High Flying Bird Lyrics
I saw it as you flew between my reason
Like a raven in the night time when you left
I wear a chain upon my wrist that bears no name
You touched it and you wore it
And you kept it in your pillow all the same
I thought myself her keeper
She thought I meant her harm
She thought I was the archer
A weather man of words
But I could never shoot down
My high-flying bird
You bled upon the cold stone like a young man
In the foreign field of death
Wouldn't it be wonderful is all I heard you say
You never closed your eyes at night and learned to love daylight
Instead you moved away
It's pretty apparent, when taken on whole. "Bird" is the UK slang for a young woman, so Elton's "high flying bird" was a friend or lover of the song's narrator who probably was into drugs (You never closed your eyes at night and learned to love daylight). "Flew," "raven," "flown from out my arms" make it pretty clear.
The chorus reinforces the song's narrator that as much as he wanted her, she always flew away "She thought I was the archer."
The second verse is about her suicide. "The white walls of your dressing rom are stained in scarlet red/You bled upon the stone like a young man" And after the narrator internalizes what has happened, he muses "Wouldn't it be wonderful is all I had to say."
Taupin's lyrics are pretty easy to decipher.
My take is that the song is about a man who loves a young woman (perhaps it’s romantic love or perhaps it’s paternal or fraternal love), and because he loves her, he thinks he has to protect her from the world, but she grows to see this behavior (rightly or wrongly) as malicious, believing he’s holding her back, that he’s keeping her in a cage. Eventually it builds up to the point that she attempts suicide because she believes that is the only means she has to escape. I think she survives, but her actions make the narrator reevaluate his own actions towards her and he realizes that intentionally or not, he has been causing her harm. And he experiences great regret over how he treated her, because he never meant to hurt her, he thought he was acting in her best interests. So he realizes he has to let her go, to let her fly from out his arms. Thematically, I think it’s not too dissimilar from Blues For Baby And Me. I think they’re both about men having to let women they love and want to protect go.
What is meant by " A weatherman of words". From the Elton John/Bernie Taupin song 'High Flying Bird?".
@Bryan R Howard Just a wild guess, of course, but given that the previous lines were "I thought myself her keeper She thought I meant her harm She thought I was the archer" and weather men are commonly derided as getting the weather WRONG, I would guess that it means she thought--and it is obviously true--that he got his words describing their relationship (& his perception of their relationship) wrong.
@Bryan R Howard Just a wild guess, of course, but given that the previous lines were "I thought myself her keeper She thought I meant her harm She thought I was the archer" and weather men are commonly derided as getting the weather WRONG, I would guess that it means she thought--and it is obviously true--that he got his words describing their relationship (& his perception of their relationship) wrong.
It's pretty apparent, when taken on whole. "Bird" is the UK slang for a young woman, so Elton's "high flying bird" was a friend or lover of the song's narrator who probably was into drugs (You never closed your eyes at night and learned to love daylight). "Flew," "raven," "flown from out my arms" make it pretty clear.
The chorus reinforces the song's narrator that as much as he wanted her, she always flew away "She thought I was the archer."
The second verse is about her suicide, most likely due to drugs/alcohol. . "The white walls of your dressing room are stained in scarlet red/You bled upon the cold stone like a young man" And after the narrator internalizes what has happened, he muses "Wouldn't it be wonderful is all I had to say."
Taupin's lyrics are pretty easy to decipher.
@dtyler99 Actually the line is "oh wouldn't it be wonderful is all I heard you say" so that part is still kind of ambiguous; it's likely a nod to something that isn't otherwise implicit in the lyrics (some of Taupin's songs are notorious for that; the line "Paying your H.P. demands forever" from 'Someone saved my Life Tonight' doesn't actually mean anything as per Taupin himself - he made it up/added it because he liked how it sounded, but the average person listening to the song has probably come up with more than a few imagined explanations of what 'H.P.'...
@dtyler99 Actually the line is "oh wouldn't it be wonderful is all I heard you say" so that part is still kind of ambiguous; it's likely a nod to something that isn't otherwise implicit in the lyrics (some of Taupin's songs are notorious for that; the line "Paying your H.P. demands forever" from 'Someone saved my Life Tonight' doesn't actually mean anything as per Taupin himself - he made it up/added it because he liked how it sounded, but the average person listening to the song has probably come up with more than a few imagined explanations of what 'H.P.' stood for.
Also, just a note - various published sources have claimed that "H.P" the 'Someone saved' lyrics mean this or that, but there's an interview with Taupin where he actually states that it didn't mean anything when he put it in the lyrics.
Just wanted to address that ahead of time.
@john d.106 I have heard/read over the decades that, in the UK, this was a reference to purchasing and paying later. In other words, a credit account a bit like today's world, although they didn't exist much back then. I do remember certain stores had "credit" where you'd pay a few dollars a month and a huge "extra." Just a guess on my part because... I'm old enough to remember some of this weird stuff. lol
@john d.106 I have heard/read over the decades that, in the UK, this was a reference to purchasing and paying later. In other words, a credit account a bit like today's world, although they didn't exist much back then. I do remember certain stores had "credit" where you'd pay a few dollars a month and a huge "extra." Just a guess on my part because... I'm old enough to remember some of this weird stuff. lol
This song evokes similar imagery as "She Talks to Angels" by the Black Crowes, 17 years later. Perhaps the girl who talked to angels was the daughter of the high flying bird. In fact, I think she was born in this song\'s dressing room. :)