in Berlin

In Berlin, we couldn't resist singing the song "In Berlin," a work-in-progress from an upcoming song cycle (The Theosaur Slayer), which was inspired by my memories of Berlin, Nevada, (a ghost town that has dinosaur fossils) & the one of the reasons we went out to stay there. The melody is adapted from the folk hymn "Florence" (which mentions deserts & dragons), and the lyrics tell the story of a nameless boy who lives in the desert & discovers a monster in the abandoned mines.


Lyrics & chords:

In Berlin
D Bmin Emin7 Asus4    Bmin A D 

In Berlin, a ghost town in Central Nevada, lived a boy without any name. 

D Bmin Emin7 Asus4    Bmin A D 

He had built a shack out of broken bottles, a recycled gold rush claim. 

D D/C# Bmin Asus4 D Bmin A 

And in the nights when the desert’s frigid, his grandmother’s ghost would visit, 

D Bmin Emin7   Asus4 Bmin A  

And they’d sup on scorpion tail cocktails, & silently hide from the spirits.

And there was a hill to the East of the ruins that his ghosty Granny had warned, 

Don’t you ever go there, the pinyon pins round the mines is mysteriously burned, 

But being a boy with an tween’s free will & the imaginings of a devil, 

He was bored one Wednesday while out exploring, and he found himself on the hill. 

Down into the mine-shaft climbed the child, no one was there to watch him, 

And he lit a match in the ancient darkness, & wandered round with caution. 

A humongous monster was deeply sleeping, as if for millions of years. 

With the arms of a rat, & the wings of an eagle, & brobdingnagian ears. 

But they weren’t alone, & poltergeist who haunted far & wide 

Knocked some rocks on the supports, and a noisy collapse sealed off only the way outside. 

The monster woke & it gasped for breath, a ten thousand pound canary, 

And it grabbed the boy, burst through the earth, & they flew off in the fiery sky. 

©2011 The Manna Tease 

Please "like" The Manna Tease on facebooks here.
Here are some more photos from our trip to Berlin: