The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Little birds born without a mother or a father
I can feel their feathers forming in the running water
Now there is another in the middle of my mouth
A hundred altogether inside of me now
Little birds, little birds, come into my body
Mother, they're within me every moment I'm awaking
Bodies multiplying till they finally overtake me
Put your ears up to my mouth and you can hear them singing
Put your hands within me and you'll know what I am feeling
I just want to swallow up and promise to protect them
Daddy, come towards me, I could see his hands are shaking
Put his hands against me, he could feel their bodies breaking
Pushed me to the floor and put his hands up for a beating
"I don't want to hear it anymore" he kept repeating
"Do you really want the burning hell to come and get you?"
"Did you see the burning hell? It took your baby brother?
Did you see how far he fell and how he made us suffer?
Another boy in town at night, he took him for his lover
And deep in sin they held each other
So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in
Knowing God in heaven no could never could forgive him
So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in"
Little boy born without a mother or a father
Taken to the river and then pushed into the water
And the priests are singing that the hell was getting hotter
La, la-la la la
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him
From the thing he loves the most but we know will betray him
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him
And here beneath the water
I can see how the light
Distorts so strange
And this is how
I would like to leave my body
And start again
I can feel their feathers forming in the running water
Now there is another in the middle of my mouth
A hundred altogether inside of me now
Little birds, little birds, come into my body
Mother, they're within me every moment I'm awaking
Bodies multiplying till they finally overtake me
Put your ears up to my mouth and you can hear them singing
Put your hands within me and you'll know what I am feeling
I just want to swallow up and promise to protect them
Daddy, come towards me, I could see his hands are shaking
Put his hands against me, he could feel their bodies breaking
Pushed me to the floor and put his hands up for a beating
"I don't want to hear it anymore" he kept repeating
"Do you really want the burning hell to come and get you?"
"Did you see the burning hell? It took your baby brother?
Did you see how far he fell and how he made us suffer?
Another boy in town at night, he took him for his lover
And deep in sin they held each other
So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in
Knowing God in heaven no could never could forgive him
So I took a hammer, nearly beat his little brains in"
Little boy born without a mother or a father
Taken to the river and then pushed into the water
And the priests are singing that the hell was getting hotter
La, la-la la la
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him
From the thing he loves the most but we know will betray him
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the only ones to save him
And here beneath the water
I can see how the light
Distorts so strange
And this is how
I would like to leave my body
And start again
Lyrics submitted by subverted0, edited by danzase6, kirkweigensber, putainan
Little Birds [Demo - 1998] Lyrics as written by Jeff Mangum
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Mr.Wuggs, your analysis of "Two Headed Boy Pt. 2" is stunningly sad. In fact the part about Jeff trying to put his brothers face together brings me to tears when I hear it now.
However, Jeff Magnum's father is still alive and Jeff keeps close to him. In fact I read an interview of Jeff talking about living at his dads house when he wrote "Oh Comely" and being amazed and playing it for his dad. So while your interpretation is the best I've ever heard for Two Headed Boy Pt. 2, I very much doubt it applies exactly to Jeff's life. It's much more likely to be based on someone else.