Author News
David Berman calls Silver Jews quits; outs father as Satan
Let’s assume for right now that this isn’t another triple-reverse hoax dreamed up by Tao Lin. Pitchfork says they verified the story with Drag City today, and that DCB is indeed the author of these posts:
(1) “Silver Jews End-Lead Singer Bids his Well-Wishers Adieu”
Yes I cancelled the South American shows. I’ll have to see the ABC Countries another way.
I guess I am moving over to another category. Screenwriting or Muckraking.
I’ve got to move on. Can’t be like all the careerists doncha know.
I’m forty two and I know what to do.
I’m a writer, see?
Cassie is taking it the hardest. She’s a fan and a player but she sees how happy i am with the decision.
I always said we would stop before we got bad. If I continue to record I might accidentally write the answer song to Shiny Happy People.
And (2) “My Father, My Attack Dog”
Now that the Joos are over I can tell you my gravest secret. Worse than suicide, worse than crack addiction:
My father.
You might be surprised to know he is famous, for terrible reasons.
My father is a despicable man. My father is a sort of human molestor.
An exploiter. A scoundrel. A world historical motherfucking son of a bitch. (sorry grandma)
You can read about him here.
www.bermanexposed.org
My life is so wierd. It’s allegorical to the nth. My father went to college at Transylvania University.
You see what I’m saying.
…
As I studied Judaism over the years, the shame and the shanda, grew almost too much. my heart was constantly on fire for justice. I could find no relief.
This winter I decided that the SJs were too small of a force to ever come close to
undoing a millionth of all the harm he has caused. To you and everyone you know.
Literally, if you eat food or have a job, he is reaching you.
Everyone should really take a minute and read that second post in full, then follow that link to Bermanexposed.com, so you can really see what poor DCB has been living with all these years. Ole Richard’s about as evil as evil gets.
Anyway, whether this retirement turns out to be permanent or temporary, it certainly marks the end of an era of some kind. Let’s all take a moment of silence for the Silver Joos we knew and loved, and express some unqualified solidarity with DCB and whatever he decides to pursue next–however he might choose to pursue it.
Related links:
I interviewed Berman once, when Tanglewood Numbers came out: “A Limited Edition of One”
video: Silver Jews play “Smith and Jones Forever” at the Pitchfork Festival
video: “I’m Getting Back Into Getting Back Into You” scene from Silver Jew documentary
video: “How to Rent a Room” followed by weird joke that doesn’t go over too well.
Tags: David Berman, Drag City, Silver Jews
wow, i had no idea about his father. i’m sad.
thanks for posting this
wow, i had no idea about his father. i’m sad.
thanks for posting this
Larkin:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
Larkin:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
Part of me feels this was coming, another break from his musical craft, but another part of me feels like SJ should forever go on entertaining me with folk wit and humor most loose understanding of after two drinks, but we can’t have it all. This father stuff is new to me I am reading, I am.
Part of me feels this was coming, another break from his musical craft, but another part of me feels like SJ should forever go on entertaining me with folk wit and humor most loose understanding of after two drinks, but we can’t have it all. This father stuff is new to me I am reading, I am.
Isn’t it funny how we feel responsible for who are parents are? We”re not. And yet, everyone feels that way. Worse, some people treat others as if they were actually somehow “guilty” for their parents’ actions. Every single one of us is haunted. Poor guy.
strange.
they are/were a good band. i saw them once in ann arbor and it was nice.
maybe he will get another book out now.
strange.
they are/were a good band. i saw them once in ann arbor and it was nice.
maybe he will get another book out now.
kind of sad, but i look forward to reading or watching whatever berman is working on next. more poems like “classic water” are OK with me.
due to a) my extreme and somewhat public love for pavement and b) malkmus’s additional membership in the silver jews, i’m always getting into arguments concerning which is the better band, pavement or the joos. i would have to report, much to my chagrin, a slight majority in favor of mr. berman’s group (at least among people i know).
this includes you too, justin, if i remember correctly — a person i know who also prefers SJ over pavement?
