Sunflowers

This song was written on a Grundtvig project visit to Poland

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​​Sunflowers
I stand before a picture of the most famous
Sunflowers ever known
They were painted by a man who
In his lifetime
Was neglected and alone
 
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could make me feel this way
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could brighten up my day
 
He never found a true love just an obsession
That carried him away
To places in his mind no one could follow
Until his dying day
 
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could make me feel this way
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could brighten up my day
 
 
Vincent, you paid a high price
Is that the reason why?
They buy and sell and buy
The Sunflowers
 
I’m standing in the presence of the presence
He created in the frame
If he knew he was going to be so famous
 Would his life have been the same?
 
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could make me feel this way
And I wonder how such a sad man
Could brighten my day

Dirk Homuth AKA Almost Charlie

Almost Charlie was formed in the summer of 2003, when singer-guitarist Dirk Homuth of Berlin, Germany answered an Internet ad from New York City lyricist Charlie Mason, who was searching for a composer. What resulted is a transatlantic songwriting duo who, to this day, has never met.
Homuth grew up in Magdeburg, a town in the former East Germany, and came to Berlin shortly before the wall came down in 1989. Homuth's early passion for Broadway standards foreshadowed the division of labor between composer and lyricist (as is common in that genre) that would develop years later in Almost Charlie - bringing to mind classic songwriting teams like Burt Bacharach/Hal David and Elton John/Bernie Taupin.
Once in Berlin, Homuth played guitar in several jazz groups, before forming Almost Charlie in 2003. By 2005, Homuth had worked up a dozen songs with Mason's lyrics for his self-released debut, Loving Counterclockwise.
The compositions took cues from artists such as Elliott Smith, using a rich palette of melodies to convey devotion and longing, as well as the majesty of The Beatles, the intimacy of Nick Drake and Kings of Convenience, and the sheer indie pop purity of early Belle and Sebastian. Homuth recruited bassist and violin/cellist Sebastian Vogel and drummer Denis Stilke for the recording sessions, although this first lineup did not perform live.
In January 2006 drummer Hannes Dullinger, bassist Paul Hetherington, and guitarist Stephan Bienwald joined Homuth for live shows, and with this band Homuth began to develop and record new material for the follow-up to Loving Counterclockwise.
In April 2007 this second lineup disbanded amicably, but by October 2007 Almost Charlie became a trio once again when bassist Sven Muehlbradt and drummer Pelle Hinrichsen joined the band. In 2008, pianist Bert Wenndorff was brought into the group for some live shows; this is the current lineup of Almost Charlie.
In May 2009, Words On Music released Almost Charlie's second album, The Plural of Yes. The album reveals Homuth to be a connoisseur of timeless pop craftsmanship - distilling the heady years of AM-radio splendor, from Bacharach to The Beatles, into 13 addicting indie-pop coated pills. Underscoring the beauty of fragility and self-doubt, Almost Charlie puts its stamp on one of 2009's essential works. In an era characterized by self-involved personalities with dubious abilities, rare has so much authenticity and talent been packed into such a digestible musical souvenir.
In October 2012, Words On Music released Tomorrow's Yesterday, the band's third album featuring 11 new wistful gems. The record summons giants like Nick Drake, The Beatles, and Simon & Garfunkel as departure points to begin an infectious tour of chamber and acoustic pop with beds of lush harmonies, strings, glockenspiel, ukulele, sitar, woodwinds, and melodica. With its idiosyncratic flair and unmatched tunefulness Tomorrow's Yesterday will leave its mark as one of the indispensable indie pop records of 2012.
Almost Charlie has performed throughout Germany, as well as at the legendary Cavern Club - the Liverpool venue that launched The Beatles - during the 2007 International Pop Overthrow Festival. The band has performed with France's renowned Louise Attaque and Homuth also plays as a sideman with Berlin's electronic-pop outfit Ofrin. Homuth played electric guitar and glockenspiel on several tracks on Oren Lavie's breakthrough record The Opposite Side of the Sea.