7 Plague Songs
by Geoff Berner
Sylvia S
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Ryan Spence
Frandroid Atreides
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Johannes
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Blbec
non-smokey
Droote
bondolo
Ryan Kirkpatrick
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2. |
That Nagging Cough
02:35
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3. |
Bodies Don't Lie Easy
01:59
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4. |
Nurse side, are you on?
01:44
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5. |
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7. |
Bitter Spring
03:37
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about
How To Build A Corsi-Rosenthal Box
Ever heard of a CR Box? They’re amazing machines! For less than a hundred bucks, you can make a machine that will clean the air of Covid and other diseases, as well as pollen, smoke and smog. This song tells you how to make one. It’s the first single, and Montreal filmmaker Taiwa Olivier made a fun video for it. The tune is based on the song “How To Build A Fence” by Nova Scotia singer/songwriter Bob Snider. He doesn’t use computers much so I had to get the lady at the Bear Lake post office to leave a note in his mailbox to get him to call me. He was very happy to give me permission. I actually crowd-sourced the lyrics by asking my audience to help out with the 2nd draft. They came up with a lot! We’re all sharing songwriting credit.
That Nagging Cough
This is a song about That Nagging Cough. It’s everywhere, once you start listening for it. Wayne Adams plays drums on this one. He’s played on every single one of my albums.
Bodies Don’t Lie Easy
This is about the strange, aggressive amnesia of our society, where our rulers are constantly harming people and then turning around and pretending it never happened or that it wasn’t as bad as people say. It applies to Covid, but it also applies to the foundational genocidal colonial project of the Canadian Residential Schools. It also applies to Canada’s complicity in the Holocaust, when it denied entry to Jews trying to flee the Nazis. It also applies to the 800 people in BC who died of government neglect in one horrific Heat Dome Weekend in 2021. The killers always want to “move on”. But the Bodies Don’t Lie Easy, and ghosts are walking the land. Can you see them? Oh yeah, and it’s my first ever song on ukulele.
Nurse Side, Are You On?
This is an adaptation of Florence Reece’s union song “Which Side Are You On?” The nurses, our foot soldiers in our struggle with this plague, have been exploited, abused, burned out, and sickened. We need to support them now in their fight for safety and dignity.
I Can’t Believe/Mir Gleybt Zikh Nit
This song is in English, and also in Yiddish. The Yiddish bits are a translation of the English bits. It’s quite simple. I can’t believe this is happening. But in fact, I do. Yiddishist author and bon vivant Michael Wex did the translation. Buy his books!
Pay People Money To Stay At Home
This is the first song I wrote in the pandemic, in March 2020. I’m somewhat proud that it’s still true. Places where people were paid to stay home, and places with better paid sick leave? They allowed far fewer people to die from Covid. “Lock down” saved millions of lives.
Bitter Spring
This song is about trying to find a way to go on, in the wake of this human-caused disaster. “Sing me a way to treasure summer after such a bitter spring.”
Ever heard of a CR Box? They’re amazing machines! For less than a hundred bucks, you can make a machine that will clean the air of Covid and other diseases, as well as pollen, smoke and smog. This song tells you how to make one. It’s the first single, and Montreal filmmaker Taiwa Olivier made a fun video for it. The tune is based on the song “How To Build A Fence” by Nova Scotia singer/songwriter Bob Snider. He doesn’t use computers much so I had to get the lady at the Bear Lake post office to leave a note in his mailbox to get him to call me. He was very happy to give me permission. I actually crowd-sourced the lyrics by asking my audience to help out with the 2nd draft. They came up with a lot! We’re all sharing songwriting credit.
That Nagging Cough
This is a song about That Nagging Cough. It’s everywhere, once you start listening for it. Wayne Adams plays drums on this one. He’s played on every single one of my albums.
Bodies Don’t Lie Easy
This is about the strange, aggressive amnesia of our society, where our rulers are constantly harming people and then turning around and pretending it never happened or that it wasn’t as bad as people say. It applies to Covid, but it also applies to the foundational genocidal colonial project of the Canadian Residential Schools. It also applies to Canada’s complicity in the Holocaust, when it denied entry to Jews trying to flee the Nazis. It also applies to the 800 people in BC who died of government neglect in one horrific Heat Dome Weekend in 2021. The killers always want to “move on”. But the Bodies Don’t Lie Easy, and ghosts are walking the land. Can you see them? Oh yeah, and it’s my first ever song on ukulele.
Nurse Side, Are You On?
This is an adaptation of Florence Reece’s union song “Which Side Are You On?” The nurses, our foot soldiers in our struggle with this plague, have been exploited, abused, burned out, and sickened. We need to support them now in their fight for safety and dignity.
I Can’t Believe/Mir Gleybt Zikh Nit
This song is in English, and also in Yiddish. The Yiddish bits are a translation of the English bits. It’s quite simple. I can’t believe this is happening. But in fact, I do. Yiddishist author and bon vivant Michael Wex did the translation. Buy his books!
Pay People Money To Stay At Home
This is the first song I wrote in the pandemic, in March 2020. I’m somewhat proud that it’s still true. Places where people were paid to stay home, and places with better paid sick leave? They allowed far fewer people to die from Covid. “Lock down” saved millions of lives.
Bitter Spring
This song is about trying to find a way to go on, in the wake of this human-caused disaster. “Sing me a way to treasure summer after such a bitter spring.”
credits
released July 28, 2023
license
all rights reserved
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about
Geoff Berner Vancouver, British Columbia
Singer / songwriter / accordionist / novelist Geoff Berner's music combines klezmer, punk, political satire and Balkan dance rhythms. He writes sharp, literate songs that make you want to weep, laugh, grind your teeth, or kick out a window - often all at the same time. Having built a cult following with his weirdly compelling stage presence, G.B. has a strange ability to create fun chaos. ... more
discography
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Jul 2023 -
Mar 2021 -
Nov 2019 -
Sep 2017 -
Jul 2017 -
Oct 2015 -
Mar 2011 -
Jan 2009 -
Jan 2007 -
Aug 2005 -
Jan 2003 -
Jul 2017
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One of my favourite musical discoveries in a while. These musicians are seriously talented. I can’t help imagining that there would have been a whole significant subculture of Yiddish psych rock like this in a different, kinder universe. For now, this is a window into that world that might have been. And I love every second of it.
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by Rae Spoonsupported by 5 fans who also own “7 Plague Songs”
I heard this track on a movie the other night - can't recall the movie, but it made me slow the credits down at the end so I could find out who sang this song, then come to the computer, listen to it on youtube to be sure it was the right track, then log onto Bandcamp and buy the whole damn album. There's not much in this world that gets me to bother with all that palava at 11 o'clock at night.
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supported by 4 fans who also own “7 Plague Songs”
Every song is great, but the lyrics to this one put it at the top for me.
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