Nilia Berkin Solo

Piano · Voice

Nilia Berkin has been a professional musician since 2000, singing and playing the piano at venues and occasions ranging from private events to festivals, cafés and bars.

From my Repertoire...

A few of the songs I perform:

At Last - Etta James
Beyond the Sea - Jack Lawrence
Dream a Little Dream of Me - Gus Kahn
I Got You Under my Skin - Cole Porter
The Girl From Impanema - Antonio Carlos Jobim
How Deep is Your Love? - Bee Gees
Someone Like You - Adele

Full Repertoire

Book Nilia

Album: Whirlwind · 2007

Whirlwind: my debut album is a collection of meditations and musings on the meaning of this big old cosmos in general and my own little life in particular.

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Song Lyrics

I SEE FACES IN FACES IN FACES
I SEE PEOPLE IN PEOPLE IN PEOPLE
AND THERE’S NO ONE PRESENT HERE
THAT’S CLEAR
I’VE BEEN GIVEN A MOMENT OF VISION
AND I’M NOT USING IMAGINATION
‘COS I KNOW WHAT I SEE
I KNOW WHAT I SEE

IT’S A WHIRLWIND
‘TILL THE DAYS END
THIS IS ONLY A TEST
ONE-TWO – THREE
WE’RE JUST CHILDREN
IN A PLAYPEN
SO KEEP TURNING AND LEARNING
YOUR A-B-C’S

AND THE DAYS SEEM TO MINGLE TOGETHER
AND THE NIGHTS, HOW THEY CAN LAST FOREVER
BUT TO FEEL THE EVENING BREEZE
IN THE TREES
IS A LIFE EVER LOST AND FORGOTTEN?
DO WE LEARN ALL THAT WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT
THEN FADE INTO A MEMORY?

LIFE COMES AND GOES
FOR ALL WE KNOW
YESTERDAY’S ASHES MAY BE TOMORROW’S SEED
RIGHT HERE AND NOW
NOT KNOWING HOW
THIS INTERSECTION MAY BE WHERE WE ALL MEET

IT’S A WHIRLWIND
‘TILL THE DAYS END
THIS IS ONLY A TEST
ONE-TWO – THREE
WE’RE JUST CHILDREN
IN A PLAYPEN
SO KEEP TURNING AND LEARNING
YOUR A-B-C’S

LIFE COMES AND GOES
FOR ALL WE KNOW
YESTERDAY’S ASHES MAY BE TOMORROW’S SEED
RIGHT HERE AND NOW
NOT KNOWING HOW
THIS INTERSECTION MAY BE WHERE WE ALL MEET

1. Whirlwind

GOTTA BE A BETTER EXPLANATION
THIS ONE FALLS THROUGH
‘COS IF HE WANTS TO STRING ALONG YOUR PATIENCE
APATHY WON’T DO

AND YOU GO TO BED WITH A FEELING OF DREAD
AND WONDER WHERE HE’S BEEN
CAST ASIDE THE NOTION OF PRIDE
AND BEG TO BE LET IN AGAIN

YOU THINK AT THE VERY LEAST HE’D TRY TO HIDE IT
PLAY THAT AGE OLD GAME
BUT SOMETHING’S DIFFERENT NOW
NOTHING’S SAID
BUT YOU FEEL IT ALL THE SAME

AND YOU TRY, AND YOU TRY
TO ADAPT TO EVERY LITTLE LIE
BUT YOU KNOW FULL WELL
THIS BIRD’S GONNA FLY

AND YOU GO TO BED WITH A FEELING OF DREAD
‘COS YOU KNOW WHERE HE HAS BEEN
DUST ASIDE YOUR WOUNDED OLD PRIDE
AND GROW A SECOND SKIN

AND YOU TRY, AND YOU TRY
TO REACT LIKE EVERY OTHER GUY
BUT A WALL GOES UP INSIDE
IT’S A LOVELY PLACE TO HIDE
AND THE WALL SOLIDIFIES
AND A SOLDIER NEVER CRIES
THEY SAY ALL THINGS MEND IN TIME
BUT YOU KNOW FULL WELL
THIS BIRD’S GONNA FLY

2. Full Well

We had it all
It was a ball
Never denying-all was allowed
Those were the old days
Where do I go now?

