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My Peter lost to AIDS. God I miss him. His raised eyebrows over some new art idea of mine. His egg beater twirling hands at his sides in reaction to a something he adored. His clear sense of what was and what wasn't 'art'. What I miss most is that my new friends never got to meet him. Or he them. He left the East Coast after OL2 broke up. Started a San Francisco band with his 2 brothers called No Sisters. (Dave Barrett plays sax on this song.)

lyrics

BLOOD OF A POET (for Peter Barrett)

The blood of a poet is on my hands
even if I don't show it I need this man
The blood of a poet sinks into the sand
how quick I lose sight of the vision he had
The blood of a poet is on your hands
even if ya don't know it it's destroying our friends

All he did in the middle of a daydream
was love somebody
he loved somebody

The blood of a poet is on my hands
even if I don't show it I believe in this man
The blood of a poet who tells us the truth
like a match to explosives he changes you
The blood of a poet is on your hands
even if ya don't know it it's destroying your friends

All he did in the middle of a daydream
was love somebody
he loved somebody

The blood of a poet is on my hands
even if I don't show it I love this man
The blood of poet - so weak that it's strong
you can hear his heart breaking in every song
The blood of a poet in on our hands
even if we don't know it it's destroying our friends

All he did in the middle of a daydream
was love somebody
he loved somebody

I first knew him
when we were young
We were so naive
& so high strung
But a man like him
can change your life
with a single look
from his radiant eyes

credits

from HALF IN THE BAG, track released April 18, 1987
Half In The Bag (No Deal Whatsoever Records) 1993. Produced, engineered, arranged by Chet Cahill in his house in Malden. All these are Berlin's save Everytime I Fall by Michael Holland (one of my favorite all time songs). Who did this? Billie Best (spoken girl in Can't Get It Up), Randy Roos (4 guitars in Man In Flames - true story of a homeless man in Kenmore who burned alive in the basement of Eddy de Syon's apartment building), Chris Mehl (guitars, vocals), Joan Wasser (violin), Jane Balmond (piano on Everytime I Fall), David Barrett (sax on the song Blood of A Poet - about his brother Peter), Eddy de Syon (organ on Blood), Julie Woods (vocals), Nancy Adams (vocals), Brian Olson (vocals), Chet Cahill (everything else).

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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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