Your heart sings like a kettle
And your words, they boil away like steam
And a lie burns long while the truth bites quick
A heart is built for both it seems

You are lonely as a church
Despite the queuing out your door
I am empty as a promise, no more

When the time comes
And rights have been read
I think of you often
But for once I meant what I said

I was salted by your hunger
Now you've gone and lost your appetite
And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight
I am lonely as a memory
Despite the gathering 'round the fire
Aren't you every bird on every wire?

When the time comes
And rights have been read
I think on you often
But for once I meant what I said
Here I stay, I, I lay me down
In a house by the Hill
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill
Here I stay, I, I lay me down
In a house by the Hill
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill


Lyrics submitted by jaynecobb, edited by LiteWait

Little Bird Lyrics as written by Lisa Margaret Hannigan

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Little Bird song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is about her break up with Damien Rice. Lisa said in a interview " It’s a snapshot in time as well.[...] But that one when I wrote it, it was really hard for me to write and really hard for me to sing for a long time, but I think it was important for me to write it. I think I needed to.” She also describes it as not a "mean song or a brutal song or a happy song. It feels quite… quiet"

    KiraKiraon November 05, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song makes me cry everytime I hear it.

    Obviously, it's about a breakup (specifically Hannigan's with Damien Rice).

    "Your heart sings like a kettle And your words, they boil away like steam."

    The man she loves is very emotional and erratic, and his volatile emotions are obvious - therefore it's hard to take anything he says seriously.

    "And a lie burns long while the truth bites quick, A heart is built for both it seems."

    No matter how long the lies the lies in the relationship have been perpetuating, once the truth is faced both parties are snapped back into reality. And as much as the heart wants to believe the delusion and deny the truth, once it accepts it, in time the heart can survive.

    "You are lonely as a church, Despite the queuing out your door."

    Echoing another commenter, the subject believes that no matter how many women the man tries to assuage himself with, he's broken and lonely inside.

    "When the time comes, And rights have been read, I think of you often But for once I meant what I said."

    In an interview, Rice once said Hannigan's last words to him were that they were better off alone. This may be what she meant. After all is said and done, what remains is that although she clearly loves him, she stands firm in her resolve to let him go.

    "I was salted by your hunger, Now you've gone and lost your appetite"

    She was drawn in by his charm and need to be loved - but ultimately she realizes she was used, and abandoned as soon as he was tired of her.

    "And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight. I am lonely as a memory Despite the gathering round the fire. Aren't you every bird on every wire?"

    Ultimately, the subject has to let him go because he doesn't want to be shackled by the responsibility of a relationship.

    "Here I stay, I lay me down, I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. Here I stay, I lay me down, In a house by the Hill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill."

    Not sure about this part - anyone have any ideas?

    saffron83on June 25, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yeah, it's all too apparent. I love the line "You are lonely as a church, despite the queuing outside your door", possible referring to the slews of female replacements that Damien has sang alongside with since Lisa's departure. They are all temporary and none could ever quite be what she was to Damien. Plus, the Leonard Cohen's allusion of "bird on a wire" pretty much sends the message home. Like a bird on a wire, Damien has tried in his ways to be free.

    Skylarkinon August 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    may i ask a stupid question? what does it mean with:

    "And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight"?

    annsharryon December 01, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    I know this beautiful song is about a personal 'breakup' Lisa went thru - that touches so many people who can identify with these sentiments & the images she paints lyrically. I discovered this song on the end-credits of the movie 'Maudie'. I searched for the song to read the lyrics, and read them several times.

    It's interesting how one interprets lyrics - (& note my interpretation is not bc of the movie) but wherever your at in life, the events you've endured, are living now, or anticipating will influence your reception of everything . . . As an older person - (but single,/alone) I read these lyrics as if my husband passed away . . . Each line seems to point to how I would feel, discussions we had about who would go first -' I meant what I said' referring to what we would or wouldn't do after the other one passed - the line about 'arent you every bird on a wire' would be how I would see him in every living thing I encountered . . . The queu out the church door of course his funeral. And all the other words of this song point to that for me, as a love song, with longing, missing, a little bitterness, sweetness, resignation, memories . . .

    sheila1073on November 22, 2022   Link

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

Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
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.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.