Nothing’s the same
You’re not to blame
They tell me in life all things must change
But there can be strange days
when I don’t know how

One day you wake up
You’re grown up
You’ve arrived
But there’s no briefcase
No long face
It just doesn’t feel the way you thought it would
as a child

So pack a bag
Get you movin’
You never know when time’s on your side
Live that little dream
and resolve to evolve
‘Cos if there’s one thing that I know
that the fortune cookie helped me derive:
Opportunities multiply when seized

3. Strange Days

BODIES SURROUND ME
ABOVE AND AROUND ME
HOPING THAT ANY DAY, IN SOME WAY
THEY WILL BE FREE
IS IT JUST ME?

I SEE THEIR FACES
COLD AND ABRASIVE
BLOCKING THE UNITY THAT COULD BE
IF THEY WOULD SEE
IF THEY WOULD SEE

AND EVERY DAY ‘TIL THEY AWAKE
THEY WILL BE DREAMING
AND EVERY NIGHT UNTIL DAYLIGHT
THEY WILL GO SILENTLY, GRATEFULLY
TO THE LAND OF THE DIM

WHAT DO THEY DO THERE?
WHERE DO THEY GO ANYWAY?
IS IT JUST A JOURNEY OF THE MIND
OUTSIDE OF TIME?

SEE THEM THE NEXT DAY
BLINDED IN EVERY WAY
HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY SAY TO ME
THEY NEVER DREAM
THEY NEVER DREAM

WHEN EVERY NIGHT TO THEIR DELIGHT
THEY HIT THE CEILING
FLOAT THROUGH THE SKY
SIX STORIES HIGH
AND RETURN SILENTLY, GRACEFULLY
FROM THE LAND OF THE DIM

HAPPY EVER AFTER
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE VEIL
CAN YOU HEAR THE LAUGHTER
PENETRATING THIS FAIRY TALE?

4. Land of the Dim

In the evening, when the rosy sun is setting down
behind the trees and we’re alone
Nothing matters but you and me, too.
In the morning, when you’re lying snug beside me
and I grab you like a Yeti bear
No one else could ever do.

And in the afternoon, just about a quarter of two
I look up to the sky pale blue
And I spy a lovely , faded , dusty white moon.

And just like you, just like you, she never gets to sleep
She’s got the weight of the world on her shoulders
And she’s keeping an eye on her fellow constellations
Just like you, radiant and true,
Making sure the world’s revolving as it should.

And at midnight,
when you’re chasing sheep across the sky and aching for a lullaby,

Let me be, please let me be, let me be the one to sing to you

To you, to sing to you, to you, to sing to you, to you, to you

5. Dusty White Moon

Words of advice fashioned spaces so wide
I’d travel for miles for a stitch to mend
Balancing, balancing, never beginning
And so we make sure it will never end
Are one and two three, Mr. Trinity?

Tell me, tell me everything
Let me feast on your mind and enter your eyes
Do I see other lives past the make believe?
If I were to run out of questions
Would you walk away?
Grasp the quivering arrow
Rebuff poor Beast

This is unanimous and we can point towards
Any infinity that we please
You’ll yield for a moment
But you’ll never rupture
And so this is how it will have to be
It will have to be

(chorus)

I know why I found you
I know why I’m here
And it’s not for the reasons you think I am.
The captive is willing
The captain is sinking
The teacher is learning that
Heat won’t burn
And she can learn

So let’s just forget the whole thing
And eat the cake you made
Just stick around for today
In six years we just might fathom
If this was meant to be
Move a smidgen over
Make room for Beast

