Song of the Day: 4-13-2024
Silver Jews: "Trains Across the Sea"
Listening to David Berman’s (Silver Jews) “Trains Across the Sea” makes me nostalgic for things I don’t even know. You know how it is when you miss things that you have never seen, people you have never known, places you will never go to?
David Berman died in 2003. As Donald Junkins once wrote of Anne Sexton, he closed the garage door on his wrist.
Berman wrote “Trains Across the Sea” when he was a student at UMass. I can almost feel his joy when he finished the song. Imagine writing a song like “Trains Across the Sea” when you were still a college student? He would go on to make a career out of documenting his struggles. I’ve always marveled at how he conveyed his sadness, his struggles with such fantastic tempo.
And Bill Callahan’s tribute to Berman . . .
"Trains Across The Sea"
Troubles, no troubles, on the line
And I can't stand to see you
I can't stand to see you when you're crying at home
Scotch and Penecilin, please try Carlton
A cold black maple hanger and husbands on the run
I just got back from a dream attack
That took me by surprise
And in there I met a lady her name was Shady Sides
And she said
"It's been evening all day long
It's been evening all day long
And how can something so old, be so wrong?"
Sin and gravity
Drag me down to sleep to dream of trains across the sea
Trains across the sea
Half hours on earth, what are they worth?
I don't know
In 27 years I've drunk 50,000 beers
And they just wash against me
Like the sea into a pier
About the Song of the Day:
Another form of my favorite form of cycles are song-cycles—song-cycles of great albums, and of course song-cycles of mixes. I have made cycles of mixes for friends for years—Mix-tapes in high-school and college—Mix-cds in grad-school and beyond. Now that cds have lost a bit of their shine in the wake of streaming services, I’ve struggled to find my footing with sharing mixes with friends. My goal here is to share songs that culminate in mixes—one song a day until a mix is completed. I will then post the complete mix and then begin a new cycle.