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Link: Winter, Berlin City West

The idea for this song came to me when I heard Bob Dean's song "Christmas In Berlin".

But this is not a memory.
It's about today.
In Berlin.
2025.
It's about those who don't have a Christmas.
The homeless.
The ones left behind.
Somewhere down below.
Those whom no one likes to see.

It's a documentary.
Probably not even what you would normally call "a song".
No choruses, no rhymes, nothing.
Because I believe that it loses its impact if you force it into the traditional boundaries of a song.
Not a song to sing along to.
One that makes you think.
Not sure if this works for others.


Write something...


Some technical information:

Lyrical and dramaturgical advisor: Marty

Style: TINES.STY

The band:
Bass: 1592 + me
Guitars: 522, 1537, 3435, 3738, me
Strings: 2336, 2338, me
Synths: 1265 + me
Piano: me
Vocals: AI

Tracks Stats for those interested:
Code
8x BIAB
6x Me
1x AI

You can find the lyrics in the next post.

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Title: Winter, Berlin City West

(Intro)
It's drafty
Winter, the harsh Berlin winter
Is casting its shadow
The one with the icy wind
It's coming

(Verse)
A homeless man on a rusty bicycle
With plastic bags and a sleeping bag
Hanging from the handlebars rides past me
For him, it's all about survival again
Winter
Snow
Sub-zero temperatures
Full homeless shelters

(Verse)
With luck, an open subway station
Or the lobby of a bank, where the ATMs are
Where it's warm
Where, a short time later
Snobs have him picked up by officials because he stinks
He has to leave, preferably to a place where no one can see him
No one wants to see that

(Verse)
There are many of them around here
If you keep your eyes open, you'll see them
Arms buried in trash cans, carrying plastic bags
The torn sole of a shoe, broken teeth, the strange checkered jacket
That doesn't quite go with the sweatpants
If you don't want to see them, you won't

(Verse)
There are two of them standing in front of the supermarket
Disheveled
Bottle
Each holding an alibi homeless newspaper in their hands
You don't really want a newspaper
It's just an excuse to give something
And then generously do without it
You wouldn't read it anyway

(Verse)
At the supermarket, I buy a pack of Fisherman's
Fresh breath is important to me
I pay with a bill
I press the change into the hand of one of the two
And wish him a nice evening
He wishes me the same and smiles at me
No teeth
I take out my wallet again and give him what I can spare

(Outro)
Winter will be here soon
It's like this every winter
But something is different
There are more of them
There weren't so many before
So many

Last edited by B.D.Thomas; 4 hours ago. Reason: Lyrics added
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Posts: 790
Hi B. D.
I won’t comment on this musically because that’s not the point.

Your song and video made me angry.

In one sense, I wondered what can one man do? It would be like throwing dust into the wind. This, coupled with growing wealth inequality, is a growing problem that we MUST fix. But first, we have to acknowledge there is a problem, and I fear that many of us - myself included - can find it easier to turn a blind eye. One of the reasons, I think, is the fear of the cost or burden it would place on us as individuals. That is why I think we must address it collectively. Here in my own state within Australia, there is a lot of commentary about how we can find AUD$16bn for a metropolitan motorway with tunnels but can’t find money for more pressing social needs.

I recall something from my uni studies back in the day - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - where physiological needs (food, shelter) then safety needs, must first be satisfied before we can get into some of the higher needs like contribution to society and self actualisation. We need to give people a safe base to start from and address their base issues before we can expect them to be back on their feet.

I fear for my own country (Australia) where housing affordability is such an alarming problem that we will have large swathes of the population living in sub-standard accommodation or none at all. We already see story after story of DV victims sleeping in cars and many people living in caravan parks.

I don’t know what to do about the size of the problem other than changing my vote in elections.

Andrew

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