Merz

Recent Posts

Die Grünen hybrider Kongress 2021

Hybrid courses

In the summer of 2021, I had the pleasure of attending a hybrid congress in Berlin: Die Grünen were kicking off their election campaign. The

Read More »
Relaunching

Relaunch

It’s the end of summer, we’re back home from long days in the sun and on the water, and it’s back to classes and many

Read More »

Talk at BESIG 2021 for Cornelsen

Managing your hybrid course with Cornelsen’s Basis for Business Summary This 30-minute talk aimed to give Business English trainers an overview of lessons learned in

Read More »

Merz, aka Conrad Lambert, is an English folk singer/songwriter with an electronic experimental side. Ulrich gave me his new album, Moi & Mon Camion, which is simply exquisite, with natural vocals, accoustic and electric instruments and electronic ambience building epic soundscapes on the quiet melancholy of the lyrics. It’s all about being uprooted and on the road and one of a twosome. Those are things Merz knows about, and he uses his native sadness and sensitivity to create personal works of great beauty.

On MySpace he writes: “My wife has recently moved to the Swiss Alps to take up a job which makes me currently abodeless as I am touring this year and stay with her whenever I can. But, in a nutshell, I was born in Dorset, England. Was brought up in West Yorkshire, England. Lived in London, Bristol, Bath, Botswana and Israel and traveled to 52 countries. Always been a working musician. Feast or famine.” Here is an interview with him by Benoit Derrier from February 2008, as well as a few of his songs with the lyrics (words/phrases translated into German):

Merz : interview in Portsmouth claqueur-de-doigts

These are the lyrics to the title song:
Moi et mon camion

turned out on the streets again
these evictions never end
i bare a smile but it’s pretend
because the future looks bleak to me
don’t know what we’re gonna see
there’s just a faint hope in the wind
i’m sitting on whitesand bay
i spend most days mapping out the sun and the shade
how lonely life can be
when you can’t settle or find peace
when you’ve a map but you own no key
when you’ve out stayed every single place
no one’s got the time or space
you packed your things again
packing up again
moving on again
you’re throwing out your dead wood again

basques
need a place
the irish need their place
i need a place
everybody needs some place
but when the wind blows
you must up your anchor and go

Presume Too Much

all i wanna say is if you disappoint me again
i may have to trade in this heart for something new
it’s been dismantled and it’s disabled
and i’m disappointed
i don’t have the faintest clue
’cause i’ve been asleep upon my feet
and now slipping on ice
i seek a way to set me free
as all i wanna say fades away
words hang heavy in the air
i’ve no strength left to care
oh let the sun shine down upon me
then i’ll have everything i need
you think i’m being abrupt you think this is rushed
well you’ve presumed too much

how i take this is my problem
i don’t wanna be here any more
i see a light on the exit door
and if i accept well it’s my choice not to see you anymore
i see light pour through the exit door
as i walk and let the sun shine down upon me
it gives me everything i need
and you think i’m being rushed you think this is rough
well you presume too much

Listen to this beautiful song on MySpace:
Shun (sad eyed days)

your tears, girl, they won’t change the world
you could cry in a bowl, they won’t help the garden grow
sad eyed days, well, whistle on
you’re a caged bird, soon be gone
your sad eyed days, well, whistle on
shun the pain, shun, shun it all
you cry tears in a well so that all souls can see
it’s said the road to hell is paved with do-gooders’ deeds
listen to me, it’s a poisoned world
but will you be there at the end of it all?
shun, shun, shun it all, your sad eyed days are gone

Verily (2005)
(directed by Good Times)

without you all love is gone
without you all luck is gone
without you there’s all hell to pay
i can truly say got myself to blame

without you all love is gone
without you all faith is gone
without you there’s no heaven’s gate
when we separate i’m in a sullen state

without you i’m like a setting sun …

What I couldn’t find out is why he calls himself “MERZ”. Does it have to do with the magazine and movement of the same name initiated by Kurt Schwitters? Does anybody know?

learning english with songs 🙂 englischlernen mit liedern

Comments

3 Responses

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More
articles