Dan Bern – New American Language

Dan Bern’s new American language is pretty age-old, truth be told. Bern’s songs in the past have referenced Marilyn Monroe, Mother Teresa, Tiger Woods, and Charles Manson. Language contains nods to Eminem, Britney, and Keith Richards.

Bern, god help him, is commenting on the American Tradition through symbolic touchstones, those archetypal figures who have gained the public’s everlasting embrace. He uses them much as a bluegrass songwriter might use a ringing hammer or a mountainside, as a way to corral a certain emotion in the listener, a songwriting device with an inherent power and relevance that prevents it from becoming cliche.

In lesser hands, this would be a trainwreck; at the very minimum, Todd Snider. Language works, however, despite the above. Bern sees his America like John Dos Passos, paying attention to the man behind the curtain, glancing behind the facade of celebrity and pride to see the poles holding them up.

Songs such as “Thanksgiving Day Parade” present our society much like a picture when viewed some time after the fact; removed from the time and context, Bern provides a clear-eyed view that is at once both sentimental and self-loathing. It’s not only America, however, that interests this foul-mouthed, pumped-up Edward Steichen. “Toledo” moves along the rust-colored expanse of traditional Spain with a reserved beauty that affirms his ability.

Bern doesn’t need the jokey pop culture references and linguistic flash to succeed. He does it simply for effect, confident that the substance contained underneath is the gold standard to back up the checks his mouth writes.