6. Feast

THE HAPPY UNKNOWN AWAITS ME
THE LIVES THAT I’VE SOWN CREATE ME
AND HELP ME TO MAINTAIN THE ILLUSION
IN ALL THE CONFUSION

THE PLACE THAT I’M GOING’S RIGHT HERE
THE FACE THAT I SHOW JUST MIGHT BE
OR SIMPLY MAY REMAIN A PROBABILITY

ADORN ME, ENROBE AND ENTHRONE ME
EXALT AND EXTOL, ASSIGN ME THE GOAL
OF A GREAT RULER IN HER MOST GLORIOUS ROLE

THE HAPPY UNKNOWN AWATIS ME
THE THINGS THAT I’M SHOWN CREATE ME
AND HELP ME TO DEFY THE ILLUSION
IN ALL THE CONFUSION

THE PLACE THAT I’M GOING’S RIGHT HERE
THE FACE THAT I SHOW JUST MIGHT BE
OR SIMPLY MAY REMAIN A PROBABILITY

ABHOR ME, ABUSE AND ENSLAVE ME
OR LOCK ME AWAY ‘TIL MY DYING DAY
BUT I’M NOT WORRIED
FOR ALL THE WORLD’S JUST A PLAY

THE SOUL LIVES IT’S LIVES WITHOUT JUDGING
IT WASHES AWAY THE SLEEP FROM THE EYES OF THE MOST UNHOLY, THE MOST UNWISE
AND STRIPS AWAY THE SKIN DISGUISE

7. Happy Unknown

BABY, I’VE BEEN HEARTLESS
BABY, I’VE BEEN WILD
YOU GAVE YOUR PRECIOUS TRUST UNTO ME LIKE A CHILD
BUT I TOSSED IT AWAY AND LEFT YOU DEFILED
NOW THIS GROUND IS BARREN FOR MILES AND MILES

COULD YOU EVER FORGIVE ALL THAT I’VE DONE
I CUT YOU DOWN
I SMOKED YOU OUT
THAT’S HOW THIS WORLD IS RUN
BUT I’M SINGING A TUNE THAT’S MUCH DIFFERENT NOW
YOU NEVER KNOW HOW YOU’LL MISS WHAT’S NO LONGER AROUND

YESTERDAY’S A DIFFERENT STORY
I WASN’T OF THIS MIND BEFORE
WALKING AROUND IN MY HAZE OF GLORY
AND NEVER REALIZING THAT YOU’RE
A THING OF BEAUTY
THING OF BEAUTY
YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL

NOW I KNOW THIS IS MY WORLD
BUT NOT TO ABUSE AS I PLEASE
AT TIMES I SEE
GREATER POSSIBILITIES

MAYBE IF I PLEADED
MAYBE IF I BEGGED
YOU’D FIND IT IN YOU TO COME BACK
COME BACK FROM THE DEAD
BUT IT’S TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE,
TOO MUCH TO REPAIR
I CHOSE A FINE, FINE TIME
TO START TO CARE

NOW I KNOW THIS IS MY WORLD
BUT NOT TO ABUSE AS I PLEASE
I BELIEVE THIS IS MY WORLD
BUT IT DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND ME
AT TIMES I SEE
GREATER POSSIBILITIES

8. Beauty

I have dreams of such dimension that hold scenes of boundless joy
That I shiver on reflection of this life that is my toy
I have memories so massive that they don’t fit in my head
And I don’t know if I’m dreaming but will I know when I’m dead?