kind of sad, but i look forward to reading or watching whatever berman is working on next. more poems like “classic water” are OK with me.
due to a) my extreme and somewhat public love for pavement and b) malkmus’s additional membership in the silver jews, i’m always getting into arguments concerning which is the better band, pavement or the joos. i would have to report, much to my chagrin, a slight majority in favor of mr. berman’s group (at least among people i know).
this includes you too, justin, if i remember correctly — a person i know who also prefers SJ over pavement?
also, that shit about his father — wow. had no idea.
matthew, great quote btw. but isn’t the problem that we always think “no, that won’t happen to us, we won’t be like them too” — and then suddenly we are?
also, that shit about his father — wow. had no idea.
matthew, great quote btw. but isn’t the problem that we always think “no, that won’t happen to us, we won’t be like them too” — and then suddenly we are?
“Art! Be an artist or a writer. When you are cold, warm yourself before the flaming tints of Titian, when you are hungry, nourish yourself with great spiritual foods by listening to the noble periods of Bach, the harmonies of Brahms and the thunder of Beethoven. Do you think there is anything in the fact that their names all begin with B? But don’t take a chance, smoke a 3 B pipe, and remember those immortal lines: When to the suddenness of melody the echo parting falls the failing day. What a rhythm! Tell them to keep their society whores and pressed duck with oranges. For you l’art vivant, the living art, as you call it. Tell them that you know that your shoes are broken and that there are pimples on your face, yes, and that you have buck teeth and a club foot, but that you don’t care, for to-morrow they are playing Beethoven’s last quartets in Carnegie Hall and at home you have Shakespeare’s plays in one volume.”
“Art! Be an artist or a writer. When you are cold, warm yourself before the flaming tints of Titian, when you are hungry, nourish yourself with great spiritual foods by listening to the noble periods of Bach, the harmonies of Brahms and the thunder of Beethoven. Do you think there is anything in the fact that their names all begin with B? But don’t take a chance, smoke a 3 B pipe, and remember those immortal lines: When to the suddenness of melody the echo parting falls the failing day. What a rhythm! Tell them to keep their society whores and pressed duck with oranges. For you l’art vivant, the living art, as you call it. Tell them that you know that your shoes are broken and that there are pimples on your face, yes, and that you have buck teeth and a club foot, but that you don’t care, for to-morrow they are playing Beethoven’s last quartets in Carnegie Hall and at home you have Shakespeare’s plays in one volume.”
wants the pic at the bottom? its not working on my screen
wants the pic at the bottom? its not working on my screen
Nathaneal West- I read Miss Lonelyhearts. Loved it. Did not read Day of the Locust.
I like that crazy “raw foodists” even existed back then. I’m writing a book about fruitarians at war with breatharians.
I look forward to reading that book, pr. And, yeah, Miss Lonelyhearts. I’m currently reading it. Locust next. Library of America edition.
I look forward to reading that book, pr. And, yeah, Miss Lonelyhearts. I’m currently reading it. Locust next. Library of America edition.
Ryan Call- it was working earlier, then it stopped. It’s just the cover of Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea. I’ll re-source it later if I get around to it (I won’t get around to it).
james yeh- yes, I take the Joos over Pavement anytime. They’re both epically talented, but for me, Malkmus is simply an excellent musician with a more-often-than-not interesting/engaging/compelling style of composition and delivery. What Berman creates is transcendently beautiful, and frequently Sublime, to borrow Harold Bloom’s usage of that word and hopefully invest it with full Bloom-ian freight, weight and meaning. So yes, I do think the Joos are “better,” but I’m sort of arguing for their admission into a category which is larger, if not exclusively other, than a kind of better/worse consideration. And none of this should be read as a polemic against Malk. Some of us turn out to be John Ashbery, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lish, whoever. The rest of us turn out to be their fans/friends/disciples. We may yet become them or we may not. It’s just life–well, life plus the possibility of the Divine’s intrusion into same.
