with no one to share his nightmare (“Unknown Soldier”) or as magical as a beautiful girl who while loving everyone, remains a mystery (“Elle”), Berlin, like an old stag in the woods, still stands, unbowed - an astute, empathetic observer of the painful distance between souls and of the exhilarating, oddball way we all manage to survive. 

'Old Stag' is as much an evolution as departure from his previous record "Me & Van Gogh": 'It may have taken 30-plus years for veteran Boston singer-songwriter Rick Berlin to make his masterpiece, but it was worth the wait. 'Me & Van Gogh' is an intimate, idiosyncratic collection of verite snapshots and cocktail-napkin sketches that together make up a tender, grandly tormented portrait of people wounded by dreams and bruised by experience. Berlin's spare, bold brush strokes of piano and conversational cabaret croon vividly illuminate this singular work.' (Jonathan Perry - Boston Globe Top 10 CD's of '06)

Rick has been around a lot of blocks. He's known a lot of incredible artists, well and not-so-well known. He played CBGB's (with Orchestra Luna) when the Talking Heads, Patti Smith and the Ramones took their first steps. He played Frank Zappa's 10 anniversary party. He was jailed in Grenada, West Indies for nudity on a film shoot. He shook Nixon's hand twice when he was a kid - cold, weak grip. He was fired from a co-ed school in Steamboat Springs, and busted for shoplifting in Santa Barbara. He dropped out of the Yale Drama school once he realized that he was a song writer and not an actor. He opened for J Geils' last Christmas tour, and played Jacques Cabaret (the oldest transvestite bar in the country) for ll years of Monday nights. He's also a lifer at Doyle's Cafe in Jamaica Plain, waiting tables there for 18+ years. Who knows what it is that makes an artist relevant. Perhaps it is that, like Dave Isay explains in his book about StoryCorps: 'listening is an act of love'. Rick's songs have a particular ear to the ground that x-rays, in his best work, the portraits of the lost and forgotten.

"From his documentary-in-progress about the people of JP, to his unfinished musical about a boy with a magic harmonica, to his pal-packed collaborative cabaret throwdowns, to his most recent masterpiece of heavily populated pop, 'Me and Van Gogh', the work of stalwart star Rick Berlin has always been a celebration of characters. But for seasoned and newbie local musicians alike, from the Dresden Dolls to Sand Machine, the character worth celebrating is Berlin himself.' (Michael Brokeur - The Weekly Dig)

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

credits

released September 14, 2008

Recorded + engineered by Joe Stewart in Rick's livingroom + mixed @ Woolly Mammoth by Sir David Minehan, Joe Stewart + Rick (w/ help from Travis Kern). String arrangements by Brendan Cooney. cello katie franich v2 christina hornby, v1 meredith cooper, viola joe simcox, back up vocals jay, dave, jeremy (sand machine), back up vocal recorded by noah scanlan, photos by rene rives, graphics by shaun wortis, produced by rick berlin

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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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