Jerusalem

by Rhys Howlett

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about

Jerusalem is a song of thanks to David Berman who was a source of immense joy, inspiration and sadness. He died in August 2019, a month after releasing his Purple Mountains album.

David Berman was a masterful writer whose genius was beautifully shrouded by the playful chaos of his band Silver Jews. He could deliver the most perfect lines - funny, thoughtful, inspiring and offering so much in so few words.

"Repair is the dream of the broken thing"

"All houses dream in blueprints"

My favourite David Berman verse comes from Snow is Falling in Manhattan on his Purple Mountains album:

"Songs build little rooms in time
And housed within the song's design
Is the ghost the host has left behind
To greet and sweep the guest inside
Stoke the fire and sing his lines."

What a farewell gift to all of us who enjoy spending time in the rooms he built. For someone who was suffering what he termed "treatment resistant depression", to offer his fans a warm, endless invitation to his songs is a gift to be thankful for.

My song Jerusalem started as a bass line during a period of rehearsing a set of Silver Jews covers with Myke and Wolfpanther for our band Stable Vices.

In the fallout of his suicide, there was lots of time spent catching up on interviews and articles and I finally watched Silver Jew, the documentary of their tour to Israel in 2007. Two particular scenes struck me - the first when a guide was telling the band how many visitors to Jerusalem are overcome with Messiah Fever. There's a wry, knowing smile on David's face, like he can definitely feel that. And later in the film he undertakes a prayer session at the Western Wall and is entirely overcome by emotion. It's powerful, hard to watch and gives clear insight to the depth of his emotional experience.

So that's the background to the song. Probably a longer explanation than necessary for quite a simple song but there it is.

I want to give thanks to Nick who recorded this, to Myke and Wolfpanther for being such dear friends and music makers, to James who introduced me to Silver Jews many years ago, to Mark who lent me his beautiful guitar for this song, to anyone who has read all the way down this far or listened to the song, to Three D Radio, to everyone who creates music and art, to absent and present family and friends and to my wonderful daughters, the lights of my life.

Thank you.
Rhys

lyrics

I wanted to write a song of thanks, to David Berman
You gave so many people hope and joy
Happiness
How many songs were raised from the seeds you planted?
With your farmer's chords.
Some people laugh because they're happy
Some people laugh because they're sad
And when I saw you wailing at the wall
Well it looked like you were Home
In Jerusalem
Jerusalem.

A lightning bolt strikes with a billion joules
But when the shock is gone there's just a puff of smoke
The magician disappears backstage
The show is over.
Maybe lightning struck the temple
Yeah maybe lightning struck the temple that day
In Jerusalem
Jerusalem.

credits

released March 6, 2020
Written and performed by Rhys Howlett
Recorded and engineered by Nick Russell at King's Closet
18 November 2019

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Rhys Howlett Adelaide, Australia

Songs about people, places, work, identity, hope, home, food, beverages...

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