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.
Maybe sparrow you should wait
The hawks alight 'til morning
You'll never pass
Beyond the gate
If you don't hear my warning
Notes are hung so effortless
With the rise and fall of sparrow's breast
It's a drowning diving
Back to the chorus
La di da di da di dumb
La di da di da di dumb
Oh my sparrow
It's too late
Your body limp beneath my feet
Your dusty eyes
As cold as clay
You didn't hear my warning
You didn't hear my warning
Maybe sparrow
It's too late
The moonlight glanced off metal wings
In a thunderstorm above the clouds
The engine hums a sparrow's phrase
Those who cannot hear the words
Those who cannot hear the words
Those who will not hear the words
La di da di da di dumb
La di da di da di dumb
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
The hawks alight 'til morning
You'll never pass
Beyond the gate
If you don't hear my warning
Notes are hung so effortless
With the rise and fall of sparrow's breast
It's a drowning diving
Back to the chorus
La di da di da di dumb
La di da di da di dumb
Oh my sparrow
It's too late
Your body limp beneath my feet
Your dusty eyes
As cold as clay
You didn't hear my warning
You didn't hear my warning
Maybe sparrow
It's too late
The moonlight glanced off metal wings
In a thunderstorm above the clouds
The engine hums a sparrow's phrase
Those who cannot hear the words
Those who cannot hear the words
Those who will not hear the words
La di da di da di dumb
La di da di da di dumb
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
Maybe sparrow
Lyrics submitted by delial, edited by smmoore10, smallwonderrobot
Maybe Sparrow Lyrics as written by Neko Case
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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What an amazing song. So beautiful
Delicious and melodic.
Such a powerful song. The best part, probably of the entire album, is:
Oh my sparrow, it's too late Your body limp beneath my feet Your dusty eyes cold as clay You didn't hear my warning Didn't hear my warning
She just pours all of herself into this and does such great things with melody at the same time. Her voice is incredible and really broadens the reach of her music, especially in her harmonies.
This is one of my favorites. I surprised there are not more comments.
The melody stands-out to to me. I put it on my Autumn playlist.
What Season does it remind you of most?
Please replace the line "your dusty eyes as cold as cane" with "your dusty eyes cold as clay". Neko publishes all of her lyrics on her website, which I think is an indication of how hard she works on and the pride she takes in her lyrics (well-deserved).
You really should watch her music video for this song if your want to understand where she's coming from (anti.com/videos/maybe-sparrow/. That said, she usually writes songs in such a way that each person can have their own personalized meaning.
I've always loved this song because, from an ecological standpoint, no predator would ever warn its prey. In fact, owls' success as predators comes precisely from their silence. I love the book Watership Down, and it was also a big influence on Neko. Theres a character in that book called the Black Rabbit of Inle, who is essentially the rabbits' equivalent of Death. Theres this inescapable aspect of dying, and killing from the Black Rabbits standpoint, that I think is very similar to the way she describes an owl killing its prey. Its not evil, its jst the way it is. Thats also why replacing "clay" with "Cain" (as was originally posted here) really confuses the meaning of the song. I could go on for hours about this stuff, what a brilliant songwriter...
Made an account just to comment on this. For me it feels like Neko speaks from the perspective of an onlooker; yearning to help someone who is swept away by the brutal norms of nature. Wanting to get involved, wanting to help, to warn — but maybe not eaten themselves. She writes in a way that our own hearts make the sense of it with our own story, I’m just scratching the surface with her. Glad she was shown to me