Then I rise to the day connecting memories on the way
And I know my place here
Walking the line between then and now
And I won’t allow my outworn beliefs to interfere

But I do know when I’m walking through this lifescape made of air
That my future’s not forgotten and my past yet isn’t there
And if time does not exist and all we have is endless now
Then my feelings are my compass and my thoughts must then allow
An expansion into wider realms of space I cannot see
Maybe then and there I’ll understand life’s wondrous mystery
Maybe then and there I’ll understand life’s wondrous mystery
Maybe then and there I’ll understand, I’ll understand
You’ll see…

Riches granted by the seas
Wishes planted and believed until
A spark of will informs reality
Riches granted by the seas
Wishes planted and believed until
A spark of will assumes reality

And this all could be so easy if I played it like a game
And forget that there exist such things as fear, regret and shame
And for once try to appreciate the root of all that’s me
Maybe then and there I’ll understand life’s wondrous mystery
Life’s mystery

9. Life's Wondrous Mystery

stamping through the dust of a hundred centuries
the romans and the christians and the greeks
we join our little troupe of misfits
half asleep
and head straight to the land of future memories

and you sleep as a volcano
appears outside my window
its history the source of all this mystery
speaking in strange tongues that make
the natives smiles grow wider
a butchery of sentiment and grammar

fairy chimney, lake of salt, all-you-can-eat
the names of things I never can remember
smoking in the days
those timeless moments we must wait
and gaze upon our ancient father figures

back in the valley you confess
it may not last much longer
a decade sliding off your sloping shoulders
and sadness lies ahead
but now we’ve reached the highest summit
time and space take little place in this old haunted dreamland
time and space take little place in this old haunted dreamland
time and space take little place in this old haunted dreamland

10. The Valley

disco ball descends, spinning
pupils wide-pass me by
what’s so wrong with laughing, screaming
spitting fire into the sky?
cowboy cover my dreams with your whipping cream
philosophize through slits of eyes
you taunt me and you tease me
but you hardly ever please me
straddle up to the saddle
rip off your disguise

naughty boy
my mighty wit just doesn’t faze you
as you laugh through that demonic grin
naughty boy
I could just kiss you but you’d miss the point completely
wouldn’t you
wouldn’t you

fast away the night she passes
drive into the rising sun
accompany the Buck to the altar
(you know she won’t be the final one)

while away the day with complexities
analyse, hypothesize
i’m holding up a mirror but you don’t see any clearer
perhaps you’re looking through vampire eyes

(chorus)

inciting riots in my mind
rotating gentle then unkind
perceive an object as it is, was and will be
your moods affect me like the tide
balancing apathy with pride
my speechless stupor when you
“what does it mean?”

naughty boy
you make us wait as you debate
what colour lipstick matches with your heels
naughty boy
I must confess I like it best
when you tell me how you truly feel
naughty boy
we were such friends until the end and then
it ended so ironically
naughty boy
tell Dolly Dan I miss the band
When my nostalgia clouds my sanity

11. Naughty Boy

YOU LIVE ON THE RUN
YOU’RE CONSTANLY SEARCHING FOR YOUR LITTLE PLACE
IN THE SUN
YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN
YOUR SMILE IS A BEAUTIFUL TESTAMENT OF ALL YOU’VE DONE

IF YOU EVER CAME TO ME I SWEAR I’D SHOW YOU
THE FINEST SIGHTS OF MY FAIR CITY
WE’D RIDE ON A BOAT IN THE HARBOUR AT NIGHT
WE’D CLIMB A MOUNTAIN ON MY BIKE

CHORUS:
FOUND IN A FIVE-AND-DIME STORE
MY BUCKAROO BUNNY
FOUND IN A FIVE-AND-DIME
NOW YOU’LL SEE MORE OF THE WORLD
THAN THE ONE WHO LEFT YOU THERE

THE PHOTOS WE’D TAKE
WE’D GO TO THE LOOKOUT AND SHOOT
THE ENTIRE CITYSCAPE
THE FRIENDS THAT YOU’D MAKE
WE’D STAY UP ‘TIL THREE AM LAUGHING
‘TIL OUR BELLIES ACHED

IF YOU EVER CAME TO ME I SWEAR I’D FIND YOU
THE FINEST CARROTS IN THE CITY
ORGANICALLY GROWN AND WITH NO GMO’S
ALL TOLD WE WOULD BE SITTING PRETTY