Dan Bern (aka Bernstein, a name under which he sometimes performs) is a gui… Read Full Bio ↴Dan Bern (aka Bernstein, a name under which he sometimes performs) is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and painter. His music is often compared to that of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello. His song "Talkin' Woody, Bob, Bruce, and Dan Blues," from the album Smartie Mine, offers a joking take on this influence, presented in the style of a Guthrie or Dylan talking blues song, and containing a spoof of a Dylan song as well. Bernstein has also toured with Ani DiFranco. He is known for sardonic, literary lyrics, a range of musical styles, and a folk music style paired with rock instrumentation. He also wrote the novel Quitting Science (2004) under the pen name Cunliffe Merriwether and wrote the preface under his own name.

Although a vein of social and political humor runs though even his earliest work, Bern's work became more explicitly political during the 2004 US presidential election campaign, with songs such as "Bush Must Be Defeated" and "President" highlighting his sometimes surreal political takes.

Bern is reflexively literate, in the style of his favorite authors, including L.A.'s legendary bohemians Charles Bukowski and John Fante, urbane fantasist James Thurber, and yarn-spinning humorist Ring Lardner. He is in love with the power of words to turn on themselves, to frolic, to bite, and his strong, friendly voice can go from earnest to ferocious within seconds. Being captivated by Dan is the easy part; describing his music to the non-initiated is more difficult. One journalist tried: "topical-poetical-sarcastic-punk-folk." An admirable effort, further elaborated by the New York Times: "He veers from comedy to anger, conjectures to shaggy-dog stories; he takes sidelong approaches to theology, science fiction, consumer culture, art, love and baseball."

Murderer
Dan Bern Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

And when they showed his picture in
The paper it did not shock me
But when they told of his name it
Made me scream and cry out loud

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

I went out and bought some clothes and
They asked for my credit card and
Looked at me with shock and terror
Gave it back and closed the doors

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

I stayed home and watched the TV
Ate my meat and turned in early
Through the night the bell kept ringing
Then at dawn they went away

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

When I went out all the boys ran
'Round and screamed my name

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

Name as me, name as me
Name, name, name as me
Name as me, name as me
Name, name, name as me

Oh, how can it be?
Name, name, name as me
Oh, how can it be?
Oh, how can it be?

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me
Oh, how can it be?
The murderer has the same name as me

Oh
Oh

Oh
Oh

Overall Meaning

The song "Murderer" by Dan Bern tells the story of a person who shares the same name as a murderer. The lyrics express shock and disbelief at the coincidence, and the fear of being mistaken for the killer. The repetition of the lines "Oh, how can it be? The murderer has the same name as me" emphasizes the character's anxiety and confusion.

The lyrics also reveal the character's attempts to distance themselves from the killer, such as buying new clothes and staying home. The line "When I went out, all the boys ran 'round and screamed my name" shows the fear and suspicion that the character encounters from others. The song ends with the repetition of the line "The murderer has the same name as me," leaving the listener to contemplate the implications of the coincidence.

Overall, the song is a poignant exploration of identity, fear, and coincidence. It emphasizes the power of a name and the impact it can have on a person's life.

Line by Line Meaning

Oh, how can it be?
Expressing shock and disbelief

The murderer has the same name as me
A person with the same name as the murderer exists

And when they showed his picture in The paper it did not shock me
The picture of the murderer in the paper did not shock the singer

But when they told of his name it Made me scream and cry out loud
Hearing the murderer's name made the singer scream and cry

I went out and bought some clothes and They asked for my credit card and Looked at me with shock and terror Gave it back and closed the doors
The shopkeeper reacted with shock and terror when the singer tried to buy clothes using his credit card

I stayed home and watched the TV Ate my meat and turned in early Through the night the bell kept ringing Then at dawn they went away
The police came to the singer's house, and after finding he was not the murderer, they left

When I went out all the boys ran 'Round and screamed my name
People shouted the singer's name when he left his home

Name as me, name as me Name, name, name as me
The same name!

Oh, how can it be? Name, name, name as me Oh, how can it be? Oh, how can it be?
Expressing shock, confusion, and disbelief about sharing a name with a murderer.

Contributed by Amelia O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Angela Holmes

2y↑6

It's sad that Jean harlow had a tragic short life she deserved so much in life than what she got

Denise

2y↑6

I think it was his first wife. She was found dead a while later

know thyself

2y↑10

It wasn't a suicide it was a murder. He had Jean- his desirable dream woman he wouldn't have ended it.

Jean Harlow Archive

@Metalbass10000 He unfortunately. died in debt and Jean had to pay it all after he died.

Metalbass10000

2y↑2

He apparently had two attractive and talented women in his life.
Oh, he was one of the most wealthy men in America, too.
Multiple gorgeous mansions.
Loyal servants.
A yacht.
Connections to powerful people in legal, legitimate business, powerful people who were constantly involved in criminal behavior, and another group of powerful criminals who weren't politicians .