Matthew Simmons- point taken. But it’s one thing to be fucked up by your parents personal shortcomings– a spot of joblessness, a bucket of alcoholism, a coat of unloving distance. Etc. It’s quite another to have to confront the real fact of your own kin’s evil. Imagine being Iago’s son, or for that matter, Cheney’s daughter. Say the words out loud: “My father wreaks ruin on the world I love, and causes people to die, either because he is indifferent to the fact or else because he derives satisfaction from it.” It’s Larkin and then some, methinks.
Ryan Call- it was working earlier, then it stopped. It’s just the cover of Lookout Mountain Lookout Sea. I’ll re-source it later if I get around to it (I won’t get around to it).
james yeh- yes, I take the Joos over Pavement anytime. They’re both epically talented, but for me, Malkmus is simply an excellent musician with a more-often-than-not interesting/engaging/compelling style of composition and delivery. What Berman creates is transcendently beautiful, and frequently Sublime, to borrow Harold Bloom’s usage of that word and hopefully invest it with full Bloom-ian freight, weight and meaning. So yes, I do think the Joos are “better,” but I’m sort of arguing for their admission into a category which is larger, if not exclusively other, than a kind of better/worse consideration. And none of this should be read as a polemic against Malk. Some of us turn out to be John Ashbery, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lish, whoever. The rest of us turn out to be their fans/friends/disciples. We may yet become them or we may not. It’s just life–well, life plus the possibility of the Divine’s intrusion into same.
Matthew Simmons- point taken. But it’s one thing to be fucked up by your parents personal shortcomings– a spot of joblessness, a bucket of alcoholism, a coat of unloving distance. Etc. It’s quite another to have to confront the real fact of your own kin’s evil. Imagine being Iago’s son, or for that matter, Cheney’s daughter. Say the words out loud: “My father wreaks ruin on the world I love, and causes people to die, either because he is indifferent to the fact or else because he derives satisfaction from it.” It’s Larkin and then some, methinks.
the fruitarians will be felled by the rivering shits, but the breatharians will just dry up and die. i’m putting my money on the fruits.
the fruitarians will be felled by the rivering shits, but the breatharians will just dry up and die. i’m putting my money on the fruits.
No, man! I’ve heard that breatharians live! They live off of air. And then the fruitarians-well- they have Woody Harrelson on thier side, and he killed everybody in that movie, Natural Born Killers, so they might win, yes. Also, he killed everybody except for Courtney Love in that movie about his favorite porn magazine, Hustler. I think the movie was “The Hustler”, Not sure.
this is horrible news. i told my friend, a fellow joos fan about this tonight, and he said, thankfully i already have a beer in front of me. damn.
this is horrible news. i told my friend, a fellow joos fan about this tonight, and he said, thankfully i already have a beer in front of me. damn.
I have to take issue with this a little. His father is like many, many right wing people, people with power in DCand NY, in the world. That said, I in no way hold Dick Cheney’s daughter responsible for anything outside of being born in this world. She could go on to live in a hut and be a nurse in Haiti, saving children. He needs to realize, he is who he is, and in no way is he his father. This is hard. But it must be done. One has to wonder if he’s not really more concerned with the damage he did to his loved ones by being a drug addict ( and here, I may be getting all sorts of facts mised up- so please correct me) – in that, he too has caused suffering to people. I’m not saying he’s not a great guy- we all cause suffering to our loved ones, that’s one of the horrible things about being human- but sometimes, our guilt becomes misplaced.
I think it’s good he’s “out” with this info. To hide it is tough- some one would have outed him, some ass who judged him by who his father is. He just needs to have a fuck you to the world. He’ll get it. He’s on his way.
