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Painted Bird Lyrics

on lead poisoned wings you try to sing
freak beak shrieks are thrown at your confusing hue
the peacock screaming eyes show no mercy no mercy


painted bird it's absurd
just a tainted bird hurting their twisted nerve


the flock will make you choke on this sadistic joke
and the whippoorwills they make a din
in laughing unison you're hitchcock carrion
carry on


painted bird it's absurd
just a tainted bird hurting their twisted nerve


i hear your sorrow maybe tomorrow
you'll lose you sorrow
when a fated weather will cleanse away
that painted feather and all that sorrow


a coquette in fur purr for the painted bird
confound that dowdy flock with a sharp honed nerve
because we're painted birds by our own design
by our own design there's no more sorrow


have you heard about the painted bird
just a tainted bird hunting their twisted nerve


we've lost our sorrow now it's tomorrow
no need to hide your feather under a fated weather
no more sorrow...


now we're painted birds mocking that twisted nerve
Song Info
Submitted by
kaitou On May 19, 2002
5 Meanings

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Cover art for Painted Bird lyrics by Siouxsie and the Banshees

This song was based on the book Painted Bird by
Jerzy N. Kosinski which is about a young Polish boy fleeing the Nazis, but symbolically it's about how jealous people destroy beautiful things. The book itself I highly recommend reading; it's twisted and sexual, revolting the beautiful.

Cover art for Painted Bird lyrics by Siouxsie and the Banshees

A couple more points: the album "Painted Bird" is from "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse" has many references to the work of Gustav Klimt - for instance the cover and title are a reference to his most famous painting, "The Kiss". As depicted in the above mentioned book "The Painted Bird", the Nazis destroyed several of Klimt's paintings as they retreated in 1945.

"A coquette in fur" is a reference to the novella "Venus In Furs" by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who lends his name to the word masochism. There are other references to "Venus In Furs" throughout the album, such as a reference to the main character of the novella, Severin, in "Melt!". Steve Severin also assumed his name from this character.

Cover art for Painted Bird lyrics by Siouxsie and the Banshees

Inspired by the book 'The Painted Bird' by Jerzy Kosinksi. SIOUXSIE: "A very violent book," says Siouxsie. "But there's also like an abstract theme in that this guy used to collect birds, and when he was feeling really aggressive, or frustrated, he'd paint this bird with different colours, and then throw it to its flock. And it would recognise its flock, but because it was a different colour, they would attack it." Source: NME17/04/82

Song Meaning
Cover art for Painted Bird lyrics by Siouxsie and the Banshees
Cover art for Painted Bird lyrics by Siouxsie and the Banshees

"you're Hitchcock carrion"

is without a doubt a reference to this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birds_(film)

 
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