In early summer, as darkness descends, Berlin resonates with the sound of nightingales. You can hear their haunting, ever-changing songs in parks, woodlands and gardens across the city. From Kreuzberg to Treptower, Tempelhof to Hasenheide, Berlin has become a refuge for one of the most celebrated and mythologised birds on earth.

The city is the summer home for over one and a half thousand nesting pairs. Nobody’s quite sure why nightingales have adopted the city so enthusiastically. Maybe it’s Berlin’s enlightened policy towards park management which leaves areas of untended scrub and dense bushes providing ground-nesting nightingales with perfect cover.

Whatever the reason, this blossoming of nightingales means that their song has become the soundtrack to countless moments in Berlin’s residents’ lives: lovers listening to the nightingale’s melody in the depths of the night; a childhood memory of illness soothed by hearing the song – and the German name Nachtigall – for the first time; and a visit to one of the few architectural remnants of Germania, Hitler’s megalomaniacal plan for a new city on the site of Berlin.

This programme, first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in June 2021, gathers memories of the nightingale’s lingering, multi-faceted song and the sounds of city evenings to create an audio portrait of Berlin, its people and the bird to whom it’s given refuge.

We hear too from a group of musicians who seek out nightingales in the city’s parks to play alongside them. They describe feeling their way into the nightingale’s song, the call-and-response between bird and human and the sense of each listening to the other. Some even describe themselves as nightingales: they’ve travelled from far countries to make music in Berlin.

The programme is made in collaboration with Berlin Museum of Natural History’s Forschungsfall Nachtigall project that asks members of the public to record nightingales and send in their recordings – along with stories and memories of the bird which has become a symbol of the city.

With the voices of Sarah Darwin, Korhan Erel, Gaby Hartel, Volker Lankow, Christopher and Erika Lehmpfuhl, Charlotte Neidhardt, Philip Oltermann, Sascha Penshorn, Tina Roeske, David Rothenberg and Cymin Samawatie.

Featuring music from David Rothenberg’s 'Nightingale Cities' project and 'Berlin Bülbül by David Rothenberg and Korhan Erel.

Location recordings in Berlin by Martyna Poznańska and Monika Dorniak.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

Photograph courtesy of Kim Mortega

Between The Ears - The Nightingales Of Berlin

Close to Pain
by The Miracle Syndicate 🖤✨

No, I'm not relieved.

We say farewell.
We turn around…
The stark dusk view —
and the sea —
is real.

What would you do?

I have pain.

Pain!
We have pain.

That star waits through the night.
That star fights for real light.

Duh, yeah. Me.

This is our life.
This is our love.
For some heated pain.

I still see us in the passing —
in the car I drive when you exclaim,
through salted tears,
you scream with the loud, 
Goodbye.

Godspeed.

I have —

Pain!
We have pain.

That star waits through the night.
That star fights for real light.

And so free the pain.

This is our life.
This is our love.
For some heated pain.

This is for some heated pain.

That star longs to shine its brightest light.
That star longs to sleep under satellites.

It feels right.
It’s all right
to keep you close again.

If we fall right,
it’s all right —
if we keep it close to pain.

Credits:

Nayeli Astra Xóchitl: Vox, Guitar
Elena Morgenstern: Vox, Synths & Sequencers
Brad Astra: Programming, Percussion, Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar

Special Thanks:
To the ravens who guided our melodies, the universe for its endless inspiration, and to everyone who has been part of this journey. This music collection is dedicated to those who dream with their eyes open.

In Loving Memory:
To Rio, who always listened. 🐾🖤✨

Recorded at:
Nude Studio · Calgary, Alberta

Artwork + Photography:
Brad Astra

Label:
Painful Records Ltd.

© 2025 The Miracle Syndicate · All rights reserved

Produced by The Miracle Syndicate

Close to Pain

🌈🖤✨ You Bring Me Colour
by The Miracle Syndicate

This city hums in silver tones,
the lights don’t burn, they only glow.
Nothing moves, nothing fades,
then you bring me colour…

Was it real? Was it you?
Or just the way the dark bleeds through?

Your silhouette on empty streets,
reflections move but never speak.
Your shadow lingers, pulls me through,
but every road still leads to you…

Was it real? Was it true?
Or just the way the dark bleeds through?

