Singled Out: Tamar Berk's If u know, u know

Keavin Wiggins | 07-21-2023

Album art

Tamar Berk just released the new single "if u know, u know," from the forthcoming album, "tiny injuries". To celebrate, we asked Tamar to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

Usually when I write a song it starts with either a lyric line or a chord progression. In this case, it was kind of a weird combination of both. I was still dealing with the aftermath of my father's death and had to help my mom sell her home, pack and move into an apartment.

It was crushing to say the least, and I was not doing so well. I was such an absolute mess and I was at the airport on my way back home just completely drained and saddened by the whole experience. I was sitting on the plane and pulled out my day planner (which sometimes had lyrics in it) to remind myself of all the things I still had to do and I was sad all over again.

Thinking about waking up tomorrow and dealing with reality, I picked up my pen and jotted down "the sun comes up but I'm already down. If u know, u know" The plane took off and I headed home.

Later that week when I was sitting in my studio, and I was messing around with playing single notes and letting the other strings ring out when I found a little progression I liked a whole lot, it had sort of a Cars vibe to it.

Then I remembered that little line I had written in my day planner. I pulled it out and sang that line "the sun comes up but I'm already down" then continued to improv a few more lyric lines and ended with a little turn around and sang "if u know, u know." I was so excited because it was catchy and upbeat even though the lyrics were dark...those are always the songs I love!

So I finished some lyrics and posted just a verse and chorus on my instagram and I got so much love on that post that I spent the next two weeks in my studio working on the song. When it was finished, I was stoked. I knew it was going to be the opener of my new album "tiny injuries."

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here