Silver Jews leader whose poetic songs resonated, despite cryptic, opaque lyrics

David Berman, the reluctant songwriter and poet whose dry baritone and wry, wordy compositions anchored Silver Jews, a critically lauded staple of the 1990s indie- rock scene, died on Wednesday. He was 52.

His death was announced by his record label, Drag City, which released music by Silver Jews and Mr. Berman’s latest band, Purple Mountains.

A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak on the matter said that Mr. Berman was found Wednesday in an apartment building in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, N. Y., and pronounced dead at the scene. A spokeswoman for the city’s medical examiner said that Mr. Berman had hanged himself, and ruled it suicide.

As the sole constant member of Silver Jews, which sometimes included wellknown musicians like Stephen Malkmus of Pavement, Mr. Berman released six albums using the band name, beginning with “Starlite Walker” in 1994 and continuing through “Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea” in 2008.

David Craig Berman was born in Williamsburg, Va., on Jan. 4, 1967. His mother, a homemaker, became a schoolteacher after his parents divorced when he was 7. His father, Richard Berman, was a labor lawyer for the United States Chamber of Commerce who went on to become a high- powered and widely feared lobbyist for the tobacco, oil and soft- drink industries, and would later serve as a foil in Mr. Berman’s songwriting and other creative pursuits.