Bird Song Lyrics
But a bird flew by,
Saw what I'd done.
He set up a nest outside
He sang so loud, sang so clear.
I was afraid all the neighbors would hear,
So I invited him in just to reason with him.
I promised I wouldn't do it again.
Louder inside the house
And now I couldn't
get him out.
Stood on it to make him stop.
Picked up the bird and battled with him
I said, "That's the last song you'll ever sing."
Taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget.
But in my dreams began to creep
that old familiar, "Tweet, tweet, tweet."
I waved my arms and flapped about,
But i couldn't scream and I couldn't shout,
Couldn't scream and I couldn't shout!
I waved my arms and flapped about,
But i couldn't scream and I couldn't shout,
Couldn't scream and I couldn't shout.
The song was coming from my mouth.
This song means something completely different to me, and it seems very different to the accapella version. To me it's about a girl who doesn't want to love because she's cold and can't love for whatever reason (perhaps hurt in the past, perhaps she just doesn't believe in love)
"Well, I didn't tell anyone But a bird flew by, Saw what I'd done. He set up a nest outside And he sang about what I'd become."
[He saw her, fell for her and knew she was so closed-off but wouldn't stop trying to get through to her.]
"He sang so loud, sang so clear. I was afraid all the neighbors would hear, So I invited him in just to reason with him. I promised I wouldn't do it again."
[He was persistent, wouldn't let her go, so she tried to reason with him, tell him she couldn't be with him.]
"But he sang louder and Louder inside the house And now I couldn't get him out. I trapped him under a cardboard box Stood on it to make him stop. Picked up the bird and battled with him I said, "That's the last song you'll ever sing." Held him down, broke his neck, Taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget. But in my dreams began to creep that old familiar, "Tweet, tweet, tweet."
[She pushed him away as much as possible, she didn't want anyone to know about how much he loved her. She tried to fight it as much as she could. But soon she realised she was thinking of him more often, she'd hear him everywhere, she starts falling for him.]
"I opened my mouth to scream and shout. I waved my arms and flapped about, But i couldn't scream and I couldn't shout, Couldn't scream and I couldn't shout. The song was coming from my mouth. From my mouth..."
[She tried to do the usual and fight it all again, by 'screaming and shouting' and pushing him away as always, but instead she heard a 'tweet tweet' from her own mouth, because she was singing the birdsong back. She was falling for him even though she never thought she would fall for anyone.]
Beautiful song.
hmm...never thought of it that way. very clever! :)
hmm...never thought of it that way. very clever! :)
I think it's "picked up the bird and above the din..." not battled with him (: I love this song
I think it's "picked up the bird and above the din..." not battled with him (: I love this song
just a thought..could the bird be a reference to her conscious. she feels guilty about something and just cant forget about it and instead feels guiltier("But he sang louder and Louder inside the house And now I couldn't get him out.")
anyone else agree?
yeah, that's exactly what I think.
yeah, that's exactly what I think.
me too. what a cleaver song. such beautiful and dark imagery. imaging breaking the neck of a bird. and then being haunted in your dreams by that old familiar tweet tweet tweet. it's like tweedy bird is in your head.
me too. what a cleaver song. such beautiful and dark imagery. imaging breaking the neck of a bird. and then being haunted in your dreams by that old familiar tweet tweet tweet. it's like tweedy bird is in your head.
I have interpreted it almost the same way. The song speaks about guilt, but the bird is someone who blames her, and the song it sings is guilt itself. When she kills the bird in hopes that the song will end, she realizes the song came from her mouth, which means she was the one who was blaming herself the most. Quite a clever song, if you ask me.
I have interpreted it almost the same way. The song speaks about guilt, but the bird is someone who blames her, and the song it sings is guilt itself. When she kills the bird in hopes that the song will end, she realizes the song came from her mouth, which means she was the one who was blaming herself the most. Quite a clever song, if you ask me.
Am I a fool for taking this completely literally?
That she killed the bird but it sang inside her guilt to make her scream the story out. Which is what the song is - the song the bird made her sing.
(( Reminds me of that story about the kings with big ears, and only one servant knows. He can't keep the secret so he whispers it to a tree. Years later that tree is made into muscial instruments and when they play them the music is saying 'the king's got big ears!' ))
To me the bird represents paranoia - " i was afraid all the neighbors would here" the paranoia came from taking drugs, and while she was high promised herself or her paranoia (the bird) she would stop taking drugs. As she starts to become clean from her addiction she begins to crave again - But in my dreams began to creep that old familiar, "Tweet, tweet, tweet."- "Old familiar" - not a new feeling, she is used those cravings "tweet, tweet, tweet " - That incessant need to have drugs "i opened my mouth to scream and shout, waved my arms and flapped about" - She tried to fight the cravings and not to give in. "but i couldn't scream, i couldn't shout" - She couldn't fight it and gave in "the song was coming from my mouth, from my mouth, from my mouth, from my mouth..." - Falling deeper and deeper into addiction and there's also a sense of relief from having fulfilled her craving.
I think this song is about you doing something terrible to the one you love and wanting no one to know, but someone found out what you did and your worried that they are going to tell everyone including the person you love, so you do everything you can to make that person keep their mouth shut, but the guilt drives you so mad you cant help but blurt out everything you never wanted to tell.
I think this song is talking about when you do something horrible that you couldn't stand if the world knew and you're so nervous that someone else will find out that you are so suspicious and nervous you end up spilling the beans yourself
This song reminds me of Bukowski's poem called Bluebird.
Bluebird
Bluebird
>
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you.
>
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I'm not going to let anybody see you.
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I pur whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke and the whores and the bartenders and the grocery clerks never know that he's in there.
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I pur whiskey on him and inhale cigarette smoke and the whores and the bartenders and the grocery clerks never know that he's in there.
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay down, do you want to mess me up? you want to screw up the works? you want to...
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too tough for him, I say, stay down, do you want to mess me up? you want to screw up the works? you want to blow my book sales in Europe?
there's a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I'm too clever, I only let him out at night sometimes when everybody's asleep. I say, I know that you're there, so don't be sad. then I put him back, but he's singing a little in there, I haven't quite let him die and we sleep together like that with our secret pact and it's nice enough to make a man weep, but I don't weep, do you?
Reminds me of The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe...
Reminds me of The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe...
Visit this link you'll find out what its really about
This reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe's Tell Tale Heart, when she says "Held him down, broke his neck, Taught him a lesson he wouldn't forget. But in my dreams began to creep that old familiar, "Tweet, tweet, tweet."
I immediately thought of both "Tell Tale Heart" and "Bluebird" by Poe and Bukowski, respectively. They coincide nicely, especially based on most of the interpretations here. In Poe's short story, a murder has committed and the guilty is all-consuming. In Bukowski's poem, there is an intense reluctance at showing any sort of "soft-side." Hmm.