Berkeley is a New Jersey native, but in the past decade, he's lived in Brooklyn, Atlanta, Berkeley and Corsica. Santa Fe is now home, where he lives with this wife and two young sons. Within months of arriving and still overwhelmed by the palette of reds and browns, the endless open sky, and the frightening lack of water in his new high desert surroundings, Berkeley wrote and recorded his most haunting and personal songs to date. Berkeley's doleful baritone and vulnerable falsetto, called "lustrous and melancholy" by the New York Times, is up front in the mix, showcasing his profoundly elegiac lyrics. Indeed, Berkeley cites Yeats and Melville among his greatest influences. For his unique way with words, the San Francisco Chronicle dubbed Berkeley "a musical poet."
Berkeley's gift as a songwriter and storyteller is that he sees both the tragedy and comedy in life, managing to both reveal the sorrow at the heart of the human condition and the blazing joy and beauty in the same. It's a duality that audiences experience at all of Berkeley's shows as he tells uproarious stories between heartbreaking songs. It's why his fans respond so deeply to his music and why so many look to him to express what they are often unable to articulate. It's also why his voice and lyrics have cross-genre appeal. Berkeley's songs are at once hard and hopeful.
Jefferson
David Berkeley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you come down,
When you come down
Jefferson, I heard your tears fall down
Over the fall of the rain.
Why is it you and I were never that much the same?
Rain on the road across the Delaware nearly washed us away.
A piece of the West broke away.
A piece of the west broke away, away.
We are worn like the river stones.
Away, away. Washed up like the river stones.
In Betlehem a baby boy was born,
Born to build the bomb.
What was the fighting for,
And who remembers his song?
The boy was king; he was a prodigy,
In love with everything.
But why did the kingdom come
And splll on everyone,
And why the confusion son,
The closer we cling to the gun?
A piece of the West broke away.
A piece of the West broke away, away.
We are worn like the river stones.
Away, away. Washed up like the river stones.
In Pennsylvania there's a bridge that broke.
The water washed it on by.
Why is it you and I, buckled under the tide?
Jefferson, we should have listened.
We should have answered the call.
But what did you want from me?
Now the West will fall.
And who did you hope to be?
Now the West will fall.
Yeah, now the West will fall.
Now the West will fall away.
We are worn like the river stones.
Away, away. Come on rattle the river stones,
Washed up like the river stones.
We are worn like the river stones
The song "Jefferson" by David Berkeley is a reflective piece about the state of the world and the American society. The song begins with the repetitive line of "when you come down", which creates a sense of anticipation and impending doom. Jefferson in the song is a symbol of democracy and the American Dream, but it is under threat due to the actions of the people.
Berkeley mentions the tears of Jefferson falling down, which is a metaphor for the state of democracy being in tears. The line "why is it you and I were never that much the same?" suggests that the people have failed to understand the importance of democracy and its values. The rain on the road across the Delaware represents the troubles that America has gone through since its birth as a nation. The line "how come philosophy folds in the light of the day?" refers to the moral values of people being compromised for their needs and desires, ultimately leading to the breakdown of society.
The piece of the West breaking away is a metaphor for the decline of America due to its internal issues. The river stones symbolize the people, who have been worn out, and washed up by the tides. The song also talks about the birth of a baby in Bethlehem who was born to build the bomb. This refers to the arms race that America has been involved in and the devastating effects of these actions on society.
Line by Line Meaning
When you come down,
Addressing someone to listen to him and pay attention.
Jefferson, I heard your tears fall down
Over the fall of the rain.
Referring to Jefferson, the artist says he's heard his tears in metaphoric sense when sometimes he must have cried silently for something he lost or didn't achieve, like how rain showers hide tears falling, and points out that it happened due to failures like the sound of the unavoidable rain, something he can relate to.
Why is it you and I were never that much the same?
Rain on the road across the Delaware nearly washed us away.
How come philosophy folds in the light of the day?
Criticize his and Jefferson's levels of success and compare their struggle to streams of water. Although they are different from each other, a similar rain almost washed their way to happiness. However, when faced with daylight, even their philosophies couldn't withstand the harsh reality, so they remained where they stood without change.
A piece of the West broke away.
The failure in the West is widespread and profound, like a piece of it has been shattered and has come apart.
We are worn like the river stones.
Life has been a significant journey that has worn them down, like smooth stones in a river, but still, they keep going like rivers keep flowing.
In Bethlehem a baby boy was born,
Born to build the bomb.
What was the fighting for,
And who remembers his song?
Referencing to the whole conflict and war fought in Bethlehem, the artist is asking about the purpose of life and peace, and why people remember war more than any other artwork, like the boy born to build a significant weapon.
The boy was king; he was a prodigy,
In love with everything.
But why did the kingdom come
And splll on everyone,
And why the confusion son,
The closer we cling to the gun?
The boy was brilliant and unique in his own way, with much to love. But the kingdom referred to here is a symbol of power and greed, something that will eventually ruin everyone. As they keep grasping towards guns and weapons, it leads to more confusion and chaos, the reason behind the loss of the West.
In Pennsylvania there's a bridge that broke.
The water washed it on by.
Why is it you and I, buckled under the tide?
Jefferson, we should have listened.
We should have answered the call.
But what did you want from me?
Now the West will fall.
And who did you hope to be?
Now the West will fall.
Yeah, now the West will fall.
There was a bridge that broke because of the force of the water that could not be stopped. The artist questions why he and Jefferson are unsuccessful, unable to control that flood, and suggests they should have listened to some advice or warning or responded to some call that they ignored. The present is hopeless, causing the West to come down, destroying their dreams of success.
Away, away. Come on rattle the river stones,
Washed up like the river stones.
Looking at the successful people who have come before them, who are like river rocks, the artist says, let's stir things up and make some noise too; they have already achieved it, so maybe they should follow their example and create a stir.
We are worn like the river stones.
Reiterates that they have been on this journey for a long time, have been through many hurdles and have come to a point where they have been sanded down and have become smooth like river rocks.
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