You bring me colour, but only in the end.
Was it ever really there,
or just the way the story bends?

Was it real? Was it true?
Or just the way the dark bleeds through?

You bring me colour, but only in the end.
Was it ever really there,
or just the way the story bends?

I swore I heard your voice tonight,
a thread of gold in black and white.
I swore I felt your hands in mine,
but maybe it was just the time…

Was it real? Was it true?
Or just the way the dark bleeds through?

Was it real? Was it true?
Or just the way the dark bleeds through?

You bring me colour, but only in the end.
Was it ever really there,
or just the way the story bends?

I trace the lines, the shape of loss,
a love that fades but never stops.
I call your name, but hear no sound,
a neon flicker underground.

You bring me colour, but only in the end.
Was it ever really there,
or just the way the story bends?

I trace the lines, the shape of loss,
a love that fades but never stops.
I call your name, but hear no sound,
a glitter flicker underground.

The streets are grey, the lights have dimmed,
the memory burns, then caves within.
I close my eyes, you’re almost near…
but every time, you disappear.

You bring me colour…
but only in the end.

You Bring Me Colour

🖤✨ The Sky Might Fall
by The Miracle Syndicate

The sky might fall
But I will not crash
When lights burn everything down
I’ve walked through this silence in bliss

I’m standing tall
When it comes to pass
I’ll find my way out
Someone needed this trip

The sky might fall
But I will not crash
When lights burn everything down
I’ve walked through this silence in bliss

Let it all come down—
I won’t close my eyes
I was made for the end
Not afraid to say goodbye
When the sky turns black
And the ground pulls apart
I’ll be fire in the wreckage
Still beating, still heart

Let the heavens crack—
I’ve already bled through worse
Black out every sun
I’ll crawl from the wreck unrehearsed
Tear the ground in half—
I’ve slept beneath its weight
Erase my name from every wall
I was never yours to break

The sky might fall
But I will not crash
When the lights burn everything down
I’ll walk through this silence in bliss

Credits:

Nayeli Astra: Vox, Guitar
Elena Morgenstern: Backing Vox, Synths & Sequencers
Brad Astra: Programming, Percussion, Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar

Special Thanks:
To the ravens who guided our melodies, the universe for its endless inspiration, and to everyone who has been part of this journey. This music collection is dedicated to those who dream with their eyes open.

In Loving Memory:
To Rio, who always listened.

Recorded at:
Nude Studio · Calgary, Alberta

Artwork + Photography:
Brad Astra

Label:
Painful Records Ltd.

© 2025 The Miracle Syndicate · All rights reserved
Written and Produced by Brad Astra

The Sky Might Fall

💔✨ We Rehearsed Our Collapse
by The Miracle Syndicate

Your name drips slow from the concrete below.
I taste iron in fog that never lets go.
No shape, no flame—just the weight of the air.
I sung your goodbye to a face that’s not there.

Just bury the grief—this is what comes after:
The stillness we borrow, the silence we shatter.

The deadened groans where the birch trees lean—
We rehearsed our collapse… and called it serene.
No gods in this static, no saints on the line,
Just a girl at the shore, pretending she’s fine.

I walked past the place where I last saw your face.
Oh, somebody erased it and left it no trace.
No wire, no signal—just distant decay.
You never returned. You can’t shake that away.

I’m not waiting—I’m wired to remain
In places where no one remembers my name.

The deadened groans where the birch trees lean—
We rehearsed our collapse… and called it serene.
No gods in this static, no saints on the line,
Just a girl at the shore, pretending she’s fine.

In the deep.
Feels like a dream.

We rehearsed our collapse…

All that we built—paper on stone.
All that we said—cut to dial tones.
You weren’t the ending. I was.

I’m not waiting—I’m wired to remain
In places where no one remembers my name.

The deadened groans where the birch trees lean—
We rehearsed our collapse… and called it serene.
No gods in this static, no saints on the line,
Just a girl at the shore, pretending she’s fine.

I’m just a girl at the shore, pretending she’s fine.

Credits:

Nayeli Astra: Vox, Guitar
Elena Morgenstern: Backing Vox, Synths & Sequencers
Brad Astra: Programming, Percussion, Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar

Special Thanks:
To the ravens who guided our melodies, the universe for its endless inspiration, and to everyone who has been part of this journey. This music collection is dedicated to those who dream with their eyes open.

