Pavement, a band started by Malkmus post-Ectoslavia, pre-New York, at this point began to gain attention. This attention resulted in a record deal and a constant inferiority plague placed upon the 'Joos with Berman totally at the forefront of the group. Misinformed music fans now saw the band as a side-project and, even worse, Berman as being not good enough to play with Pavement, many band members being shared between the two bands.
The connection to Malkmus and the now blossoming Pavement was not all negative, however. Drag City, then not the bastion of American folk music it is today, agreed to release the band's debut EPs which has led to a fruitful relationship (the label continues to release the band's records, right up to album number 7 in 2008, (Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea).
The Silver Jews in their later days primarily consisted of David and Cassie Berman who contributed most of the lyrics, and a changing cast of characters. They had numerous indie stars in a rotating line up, including Willie T. of Lambchop, and Brian Kotzer of Tim Chad and Sherry.
David Berman is also a poet and has been published in numerous poetry magazines and journals. He also has a book of poetry and rants entitled "Actual Air," which was released in 1999 and received favorable reviews from The New Yorker and GQ.
On the 22nd of January, 2009, David Berman announced on the Drag City messageboard that their show on the 31st of January in Tennessee would be their last. "Can't be like all the careerists doncha know. I'm forty two and I know what to do. I'm a writer, see? I always said we would stop before we got bad." After 10 years off, Berman reappeared in 2019 as Purple Mountains.
David Berman died from suicide on August 22, 2019 after a long battle with depression.
Dallas
Silver Jews Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The CPR was so erotic
A blizzard blew in through the door
And little glowing cum buckets in her ankles
O Dallas you shine with an evil light
O Dallas you shine with an evil light
How did you turn a billion steers
Into buildings made of mirrors,
And why am I drawn to you tonight?
Once you taste the geometry of a church in a cul-de-sac
You're gonna want to sit with the bad kids in the back
Cruising down Commerce
Killing time in the blazing sun
Is it true your analyst was a placekicker for the Falcons?
We saw B.B.King on General Hospital
In the Oak Cliff dramhounse where we stayed
And when Clancy whipped her with his belt buckle
He cleaned her cuts and then we prayed
O Dallas you shine with an evil light
Don't you know that God stays up all night?
And how did you turn a billion steers
Into buildings made of mirrors,
And why am I drawn to you tonight?
Watching the makeup girls make out with the mannequins
"Hey boys, supper's on me, our record just went aluminum"
Poor as a mouse every morning
Rich as a cat every night
Some kind of strange magic happens
When the city turns on her lights
The lyrics to Silver Jews' song "Dallas" describe the singer's fascination with the city of Dallas, Texas. The first verse begins with a surreal image of "little glowing cum buckets in her ankles," which adds to the dreamlike quality of the song. The repetition of the line "O Dallas you shine with an evil light" emphasizes the singer's sense of awe and ambivalence towards the city. He marvels at how Dallas turned "a billion steers into buildings made of mirrors," which suggests the transformation of nature into artificiality. The second verse further explores the contrast between high culture and low culture, with the image of sitting with "the bad kids in the back" and also seeing B.B. King on "General Hospital." The mention of an analyst who was a "placekicker for the Falcons" is perhaps a nod to the absurdity of the surreal imagery in the song. The final verse includes the image of makeup girls making out with mannequins and a reference to the singer's own precarious financial situation. The chorus ends with the line "Don't you know that God stays up all night?", which suggests the unsettling, almost demonic quality that the singer attributes to Dallas.
Overall, the lyrics to "Dallas" can be interpreted as a love-hate letter to the city of Dallas, which seems to embody the paradoxes of American culture. The song explores the tension between nature and artifice, high culture and low culture, wealth and poverty, and spirituality and materialism. The surreal imagery and repetitions in the lyrics contribute to the sense of disorientation and fascination that the singer feels towards Dallas.
Line by Line Meaning
I passed the thirteenth floor
I rode the elevator past the unlucky thirteenth floor
The CPR was so erotic
The air conditioning was so strong that it felt like someone was kissing me
A blizzard blew in through the door
A sudden gust of wind and snow came inside the room
And little glowing cum buckets in her ankles
And I noticed small, glowing dots on her ankles
O Dallas you shine with an evil light
Dallas, you have a dark and alluring quality
How did you turn a billion steers
How did you transform a billion cattle into something else?
Into buildings made of mirrors,
Buildings that reflect everything around them
And why am I drawn to you tonight?
And why am I feeling compelled to be here in Dallas tonight?
Once you taste the geometry of a church in a cul-de-sac
Once you experience the layout of a church in a dead-end street
You're gonna want to sit with the bad kids in the back
You'll feel inclined to join the misfits at the back
Cruising down Commerce
Driving down Commerce Street
Killing time in the blazing sun
Wasting time in the extreme heat
Is it true your analyst was a placekicker for the Falcons?
Rumor has it that your therapist used to play as a kicker for the Falcons
We saw B.B.King on General Hospital
We watched B.B. King's guest appearance on General Hospital
In the Oak Cliff dramhounse where we stayed
In the small house for actors in Oak Cliff where we were staying
And when Clancy whipped her with his belt buckle
And when Clancy whipped her with his belt
He cleaned her cuts and then we prayed
He cleaned her wounds and we prayed together
Don't you know that God stays up all night?
Dallas, don't you know that God never sleeps?
Watching the makeup girls make out with the mannequins
Observing the cosmetic workers kissing the mannequins
"Hey boys, supper's on me, our record just went aluminum"
"Hey guys, I'm treating you to dinner, our record just sold enough copies to go 'aluminum'"
Poor as a mouse every morning
Being broke every morning
Rich as a cat every night
Being wealthy every night
Some kind of strange magic happens
Something unexplainable and mysterious happens
When the city turns on her lights
When the city illuminates and comes alive at night
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind