BERLIN - MASQUERADE

MASQUERADE

BERLIN

SONGWRITERS: JOHN CRAWFORD; TERRI NUNN & DAVID DIAMOND

WHERE: US FESTIVAL 1983

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ÁLBUM: PLEASURE VICTIM

LABEL: UMG RECORDS

GENRE: NEW WAVE

YEAR: 1982

Pleasure Victim is the second studio album by the American new wave band Berlin. The original album was recorded in 1982 and released that year by independent label Enigma Records. After considerable attention received by the second single, "Sex (I'm A...)", the album was re-released worldwide by Geffen Records on January 26, 1983. The album marked the return of lead Singer Terri Nunn to the group. To date, it is Berlin's best-selling album and was certified gold by the RIAA in September 1984 and platinum in February 1993. It is the only one of Berlin's albums to be certified platinum and the first that reached gold; two subsequent studio albums and a greatest hits compilation were also certified gold.

After "Sex (I'm A...)", two subsequent singles followed: "The Metro" (April 1983), considered a "masterpiece" of '80s new wave, and "Masquerade" (September 1983). These three singles all charted on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200 in May 1983.

All songs were written by bassist John Crawford, except "Sex (I'm A...)", to which Nunn and keyboardist David Diamond contributed, and "Masquerade", written by Chris Ruiz-Velasco.

"Masquerade"

The painted faces on the street

caricatures of long ago

oh they were young and oh so sweet

down beyond the boulevard

knock on doors and empty halls

and still sometimes remember

the masquerade's forever

when you see the price they paid

i'm sure you'll come and join the masquerade

the reeling figurtes pass on by

like ghosts in some forgotten play

beneath the black and empty sky

music plays and figures dance

with partners chosen by chance

and still some times remember

the masquerade's forever

they reached for tomorrow

but tomorrows, more of the same

so they reached for tomorrow

but tomorrow never came

when you hear the price they paid

i'm sure you'll come and join the masquerade

one by one and two by two

past eight by tens in shattered frames

the players try to leave the room

frantic puppets on a string

and all the while the music sings

and still sometimes remember

the masquerade's forever.