OK, Justin. Tear my a new asshole. I’m just thinking. Guilt about someone else’s behavior is useless and often diverts from the main issue at hand. Hannah Arendt addresses that well in Eichamnn in Jerusalem. Responsibiltiy is the only thing that matters.
the thing is that the guy will go on to do something else awesome.
without a doubt
the thing is that the guy will go on to do something else awesome.
without a doubt
pr- i dont think you’re wrong at all, at least in terms of the “should” of it. The son “should not” bear guilt for the father’s actions. And in terms of the law, and the court of public opinion, of course, he doesn’t. Newt Gingrich’s sister is a GLBTQ rights activist. But the “should’ notwithstanding, there’s obviously a huge weight being carried around, a self-imposed burden perhaps, and one he ought to be freed from certainly, but to the extent that he persists in carrying it (whether by inclination or by inability to let go/overcome) I think that it’s worthwhile to understand where that burden comes from, and why–whether “rightly” or “wrongly”–he feels this way. I think the Luke Skywalker analogy is the best one. Luke doesn’t go after Vader *because* he’s his son, at first of course he doesn’t even know. vader is worth taking down for his own, obvious reasons. but once the revelation is made, it becomes a much more personal conflict, from both Luke’s and Vader’s perspectives.
pr- i dont think you’re wrong at all, at least in terms of the “should” of it. The son “should not” bear guilt for the father’s actions. And in terms of the law, and the court of public opinion, of course, he doesn’t. Newt Gingrich’s sister is a GLBTQ rights activist. But the “should’ notwithstanding, there’s obviously a huge weight being carried around, a self-imposed burden perhaps, and one he ought to be freed from certainly, but to the extent that he persists in carrying it (whether by inclination or by inability to let go/overcome) I think that it’s worthwhile to understand where that burden comes from, and why–whether “rightly” or “wrongly”–he feels this way. I think the Luke Skywalker analogy is the best one. Luke doesn’t go after Vader *because* he’s his son, at first of course he doesn’t even know. vader is worth taking down for his own, obvious reasons. but once the revelation is made, it becomes a much more personal conflict, from both Luke’s and Vader’s perspectives.
berman’s dad is a negator
berman’s dad is a negator
The big difference is that Luke didn’t know and then found out. Berman has known about his father his whole life. I guess I find that bit where he asked his father to stop his work painful. OK, ask once but then realize, you can’t control your parents.I guess this all resonates with me so much because I have had to let go of all sorts of crap re: my mother and her illness. Also, you didn’t address the possibility of misplaced guilt. Does he What damage has he done to his loved ones, with his actions? I’m super analyzing him here, because I find him and his situation fascinating. Another way in which his guilt could be misplaced is- he feels guilty about taking, or will be taking, that money. But then it is HIS guilt, not the guilt of his father. And that he doesn’t seem to really address.
hey justin,
i just wrote a lot on pavement vs joos that i think would be in poor taste to post here, given that this is a berman post, and a berman leaving the silver joos one at that. so i will instead send that diatribe via email. i will say that i wonder if it’s a writer thing, preferring the joos over pavement (most of the friends i know who enjoy the joos more are writers). berman is almost certainly the more articulate songwriter and i think writers in general seem to appreciate that kind of thing.
hey justin,
i just wrote a lot on pavement vs joos that i think would be in poor taste to post here, given that this is a berman post, and a berman leaving the silver joos one at that. so i will instead send that diatribe via email. i will say that i wonder if it’s a writer thing, preferring the joos over pavement (most of the friends i know who enjoy the joos more are writers). berman is almost certainly the more articulate songwriter and i think writers in general seem to appreciate that kind of thing.
“once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. all that shrike had said was: ‘remember, please, that your job is to increase the circulation of our paper. suicide, it is only reasonable to think, must defeat this purpose.'”
“once he had tried to get fired by recommending suicide in his column. all that shrike had said was: ‘remember, please, that your job is to increase the circulation of our paper. suicide, it is only reasonable to think, must defeat this purpose.'”
if you want to get into some really thorny shit on this topic, google “david berman” “richard berman” and do some detective work
if you want to get into some really thorny shit on this topic, google “david berman” “richard berman” and do some detective work
Yeah, more weight on the scale in Berman’s case. As even a cursory glance at the man’s bio indicates.
Not trying to diminish it. That Larkin might come off as flip.
Berman’s a hell of a poet.
Yeah, more weight on the scale in Berman’s case. As even a cursory glance at the man’s bio indicates.
Not trying to diminish it. That Larkin might come off as flip.
Berman’s a hell of a poet.