Berlin at 5 (Solobrien, Vol. 4)
This song first appeared on my first Canadian album, Sacred Lines.
The recording features the most beautiful vocal performance by my friend Anne Schaefer… please check her music out.
Recorded in Victoria, BC, in 2005 by my gifted friend Joby Baker. The album was a huge turning point for me. I truly thought I would never perform again when I left the UK in 2004, let alone write 10 new songs and make an album.
Berlin at 5 is simply a recalling of some of the most important episodes of my life. The song begins with a most memorable experience in a piano bar in the Europa center in Berlin, with Sean Barry on piano keeping us entertained until we got the plane home. The second verse tells of the time I was joined on stage by 40 members of the Fire Department of New York in 2002. As part of the unbreakable brotherhood between the members of the Fire Service, the New Yorkers had been invited by the West Midlands Fire Service to join us in Birmingham for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Whilst on stage with my band in front of 25,000 people, I was joined by these brave men, who sang the FDNY’s iconic anthem — Liam Reilly’s The Streets of New York. Berlin at 5’s third verse speaks of the gift of being lucky enough to have three incredible children. The last verse recounts the meeting of my wife Louise in Willie’s wine bar on Summer Row in Birmingham. It’s not there anymore, it’s now the OPHEEM, a Michelin-starred Indian restaurant.
I recorded an album in 2009 for Stockfisch Records in Germany and we did a new version of this song. The album was released in China and so the lyrics were all translated into Cantonese. There was one line that the Chinese translator could not understand, which she contacted me about: “I said mine’s a white.”
This line refers to my pathetic pick-up line to the pretty girl who walked past me as I was singing in Willie’s Wine Bar,
heading towards the bar. I tried my luck and asked for a glass of white wine.
She totally ignored my poor attempt, so I carried on singing. On her way back to her nurse friends she walked past me without even looking at me, but placed a glass of white wine on my table. That was 34 years ago. And we both still like a glass of white wine.
Berlin at 5, we were barely alive,
With Sean on piano, sang until it was light
Won’t get no sleep till the homeward bound flight
These are the highs of my life
Street lined parade on a St Patrick’s day
In the green, white and gold the thousands they came
Sang the ‘Streets of New York’ with the bravest of the brave
These are the highs of my life
Where do you find your wonder?
In the colours of skies or the grace of a bird in flight
Whispers to sounds of thunder
These are the highs of my life
Three wishes I’ve had and I don’t understand
What makes me so special, like a king of the land
Your babies first cry will change this man
These are the highs of my life
But there are times that I just won’t remember
Like eating the Italian last supper
When I think of the years that I plundered
Played my guitar down at Willie’s wine bar
I sang Billy Joel and whiskey in the jar
I said, ‘Mine’s a white ‘
And it’s got me this far
These are the highs of my life
