STEPHEN BERG: Stephen Berg

Stephen Berg

Stephen Berg

© 2005 Stephen Berg

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An mixture of rock, pop, and folk with a socially conscious attitute.

notes

A local enigma in the Minnesota music scene, Stephen Berg delivers with an ecclectic collection of songs that run the gamut of rock and roll, pop, country, folk, and angry activism. Mostly self produced and performed, this CD is his most mature work yet.

"I struggled with what to call the CD," said Stephen recently. "I finally just went with the self-titled option, as this CD seems be be representative of where I am now."

When asked to describe the CD track by track, here is what Stephen has to say about his own music:

FILLED WITH LOVE
With words and music by Joyce Andersen, this song in particular touched me deeply last year. It is a very healing song. I normally don't do cover versions, but Ms. Andersen was kind enough to give me permission. You can enjoy her original version by visiting her website at www.joyscream.com

JOHN THE REVELATOR
Made famous by Sun House, I first heard this on a Phil Keaggy record called Crimson and Blue. It was fun to re-arrange. It's kind of an old blues/gospel thing.

SAMUEL CHECOTE
In my ministry studies I learned about this Native American preacher. I am also enclosing a little biography on him, as he is pretty interesting. My friend Art Bjorngjeld is playing the accordion on this one. I wrote this song for a class I had on United Methodist History and Polity at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. We had to do a presentation, and I thought it a unique way to introduce the historical figure.

ALL I KNOW II
I wrote this song for Paul Wellstone, the senator for Minnesota who died tragically in a small plane crash a week or so before the 2002 election. He was one of the few politicians who I could trust, and had met him once at a rally and found him to be warm, honest, and interested in those that elected him. This is a "redone" version features Phil King (Kidz X) on bass and handling the production chores, and Mike Kebsworth on drums. I had put out out a different version on my CD THE LEFT IS RIGHT and am usually loathe to release althernate versions, but I really like this, and the wordes were updated a bit.

I WILL ALWAYS
A basic, unrequited love song.

OVER AND OVER
This came from marching for peace in Minneapolis. We went with some friends from church to join the crowd at the Lake Street Bridge in Minneapolis. My work schedule does not usually allow me to get there during the day, so we went on a day off from work. My wife and I had never done this before, and were amazed at how many people honked and gave support.

NATION OF VICTIMS
This song needs a lot of explaining. I am in no way trying to "blame the victim" for anything here. What I don't like people who victimize others and then blame it on someone else. The verses are pretty succinct. Verse one deals with drunk drivers. A friend of mine from work lost her husband to a drunk driver. They had been married for a year and were expecting their first child, and this guy who had several other convictions plowed into her husband while he was out running an errand and killed him. The driver blamed the bartender who served him too many drinks.

Verse two deals with spousal/domestic abuse. Another good friend of mine had a boyfriend threaten to kill her, put a gun to her head and held her hostage for several hours. He was going to kill her and then kill himself. He accomplished neither. When he finally let her go, it was found out that he had stolen most of her money and ruined her financially. Yet, he would accept no blame.

The last verse just reiterates the first two.

ALL THE SAME
My shot at a country song.

ANCIENT MARINERS
My wife Erin and I spend a lot of time at the North Shore by Lake Superior. There are a lot of shipwrecks, and the lake can get downright nasty. I love the area, but the lake is very unpredictable. You may be familiar with the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald that sank around 1977. That ship is just one of many wrecks in the Great Lakes.

NOTHING BUT A KILLER
Written when George Bush was still governor of Texas, I was appalled that he had signed so many death warrants. I am a United Methodist, and our discipline states that we oppose the death penalty. Bush is a United Methodist as well, yet he is a strong advocate of capital punishment. Jesus said how we treat the least among us is how we treat Him. I would assume that a person on death row (if they are indeed guilty, DNA evidence is clearing some of these people) is one of the least among us. Christ commands us to show mercy. This one has gotten me in trouble in the Christian Music community, especially among the Evangelicals. You may or may not agree.

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