I rarely get into an album the way I have with David Berkeley‘s Some Kind of Cure and a week ago I didn’t even know the guy existed.

But thanks to Harlan Cobens Twitter I was informed about a song called Shelter (a soundtrack to a book, pretty original) which I really liked that led me to David’s homepage where you can listen to his songs.

After that I was pretty much hooked. As soon as you enter the page you’re met by David’s husky voice almost whispering out the lyrics to The Blood and The Wine.

Tell me that you still remember,
When we caught lightning in a jar.

Now you have put the sway back in the grass.
You have put the fire back in me.

There were times when you were hiding.
And I know I’ve been hard to hold.

But you have put the wine back in the glass.
You have put the blood back in me.

And oh, oh my word.

There’s a blue house in the distance.
There’s a stream beside it, too.

Well you have put the sails back on the mast.

You have put the breeze back in me.

Oh, oh my word.
Oh, oh my word.
Oh, oh my word.

Now you have put the wine back in the glass.
You have put the blood back in me.

And after that slow and hypnotic tune he launches into George Square which is a bit more poppy and suddenly you’re transferred to a Springtime walk under a boulevard of sun-streaked trees with your loved one. The mood in Berkeley’s songs are that strong, they tell such a rich story and they paint a imagery so vivid, I’ve been listening to the same songs daily for more than a week and I still can’t get enough.

Two fantastic verses from George Square:

She was walking cross George Square in the rain.
I was high. I was so high in a plane.
I was trying to see through the clouds, 
Looking for places we’d been,
Like a sign, like a sunburst, like the letters in her name.

We were back in George Square when the rain gave way.
There’s something in how the spring comes so suddenly.
And the dress she wore was yellow.
And the rain was in her hair.
How bad I wanted to tell her that I would always be there.

The whole experience made me not only buy Some Kind of Cure but also buy the book about the album called 140 Goats and a Guitar which describes the year David, his wife and his son spent on Corsica. This stay resulted in many of the songs on Some Kind of Cure and each anecdote is followed by the lyrics to that particular song. I’ve read about 30% (I’m reading it on my Kindle) and I really love it so far.

But then I’ve become something of a David Berkeley fan of late.

Tags: 140 Goats and a Guitar, Corsica, David Berkeley, David Berkeley fan, George Square, Harlan Coben, Shelter, Some Kind of Cure, The Blood and The Wine