In Loving Memory:
To Rio, who always listened.

Recorded at:
Nude Studio · Calgary, Alberta

Artwork + Photography:
Brad Astra

Label:
Painful Records Ltd.

© 2025 The Miracle Syndicate · All rights reserved
Written and Produced by Brad Astra

We Rehearsed Our Collapse

I stayed beneath the rift—too long to breathe
Mapped the fault lines in your sleep
Your name’s not gone—it just won’t speak
Hung in the throat of every dream

I held the dusk like it was mine
But dusk just held me back in kind

Driftline
Take me under
Where the light don’t have to reach
I won’t beg to be remembered
I just want a place to sink

You left your coat beside my door
It never asked if you’d return
I trace the salt in each regret
No fire comes without the burn

If love was real, it’s rotted now
And silence wears your wedding vow

Driftline
Take me under
Where the sky forgets to weep
Let the black tide fold around me
In a depth too dark to keep

I never left—just learned to fade
Like static buried in the waves

Driftline
Take me slowly
To the cold beyond belief
Where I don’t have to remember
What we were before the grief

Driftline

💔✨ You Chose the Silence
by The Miracle Syndicate

You said I have to go—like it was noble
Like leaving’s a gift
Like running’s some virtue
You kissed me once
Didn’t wait for the echo
Then vanished into that pretty excuse

You always speak in riddles
Then call it truth
But I saw it
All of it—
The way you folded your hands like it wasn’t your choice

You chose the silence
Don’t call it fate
You built the distance
With every step you made
Don’t say it hurt
Don’t say you cried
You don’t get to mourn what you left behind

You left me behind.

I had fire in my fists
You had sorry in your eyes
Like a thief handing back what he stole
You knew what I’d give
And you still watched me drown
While whispering something soft
To yourself alone

You called it timing
I call it fear
You never stayed
You just lingered
Until the guilt cleared

You chose the silence
Don’t call it fate
You built the distance
With every step you made
Don’t say it hurt
Don’t say you cried
You don’t get to mourn what you left behind

You left me behind.

Was I your lesson?
Was I the pause before you healed?
Did I bleed for your closure?
Was I ever real?

Don’t rewrite me
Don’t reduce me
Don’t make my name
Some chapter you outgrew
You walked
So stay gone
Don’t come crawling through the rearview

You Chose the Silence

💔✨ The Miracle Syndicate - Northern Ambulance

You’re only here—
You’re only here just for a while.

And I
Shiver like a child,
But you’re already underground.

Oooohhhh…
And there’s something that you find—
Something that you find when we unite.
And they’re burning in your eyes,
Burning in your eyes when we unite.

And there’s nothing left to fight—
Nothing left to fight
When you are down.

Oh, nothing left to find—
Nothing left to find when you are down…
Down.

And there’s nothing left to fight—
Nothing left to fight
When you are down.

Oooohhh…
Nothing left to fight,
Nothing left to find when you are down…
Down.

Original song by Thermostatic. All rights remain with the original copyright holders. This is a non-commercial, artistic reinterpretation for tribute and personal expression.

Produced by The Miracle Syndicate

Northern Ambulance

There Is No Cure for a Nightmare

🖤✨ You Were Real in the Blur 
by The Miracle Syndicate

Flickers on the lens
A photo we forgot
Dust in the projector—
You were there, then not.

All the flowers become—
Static on the screen…
You left your breath in the room,
And I still breathe it in.

You were real in the blur,
You were never just a dream
I trace your face in the burn—
Nothing’s what it seems.

Oh—

The wires cross in sleep,
You called out in the dark
Your voice crawled through the screen
And left a mark.

You were the glitch in my grace,
Flicker, then you’re gone
How can I delete
What keeps playing on?

You were real in the blur,
You were never just a dream
I trace your face in the burn—
Nothing’s what it seems.

Oh—

But I still hear you sing…
But I still hear you sing…

You were the glitch in my grace,
Flicker, then you’re gone
How can I delete
What keeps playing on?

And still…
I wait
for
you.

You Were Real in the Blur

All mistakes are intentional.

Produced by The Miracle Syndicate
Published by Painful Records Ltd.