David Berman, RIP

David Berman has died from suicide.

The Silver Jews were perhaps not to everyone’s taste, but I found them one of the best and certainly most unique bands of the last 25 years. I hadn’t yet heard the new Berman project, but everyone says it is excellent. I saw him play on the last Silver Jews tour, in 2009 I think. It was a great show (though I distinctly remember the first show where toward the end I thought that my back and feet hurt and realized I was getting a bit old for this). I can’t say that this news is overly shocking. It’s not as if Berman’s lyrics or persona really hid his depression. But it is still sad.