The catalog of Dan Bern is not very widely received. His name, as far as my circle of experience goes, is largely preserved through sparse publicity (most recently, this is actually bigger news, he was contracted to write the soundtrack to dewy cox) and the remanence of a single song. "The Jerusalem Song" is curiously well known among Jewish summer camp attendees for just any song by an obscure jewish folk artist. In fact this is how I myself know Dan Bern, from a counselor named Ben Dreyfus when I was in the fourth grade. I suppose the song is played because it is fun, and is kept because of its name as opposed to its subject matter. The song is supposed to be about Dan Bern's (formerly Dan Bernstein) trip to Jerusalem to visit his sister. But little is said about Jerusalem, and still for the aforementioned reasons the song is played throughout jewish establishments. Bern's status among fans is something between obscure jewish folk musician and respected industry type (he does have a professional/artistic associations with
Ani DiFranco) but I am not sure he is either. This fact or confusion is compounded by Bern's curious personality. He is also a painter and a writer. He is the type of artist where you begin to realize that he doesn't attempt to focus on writing impressive songs, and rather focuses on the process of writing songs themselves. In short he is a songwriter by trade. Not surprisingly his sound is often compared to that of Bob Dylan, though usually in a derisive manner, but who can honestly pass judgement. I remember a scene from No Direction Home where Joan Baez tells a story about Bob Dylan just sitting down at a type writer typing out words then being at a loss as to how to explain them or just saying something along the lines of "you decide". Bob Dylan gains his strength (along with his catchy tunes) from his musicality, the time from which he came (which was culturally very attentive) and the eloquence with which he portrayed the feeling of a time (both musically and lyrically). Dan Bern, I feel, gains his strength from a much less tangible source that I mentioned earlier but only briefly, his honesty and consistency. His sound can be described as derivative but I feel that would be missing the point. The fact is that Bern has a style that has comes about from pursuing a craft and being prolific. An intangible quality that has something mystical to do with the Edisonian ratio of ten percent inspiration ninety percent perspiration. Bob Dylan was surely a brilliant musician and I love his music but I feel the ethos of his work to be a little scattered, this may be a vague criticism or not even a criticism at all. The recent movie on Bob Dylan,
Im Not There , seemed to find fascination in this fact, and I guess so do I. But personally speaking its less erratic nature lends Bern's music to be something more easily relatable, and isn't that one of the many reasons we listen to "folk" music? The fact is that, while Bob Dylan can span generations and genres, Bern is one of the rare artists who finds his niche in a highly stylized form with an honesty and fluency that just sounds refreshing. Im not saying one is better than the other, in fact I want to take this opportunity to make explicitly clear that in not what I mean. I am merely trying to distinguish my appreciation of Bern's approach to his craft that I hold in high regard. Either way its good stuff, enjoy.
