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WHO WOULD YA BE WITHOUT YR FRIENDS?

from 7 SONGS by Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND)

/

about

Soon after the pandemic hit and I stopped working (St Pats) my roommate, Alex Gang, pointed out that I wasn’t getting any exercise. (At Doyles I clocked in between 3-5 miles a night walking all over the joint.) Thus began, at Alex’s urging, The Walkabouts. The ‘constitutionals’. I loved it. The slowing down pace, the places I’d hurtle past in a car. On my own it could sometimes feel like obligatory homework, but once outside, I was happy to be there. Solo was cool but I realized that if I could ask a friend of mine to walk with me, conversation would quicken the time. Since I’ve not been to the Behan or was yet to land a new job, my social life was void. But on these walks my friend(s) and I would have conversations that lasted a lot longer than they might have at a bar or glancing off co-workers in a ping pong rush. An hour, give or take, was a super good time for all those reasons. Some friends I hadn’t seen for nearly 20 years showed up. Dave Richmond (long ago ally at those Jacques Cabaret clubhouse nights) brought a bag of ‘magic rocks’ which I’d hand out (until I ran outa them) to whomever was with me. Ever the annoying ‘Dad’ Documentarian, I took evidence selfies so I could post em up on facebook. Then #thenickelanddimeband wound up back in the studio to work on a 7 song ep. ‘Who Would Ya Be Without Yr Friends?’ was one of the tunes. Back in 2019 during my surgery convalescence I asked Shamus Moynihan how I could thank everyone who chipped in on a GoFundMe site for the weeks I was outa work. ‘Write a song,’ he said. This is that song, only the 2nd blues song I’ve revere written, and, I suspect, with the exact same changes. (note: this also applies to the video of the song)

lyrics

WHO WOULD YA BE W/OUT YR FRIENDS!?

who would ya be
without yr friends?
you’d be lost
w/out a clue

buried in a hole
(don’t ya know it?)

yr head down low
(don’t ya know it?)

carrying it all alone

who would ya be
without yr friends?
you’d have no soul
be black n blue

they know ya in their heart
(don’t ya know it?)

they meet ya more than 1/2 way
(don’t ya know it?)

love as light as a feather

who would ya be
who would ya be
without yr friends?

remember when that
first time ever?
(you remember)
ya called on that Stand By Me
friends forever
(you remember)
n everything ya did
n every joke was funny
(you remember)
n no one in yr life was
half as close r on the money

(don’t ya know it?)
(don’t ya know it?)

who would ya be
without yr friends?
who would ya be

y’d be nobody…

credits

from 7 SONGS, released February 18, 2021
same as album

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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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