This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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 sang so loud, sang so clear
I was afraid all the neighbours would hear,
So I invited him in, just to reason with him
I promised I wouldn't do it again
But he sang louder and louder inside the house,
And no I couldn't get him out
So I trapped him under a cardboard box
Stood on it to make him stop
I picked up the bird and above the din 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
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
I opened my mouth to scream and shout
Waved my arms and flapped about
But I couldn't scream I couldn't shout,
The song was coming from my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
Saw what I'd done he set up a nest outside,
And he sang about what I'd become
He sang so loud, sang so clear
I was afraid all the neighbours would hear,
So I invited him in, just to reason with him
I promised I wouldn't do it again
But he sang louder and louder inside the house,
And no I couldn't get him out
So I trapped him under a cardboard box
Stood on it to make him stop
I picked up the bird and above the din 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
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
I opened my mouth to scream and shout
Waved my arms and flapped about
But I couldn't scream I couldn't shout,
The song was coming from my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
From my mouth
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
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! :)
I think it's "picked up the bird and above the din..." not battled with him <br /> (: 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.
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.
@blueeyes218 I thought the exactly the same thing. I can so relate to this. It is like something you have done that no one knows about, then you rat yourself out.
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<br />
Reminds me of The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe...
Visit this link you'll find out what its really about
youtube.com/watch
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.