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."
Oh Sister
Dan Bern Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I bet you wish you taught me how to stop
You're far away now
I wish I could take a walk with you someplace
You explained me to our parents
English wasn't their first language
They spoke German
Hated Germans
Oh sister
Down midwest backseat bumpy streets
You sang my Beatles songs with me
I sang your Broadway melodies
Bad harmonies
And where would Willie Mays have been
without Jackie Robinson?
And who can say what I'd been
Without you to lead the way
After I showed some guys I could drink
You picked me off the lawn, I think
And led me to the kitchen sink
Where I got rid of it
Some nights I lay awake in awe
As squinting through the dark I saw
You peeling off your teenage bra
The door slightly ajar
Oh sister
You lived just across the hall
For eighteen summers
Eighteen falls
Until you went away to that
Weird college in Wisconsin
And where would Willie Mays have been
without Jackie Robinson?
And who can say what I'd been
Without you to lead the way
Trust yourself
And you can do anything
This I give to you
May your heart purr like a bumblebee
May all your backyards have a tree
May you always be HIV negative
I hope you meet a nice guy who
Treats women better than I do
I don't even care if he's a Jew or not
Oh sister
I remember in the temple hall
At our dear father's funeral
You sang like a nightingale
One of his own songs
And where would Willie Mays have been
Without Jackie Robinson?
And who can say what I'd been
Without you to lead the way
Dan Bern's song "Oh Sister" is a nostalgic and reflective tribute to the singer's older sister. The song starts by mentioning how the sister taught him how to talk but he wishes she taught him how to stop. It's an interesting way of expressing that the sister played a huge role in shaping the singer's personality, but he might have overdone it sometimes. The verse also refers to the parents speaking German and the confusing times around that. It's possible that the family has some German roots or that it was during a time when Germans were looked down upon because of the war.
The chorus of the song contains a beautiful mix of memories and gratitude towards the sister. The references to midwest backseat bumpy streets, singing Beatles songs, Broadway melodies, bad harmonies, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson showcase the sibling relationship and how the sister led the way for the singer. The fact that the sister picked him off the lawn after he got drunk and led him to the kitchen sink shows the kind of mutual care and support that existed between the siblings. The singer also expresses his admiration for the sister by mentioning how he saw her peeling off her teenage bra in awe.
The second verse of the song is a continuation of the nostalgia and gratitude expressed in the chorus. The fact that the sister lived across the hall for eighteen summers and falls until she went away to college in Wisconsin shows how close the siblings were. The singer hopes that his sister meets a nice guy who treats women better than he does and he doesn't even care if he's a Jew or not. The song ends with the singer remembering his sister singing like a nightingale at their father's funeral and without her leading the way, he wonders where he would have been.
Line by Line Meaning
They say you taught me how to talk
People say that you were the one who taught me how to speak
I bet you wish you taught me how to stop
You probably wished you taught me how to hold back or stop myself at times
You're far away now
You're not near me anymore
I wish I could take a walk with you someplace
I wish we could go for a walk together somewhere
You explained me to our parents
You described me to our parents
English wasn't their first language
Our parents did not speak English as their native language
They spoke German
They spoke German
Hated Germans
They disliked Germans
Confusing times
It was a confusing time
Oh sister
My dear sister
Down midwest backseat bumpy streets
Driving through the bumpy streets of the Midwest in the backseat of a car
You sang my Beatles songs with me
You sang along with me to my favorite Beatles songs
I sang your Broadway melodies
I sang your favorite Broadway songs
Bad harmonies
Our singing didn't exactly blend in harmony
And where would Willie Mays have been
What would have happened to Willie Mays
without Jackie Robinson?
If Jackie Robinson hadn't come along to pave the way for him
And who can say what I'd been
And who knows what I would have turned out to be
Without you to lead the way
If you hadn't been there to guide me
After I showed some guys I could drink
After I proved to some guys that I could handle alcohol
You picked me off the lawn, I think
You probably pulled me off the lawn
And led me to the kitchen sink
And took me to the sink in the kitchen
Where I got rid of it
Where I threw up
Some nights I lay awake in awe
Some nights I stayed up in amazement
As squinting through the dark I saw
As I looked through the darkness with narrowed eyes, I saw
You peeling off your teenage bra
You taking off your bra as a teenager
The door slightly ajar
The door was slightly open
You lived just across the hall
You lived right across from me on the same floor
For eighteen summers
For eighteen summers of our lives
Eighteen falls
For eighteen autumns
Until you went away to that
Until you left to go to that
Weird college in Wisconsin
Strange college in Wisconsin
Trust yourself
Believe in yourself
And you can do anything
And you have the ability to do anything
This I give to you
I offer you this advice
May your heart purr like a bumblebee
May your heart beat happily and contentedly like a bumblebee
May all your backyards have a tree
May all the backyards you ever have access to always have a tree
May you always be HIV negative
May you never test positive for HIV
I hope you meet a nice guy who
I wish for you to meet a kind guy who
Treats women better than I do
Treats women much better than I ever did
I don't even care if he's a Jew or not
I don't care if he's Jewish or not; just that he treats you well
I remember in the temple hall
I recall in the hall of the temple
At our dear father's funeral
During our beloved father's funeral
You sang like a nightingale
You sang like a bird in the family of nightingales
One of his own songs
One of his own musical compositions
And where would Willie Mays have been
What would have happened to Willie Mays
Without Jackie Robinson?
If Jackie Robinson hadn't come along to pave the way for him
And who can say what I'd been
And who knows what I would have turned out to be
Without you to lead the way
If you hadn't been there to guide me
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind