Music & lyrics by Jon Ber
LOVE IS FREE 3:33
Sensing cloud hugging mountain.
Shortly lived affair.
Love is free does what she wants.
Comes and goes.
Misty clouds kissed the valley.
Stirring life from despair.
Love is free nobody knows, when she comes or goes.
Persona Grata
The end of the Cold War and the death of Apartheid - two seminal geopolitical events, in the last years of the second millennium- yielded a window of opportunity to cross borders between continents and countries like never before. Resurrected, passages in coma since the Dark Ages, sprouted myriad of new paths. Proprietors of privileged passport, of the sort I have just been granted with, were welcome everywhere. It was 1987. I became free.
POLISH J0KE 3:17
A certain frog lady felt weak.
So she went to the doctor and said:
I am sick.The doctor put on hiss glasses,
because he was getting a bit old.
Then, he examined her thoroughly
and at last, said this:
Lady. Dear Lady:
You must sit on a pump.
You must exhale and inhale,
because you must be dry.
The Frog left the doctor and said to herself:
I am sick.
And a patient listens to a doctor.
I have to be dry. I will be dry.
The frog took care of her health
The frog dried herself dry.
She did it step by step.
But al that remained of her,was a little dust.
And the doctor scratches his ear:
Dry, didn’t work for the dear.
Melting Borders
It had a picture aimed at easing the mind of customs borders officers and officials in general. I farewell the yuppie suit, yet maintained a short hair cut and clean shave. Keeping up appearances was crucial. Saluted by sycophantic bureaucracy, I'll be getting in and out countries, carryings handcrafted creations produced on the streets, market, and remote indigence villages in Africa, Asia and South America then, selling it to shop owners and market venders in small towns and the biggest cities in the west.
It was all legal. Result of perception. USA citizens are rich therefore legitimate. Routinely I witnessed other nations dreamers stopped at the border.
John Cleese Ronnie Barker Ronnnie Corbett
Maternal Trust
Being born in Eastern Europe, I was well aware of the extent of my fortune. Nasha didn’t know that. She had a burning desire (“brennende wunsch”) to visit London and Paris. She wasn't an optimist.
Stephen Fry Ronnie Barker Ronnnie Corbett
There was no safety nor trust
among the privileged party inner circle either. Alienating
the core of humanity, the East German secret police, Stasi,
had mothers snitch on their children. To the Fatherland.
DDR. The Deutsche Demokrratische Republik. Demented
dictators do have a flair for slogans. Democratic Indeed.
Like PEOPLE'S Republic of China where the regime survived
Tieneman Squar to excel enslaving its 1,298,847,000 people.
Befriended and emulated by all other current tyrannies who
enslave editional 1,000.000.000 (1 billion) people.
Thugs sell oil. You are buying.
In Darfur, people are dying.
Women raped, children slaughtered,
life set on fire. Urgent to Panda.
People republic of China.
Need your help.
Stop evil.
Free Tibet.
Free your own people.
Gulliver nor Giraffe
We met on the train from East Berlin to Prague. Nasha was one of the few Rock band promoters in the Soviet block, hence permitted to travel within some of the Iron curtain’s constrains. There were three armed Russians and an East German soldier in the compartment with us. “Musica” demanded one of the russians, nodding towards my guitar. I played American songs while the train made its way under darkening evening sky. Nasha’s eyes were glued to my guitar.
I pulled out A bottle of Scotch Whiskey. A singing party started, with more passengers crowding the corridor, cheering and dancing as the bottle was passed on.
Few years earlier I would have been arrested for spreading decadence. Being accused of spying was feasible. Even some of my friends in the USA were convinced that I worked for the CIA because of my traveling habit, peculiar languages skill and unconventional military background. My assertion that I'm conspicuously tall for a secret agent, were dismissed as being part of the ploy.
Missed another Sign
Crackles the barbed wired Berlin Wall steel enforced cement bricks, were as grimly grey as ever. Endless miles of rusted tanks, canons, trucks and other assorted out of commission mutilated heavy weaponry, piled on sparsely connecting railway tracks, matching the surrealistic atmosphere of dilapidation, in a country that forbade rejuvenation. But omen was given. Music allowed. Space will soon  merge with eleven time zones across the USSR to bestow hundreds of millions of people, freedom of movement and expression. Before long the positive waves will impact the rest of the planet. I couldn't imagine that, yet heard myself assuring Nasha that she will get to go wherever she wishes soon. There I sang a verse from John Newton's Amazing Grace . "How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." Chill ran through my spine earlier that morning when I crossed at Checkpoint Charlie through prison gates from free West Berlin in to the dreary East.
Happy Fool
In tandem with the wondering one, I was born under an optimistic star. Still a pre-schooler I comforted a girl I had a crash on: “anybody can achieve their wishes if they really wanted them hard enough”. She laughed. I wore blue short trousseaus. Her name was Mia. She was , six years older. It was hopeless but not sad. I was in love with all the girls. Just about all.
Prague Flamenco
By morning, we were in the Danube wonder city of Prague. It was twenty years after its spring was crashed by Russian tanks. The colors were brightening. The city was humming with local activity and mostly Eastern European travelers. Fresh paint was applied by a matriculate master, to a magnificent gate decoration of a busy beer garden, where we joined other patrons at one of the long massive wooden tables. My guitar found itself in the hands of a gifted young Flamenco player from Cuba. She played Malaguena. Nasha cried. I have never seen here again.
S eternal light came to shine on Africa. It illuminated Earth. His name was Nelson Mandela. He called upon traders to come to the the new Rainbow Nation of South Africa. And I went. I was doing Austria...at the time (More about my three years in Africa soon.)
Peace of mind
Peace of mind comes your way one day.
Rivers run away from mountains.
Query thoughts. splitting hair. C'est moi.
On a fence. Detached.
No Love no pain.
But now it rains.
Peace of mind comes your way one day.
Rivers run away from mountains.
Unite with oceans.
Curious water spreads forever.
Merge with the sky, awaits stormy day.
And then it rains.
Tora Shanty
Traveling became significantly more affordable as the 1990s unveiled. Infant that it was, the Internet transformed information - momentarily accelerated flourishing global trade and leisure traveling related industries - consequence of rapidly growing middle-class in the developed world. Travelers were no longer in the hands of self-serving, incompetent, untraveled travel agents.
Access to India was still limited. There was not much choice beside Tarom, the Romanian Airline and the Soviet Union’s, Aeroflot. Both were using the same notorious, mid air rattling planes. Yet somehow, India where TORA TORA, (slowly slowly) after surviving the initial few years shock - I started feeling shanty (Inner peace).
MURDOCH SHUT UP 2:35
Eight years nightmare ended.
The people have spoken.
We had enough lying crap.
Corporate stooges brought the country to the brink.
We bailed you out, now shut up.
One Bag
Visa requirements were cancelled or dramatically liberalized everywhere. There I was. One bag, a guitar and a USA passport that magically opened each door I chose entering. There was no room for the past. I vanished. Thus it came to be known, among my family and friends that I have expired. They should have known better. I've been doing thin air imitations since childhood.
WOMEN IN BLACK
I, Yo, E'yo, beg of you:
Give them a chance to live in freedom, dignity, hope.
Women in Black, Silently defiant.
In between madness alone.
Collecting darts of pain.
Fragile souls in horror.
Humbly plea emancipation.
For tortured generations.
A current situation in Jerusalem.
I, A'ny, A'na, beg of you:
Share with them your luck,
to live in freedom, dignity and hope.
Sarah, remember: "Lion will lay down with lamb"
It won't be always lonely in Jerusalem.
Literal Resurrection
It was few years ago, while at one of my favorite palaces on Earth, a desert oasis Hindi holly town Pushkar, Rajastan, India, that Yo'av, the Sitar player, notified me that "actually everybody back home knows" that I am dead. "Been like that for years." People eagerly spread sad news. It makes them feel wonderful. In my case however, disappointing as the update may be for some: "The rumors of my demise were highly exaggerate:.." Mark Twain.
AMERICA COME BACK 2:49
Tear in the eyes carries the torch.
Everybody can see what’s going on:
La la la lies,
P P P poop.
ga ga gaga.
Blah Blah blah blah.
America come back.
Home of the free & competent.
Katrina.. Abu Grab...
The war doesn't end.
Bin Laden is not dead.
Cheney & Bush or McCain.
Enough is enough.
Its exactly the same.
La la la lies....
Sunset Cruises
Jane had the same information in Los Angeles, California, where I affectedly ended the years of deadness, by showing up at her place in Hollywood. The house number was unforgettable: 414 and a quarter. Husky, brisk animated-self, she was the best at talking without pauses - giving me a summery of the time I lost in one sentence that lasted well over an hour, during which, without missing a beat, she summoned Karen by phone. In the early eighties Jane rumbling caused us to be kicked out of a Sunset avenue restaurant.
Ah the good old days. Jagermeister with beer chasers and Irish coffee to boot. Cruising between the Roxy on Sunset, Barney's Beanery, Raincheck room, on Santa Monica boulevard and Molly Malone on Fairfax, with morning breakfast at Canter’s. 
japanese
LOVE IS FREE 4:01
Ichinichi, that’s “one day” in JapaneseAnata (you) told me kudasai. Please stay with me tonight.Dozo. (please)Domo arigato, (Many thanks)
Scientific Evidence
Later that evening, Ron whom I have just met, decided after listening to my reasoning for not contacting anyone and consulting a dictionary, that Vagabond is most suitable way to describe who I am. He was Karen's boyfriend and a movie director at that. I was flattered. Somehow it sounded a bit more romantic than being called a bum - which was the way I thought of myself after so many years on the roads. Couple of weeks later I went back to the Pushkar and wrote the music and lyrics for VAGABOND. BAR HARBOR and CAROLINA GREENS - were added later in my travels in the USA - to a soundtrack based on the same theme.
hebrewKING SHARON 2:47
Wakes up with conflicting thoughts. What's better: Build or demolish? Reality changed, as I slept through the years. It is an abnormal situation. He’ll summarize in a word. Oh what a man he was. From his nation’s greatest.Idealist. Revisionist and a do it man. Once they called upon him, to be their king. Forever. And so on the way to top:He climbed and devoured. Embezzled and killed. Didn't stick to a post. He'll be switching jobs, when he wishes.
They sang "king Arik live and alive". Not only In Holon, also in Bat Yam. And in Bet El, they claimed he is The Saviour. And so at the top, rich an obese, he squinted and stuttered. With your blood he'll pay. Till the end he will fight, against peace for Israel.
Ass’s Sunglasses
The very last day of 1999 seen America in a bit of hysteria, due to a computer related millennium doomsday theory named Y2K. I accompanied an actress friend, to a Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive, bookstore were she loaded herself up with fancy cover books, about such and other catastrophe predictions. "One has to surround themselves with books, so they can sponge the knowledge." she explained.  I remembered a newspaper cartoon I've seen when I was a teenager. "An Ass carrying books is still an Ass." I said grinningly. “Never mind that.” She smirked, waving her credit card to pay for a $380 sunglass pair. She received movie royalties pay that day. “I’ll never ware cheap sunglasses again” she declared in a true Vivian Lee - Gone with The wind - fashion. Next morning I woke up in a Bell-Air mansion after a new year’s party. It was 2000. We were all alive. I flew back to India where most families couldn’t earn $380 annually.
BAR HARBOR 4:08 Winds from the north came suddenly. The sky opened-up it started to snow. When white swept the soil, contemplations evoked: maybe you and I?
You were shy in Augusta, brave in Bangor.
Aloof the moon, had lit up the welcome post to Bar harbor.