PlymouthDuster225

2y↑1

Could have been his first wife. I recently bought the book Jean Harlow and the Murder of Paul Bern by Samuel Marx and Joyce Anderson but haven't started reading it yet.

Jean Harlow Archive

2y↑6

Thank you for using my channel as your source! I'm glad i could help you but i have to correct you on Jean's marriages. Jean and Chuck McGrew divorced in 1929 and Jean divorced with Hal Rosson 8 months after they married each other due to the fact her mother wasn't happy she left her aside. Also her last love was William Powell they met in 1934 but refused to marry her because he didn't want to marry someone half of America wants to sleep with.

Gracie Saccardo

2y↑3

Awesome actress !! God 🙏 Bless her and her beloved family ❤️💞💞 so sadly missed 🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️

XxThe Awoken OnexX

2y↑4

It is Hollywood, and foul play is in plentiful supply.

CC Grey

2y↑1

Paul worked for MGM as well as Jean so MGM would have had a vested interest in not having a scandal. They would have been protecting their own image as much as Jean's. It's likely that either Dorothy shot Paul and then went and drowned herself or that Paul shot himself because he was ashamed of his shabby treatment of Dorothy . Dorothy then read about his death in the newspaper and decided to kill herself. Nothing in Jean's nature indicates that she would have killed Paul. The story of Paul being impotent is fiction from a book written in the 1960's. They didn't have a volatile sort of marriage and if Jean had been unhappy with Paul she would have divorced him, not murdered him.

Facts Verse

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Joseph Johnson

2y↑2

She's is a tinseltown legend. But, So tragic her husband Paul die mysterious. Respects to both them.

Muffassa

I had heard about this before they did report about that it's all documented there was a paper trail I think she might have done it

Diane Kennedy

2y↑2

I think his common law wife did it.

Paul Vineyard

2y↑5

Dorothy Millette was in San Francisco the night Bern died. The coroner convened a jury to examine the evidence and they concluded the death was a suicide. A grand jury was then seated to review the findings and they too concluded suicide as the cause of death. That's where things remained until 1960 when author Ben Hecht claimed in Playboy that Bern was murdered and MGM covered it up. The LA County District Attorney then re-opened the case and concluded that Hecht was repeating unfounded rumors. Facts Verse will repeat anything about anybody to get clicks.

Darren

An interesting if tragic shocking story she died far too young from kidney failure long before drs learned about this serious fatal condition

Sid sings

2y↑1

I suffer from chronic kidney failure.

Facts Verse

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Sandra🦋

2y↑2

I really don’t think anyone drowns themselves at sea by jumping into it, ok? 🌊 to commit suicide ? No flipping way.

cmmahoney21

Interesting coincidence. I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that And a creepy story. The house that actress Jean Harlow and her husband were living in and that he died in was later owned in the late 1960’s by Jay Sebring. That’s the house where he and Sharon Tate lived for a few years. Jean died at 26. Sharon died at 26. Here’s the creepy part. Sharon was in Jay’s house by herself one night. I think Jay was out of town. She was in bed in one of the bedrooms that had been rumored to be haunted. She felt a malevolent presence and eventually got so scared that she got up, ran out of the room and down the stairs and kept going until she was out of the house. As she was running down the stairs she had a vision of herself that was a premonition of her own death

Kevin Bergin

Does it seem like William Desmond Taylor 's killer? Wow, a serial murderer?

Lena Chavez

2y↑3

That's Hollywood.

Judy Motto

2y↑2

Paul ghost has been seen in their old Hollywood mansion ..

Cadillac Deville

2y↑1

How awful

Kevin Bergin

Is the guy, about to shot himself at 3:01 point , the policeman at 2:43?

echolot

why did they cast gwen stefani as jean harlowe in "the aviator"?

Kevin Bergin

So what you are saying is she should have stayed at RKO Studios.

Facts Verse

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Like Bot

2y↑1

Funny Louis B Meyer isn't a prime suspect. Really you can't trust Canadians, and this New Brunswick chap is sketchy af.

Kevin Bergin

At the 6:30 mark, look how that actor, in officer dress, is holding Jean's wrist in the dance scene. Is that a period piece thing or a military thing because I have never seen, or done, that while dancing myself?

Margaret Kiernan

I don't think the truth about this case is fully known when hollywoood is taken down hopefully then

iamqueenlene vlog

R.I.H

Kendie Torgerson

I miss hot so much

Sandra🦋

Jean killed him.

CC Grey

That is highly unlikely. Jean had zero motive for wanting to kill Paul. Their marriage wasn't volatile or passionate. Jean respected Paul and looked to him almost like a father figure. If Jean knew about Dorothy she likely would have been sympathetic rather than angry. It's possible that Dorothy shot Paul. She committed suicide a short time later., or Paul committed suicide because he was ashamed for treating Dorothy badly.