"I'm looking for one thing real tonight. And Jesus he comes up to me. Jesus, he sits down says, 'Take this cross off my back I'm going downtown.' I said 'Oh, but ain't that your uniform?' He offers me a toke, he says 'Two thousand years is long enough
for this particular joke.' He says 'I'm lookin' for one thing real tonight.'"
-"One Thing Real" from Dan Bern's 1998 release Fifty Eggs.
I guess you could say that's what originally brought me to Dan Bern, the need for something real. And while it was Bern's authentic, down-to-the-bone, real music that drew me in, it was all the deep thought, talk of time, religious questioning and cosmo-touching that has kept me here year after year. Dan Bern speaks to those of us who want to know how the world got so fucked up, but he also speaks to those of us who want to laugh about it... while we fight to make it better. Perhaps these two sides of Dan Bern have never been so blatantly revealed than on his latest release My Country II, Music To Beat Bush By. But Bern is not all politics and raging against the machine. Like Dylan and Guthrie before him he searches the depths of our existence on this planet, he knows of heartbreak, he's in touch with insanity, and he's a dying breed of coffeehouse singer/songwriters who can bring you to tears, or to your knees. With his guitar strapped to his back and his harmonica hanging from his neck, he's a poet warrior who appears to fear only failing himself.
Bern stands on stage as he sits on the phone; honest, open, exposed, and brilliantly observant. He wears the confidence of a man who has become what he was meant to be. He's true of purpose and seems to never compromise. In speaking with Dan, it has become clear that while he may not even realize it, he has become the same type of man he admires - a rare and wonderful way to go through life. The intensity and dedication of Barry Bonds, the brilliance and genuine fire of John McEnroe, the questions of Einstein, and the righteousness of Ani DiFranco, Bern's got it all. In watching his modest growth since his 1996 debut, Dog Van Boy, I've actually become so enamored with him that I may even start to root for the San Francisco Giants (who he loves more than perhaps anything), a little bit. But mostly I'll hope that America wakes up and makes the changes we need to make. And I'll hope that maybe Dan Bern's music can help open a few eyes, and feed some souls. We're a blind nation that is starving for something real. With the election less than a week away perhaps it's time we all started listening to Dan Bern.
Kayceman: We're going to be featuring your article a couple days before and after our election, so you are sorta gonna be our political pioneer over here. So there is one thing I'm having a bit of a hard time understanding with this election, and I wanted to get your opinion. First off, would you agree with me that there are good, educated, nice people who will vote for Bush next month?
Dan Bern by Dennis Kleiman |
Dan Bern: Ahh, I suppose.
Kayceman: Right, I agree and understand why you're hesitant. And this is where I'm having a hard time, with understanding the psychology behind these people voting for Bush, and I'm curious what your thoughts are.
Dan Bern: Well, I feel like if people really understood where we are going both in a historical context and just in the next few years, down this road, I feel like they would be suitably alarmed. I think that's a difficult thing to get across sometimes, especially because you don't wanna be an alarmist, necessarily. But the big thing to me, as far as people who would consider themselves traditional conservatives is; that these guys are not conservative, they're radical. I liken it to Enron. The way Enron was run is the way these guys are running the government in many ways. And I think they're gonna take the money and run at some point.
Kayceman: This all seems quite obvious to me, and quite apparent if you're paying attention and just looking at the facts, it seems like something that should be self-explanatory. So do you think that has a lot to do with the media, or the scare tactics, or what is it that is causing people not to see this?
Dan Bern by Dennis Kleiman |
Dan Bern: I think it's both of those things. If you even look at the questions in the debate: very, very, very narrow in terms of what's being asked, what's being discussed, and the nature in which it's being discussed. There was a movie called Highjacking Catastrophe which opened my eyes to a lot of things, especially the economics of it. And for some reason that is very difficult to get across in a mainstream way right now.
It definitely is. I've met with some people who are now the younger generation, people who are very disaffected, and almost for good reason. How would you respond to the young people who say, "Why should I even bother voting? Look what happened in Florida last time--wouldn't it be better to disassociate myself from politics, have little to do with it, don't live inside their rules, don't pay attention?" What would you say to those people, of which there are a substantial amount?
Dan Bern by Tom Hoebbel |
Well, look what happened in Florida last time. Look what they got away with. Are you gonna just give them a free pass? That being the framework, if you're looking at that, that seems all the more reason to get as involved as possible and get other people involved so that has less of a chance of happening again.
I certainly agree with you, but there is definitely a means to look at that as, "My vote doesn't count anyway, they're gonna do what they're gonna do, they're gonna cheat me out of it, they're gonna tell me I'm black and I can't vote," or whatever it is, so there is a mindset where if I remove myself from this situation and I don't let it affect me I'll be healthier in the head.
Well... Yeah, I mean, what can ya say? That's a completely defeated way of looking at it. And given enough of that we're just gonna loose the country.
I agree. Now in listening to My Country II : Music to Beat Bush By, it's very obvious, you know, it's hard not to get the point. I'm curious if this was something you were planning to do before this election? Was this spawned out of the last year, or what was the time frame?
Really in the last year. I recorded the stuff in February. Basically, I was completely content and happy about the thought of making a cowboy record this year. That's what I wanted to do, that's what I had been writing and such. And it just got increasingly difficult to ignore--impossible to ignore--what was going on, how things were drifting. And I just didn't want to get to the middle of November this year and feel like, "God, I could have done something. I could have done more. I could have spoken out and put something out there..." So that was really my impetus for it.
I imagine you've probably watched the debates that have been going on. There was a question I actually wanted to get your opinion on. Somebody asked Bush what were three things he has done wrong in his presidency and he was not able to say one. He beat around the bush and didn't say anything. What would you say three errors have been?
Dan Bern by Dave Vann |
Well he had a hard time answering that. I would have a hard time answering that for him as I'm trying to think of three things he's done right. I mean obviously the number one thing is going to war for completely dubious purposes, that has got to be right up there at the top of the list.
Definitely. I think it has to be number one.
I think his whole stance on the environment starting with pulling out of the global warming talk in Kyoto, and catering to the big lumber companies and just everybody he's got with him too, Cheney and Ashcroft and Rumsfield. And I think he's wrecked the economy and we'll be feeling the effects of that for a very long time.
Is there somebody that you think is a good leader in the world today, either locally or globally?
Ummmm... Ahh, you got me.
Fair enough.
|