It was known all along, that rivers somehow return to the sea.
I've no one to return to.
Loveless yet free, I keep moving on.
Never fearing that my restless soul, will forever be wondering on.
The ways of the nomads, Troubadours. I'm a Vagabond.
Childish Fantasy
I got stuck penniless, just about everywhere I went, while learning to do business on the road. Uncontrollable desire to see the world and nothing to miss, helped me overcome hurdles and luck showed up again, just when it seem I could go no further. It was yet another fantasy I have not forgotten mrom my childlish mind.a mind of a child: Get to the countries I dreamt about - Find handcrafted merchandise I liked and could afford developing with the artists that made them, to fit international standards - Peddle the final product, to shop owners in a different area of the same country, or other parts of the world. And so I came to be a traveling trader.
SEEN THE LIGHT 1:45He seen the light. It was too late. It knocked him out, but he wasn't dead.Instead he said: I've seen the light. Its a big one. It shine so bright.
We've seen the light. It was too late. By now he was the president, who've seen the light Its a big one. It shines so bright.
Harmonious Solitude
I fell in love with Pushkar, where time strolls lazily, on my first trip to India. It was the local friendly, shanty life style. The roaming monkeys, camels, cows and donkeys, the daily morning salute to the sun and evening sunset rituals by the lake - with Bangalassy at the Teahouses and a chance to enjoy the company of other travelers - while been mesmerized by ever changing circus, for months at a time. Playing guitar quietly, singing whispery in my rooftop room, at the Mona Lisa hotel, I joined the echo of drums and singing from passing processions, wishing harmony in solitude. Around the corner Pawan have just opened his first silver shop. It was destiny. We became brothers.
CAROLINA GREENS 4:12The moon couldn't sleep. Early in the morning.Carolina greens unfold, the sun is waking up.We've been through long ago but I still don't know why:tears don't dry and the void lingers on and on? If suddenly, out of thin air.you pop back in town.Don't cherish any hopes, we've been through long ago, but I still don't know why.
Fulfilling Friends
Coming back to the same villages & markets to upgrade quality, strengthen trust and improve communication was an uplifting experience I relieved on six continent. Even better. I returned to visit my best friends and their families. In some countries, I was sticking around for months, couple of years, coming back for years, or passing through just because I had to check it out. I was lucky to have worked with artists and master artisans. Got to meet and hang out with hundreds venders at their places of business and homes - while seeing the world and establishing fulfilling relationships.
Street Level
Now, my life is quite. Peacefully green. There’s no need to shave in the morning. I am going nowhere. Birds, deer, woods fields, and cows for neighbors, my life style is completely opposite, from the days I lived on the road between somewhere and nowhere - moving on while getting to know Earth on the street level.
hebrew & arabicDAY HAS COME 3:41 (Hebrew) Once destiny told me: Fear not mistaking. I'll guard you at night. Day will come.
Fallen soldiers playing flutes. Orphans refugee camps. Sing a song longing for peace. Day has come.
(Arabic) Forgive me child, sir, leader. My heart wishes peace,but my head is crazed. Thousand nights and a night...Peace. Day has come. Really. My child really.Positive. Yes.
Ubiquitously Raw
Thanks to the visionary geniuses who developed digital  mind-bugling tools - you can read, watch and listen to what I write, play, sing, record and publish directly here, from my little house in rural USA. Unrestricted. Inedited, constantly changing. Still, for better or worse, master of my domain - I pilot solo in hyperspace, visible everywhere at all time.
MAC Factor
For that my reverence  and gratitude to the creators of my new Mac Leopard OS X 10.5.6. Magnificent, silent, nimble, reliable, multifaceted, suave operator - enabling anyone anywhere champion showcase to the world - seamlessly bypassing range of instantly archaic technical expertise, charlatans and gatekeepers.
 www.jonber.com
Music, lyrics, vocals, guitars, keyboard, audio, video, photos, design, publishing by Jon Ber
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