FISHBOWL from RIDGEMONT ST by Rick Berlin (now playing w/ THE NICKEL & DIME BAND)
Years back, as my first band, ORCHESTRA LUNA, was getting off the ground, I recorded a bunch of songs into a reel-to-reel. I had an upright piano with tacks in the hammers and I banged these tunes out so I wouldn't forget them (a condition that has lasted with me to this day). They embarrass me. My voice sounds so operatic, and the playing is awkward. I show them to practically no one. But there's something vaguely endearing about them. They also have an innocence that belies my later, albeit intermittent obsession with hit songs and a 'career'.
This one, like many at that time is recorded at Ridgemont St in Allston - big yellow house at the end of the street which one night we closed off, dropped acid and had a square dance - and we could actually walk to Jeremiah's on Harvard Ave - the place where OL got signed onto EPIC from.
Tracklist
| 7. | FISHBOWL | 5:40 |
Lyrics
FISHBOWL
and the candies
in the window
behind the fishbowl
they sparkle in the sun
they sparkle in the sun
i got somethin’
on my mind
somethin’ i been waiting’ t say
tp somebody else’s eyes
i see a rainbow
up in the sky
but yesterday that rainbow
maybe could make me cry
but today i feel so happy
today i follow the sun
today i feel like laughin’
with the clowns
the clowns
n everyone
oh yeah
na na na na na
dear daddy
don’t ya hear me calling’ out yr name?
dear daddy
? …faces everyday
dear daddy
don’t ya hear me when i say
telling how i love you
any old way
dear mama
ya know when it rains
dear mama
can’t ya see right thru yr pain
dear mama
get right out of the way
when i hear ya crying’
ill wash those tears away
wash those tears away
the pie is bakin’
in the stove
n a dog name o boomerang
is scratchin’ out
the flies in his toes
while me i eat my breakfast
dressed in the same ol’ clothes
n ruminate extravagantly
upon the me the me
that nobody knows
oh yeah
la la la la la la
oh yeah
yes today i feel so happy
today i follow the sun
today i feel like laughin’
with the clowns
the clowns
n everyone
oh yeah
Credits
License
All rights reserved.
A giant on the Boston music scene. His colorful songwriting + strong stage presence have influenced countless other artists since the early 1970s. He continues to make music w/ intelligence + integrity, building an international reputation around his knotty, singular piano playing, straight-from-the-heart singing and a style of character-based songwriting that's drawn comparisons to Waits + Cohen