Killing Birds

Hi,

this song is not about someone, it is about Cornell himself. It describes a situation a father sometimes is standing in front of. Almost everyone has the idea that he/she will make is better than his/her parents done it. Killing birds is a metaphor for blight someone’s ideas before they grow up, to destroy childish naivety with a mean word or a deprecatingly gesture.

But more than that, it is a symbol for the process of how we forget the idea of being different from our parents, when we turn the tables and stand in front of a nagging child in need of our attention. And sometime you know you are killing birds although you know you are killing birds.

This is no supposed to be an apology to do so, as long as you realize that you killing birds there is hope.

I think it's true that killing birds is a metaphor for ideas that were pushed on cornell as a child. I think he saying that if you force ideas on someone you cannot count on the idea that they won't use them on you as well. How when you train someone to do something it is no longer a choice it's just second nature. "Well I'm just doin my job" shows that there is no feeling just doing what has been pushed on him. Great song, one of my favorite off the album

Chris once described being horrified to see a bird die after striking a window in his home. That affected him. He's addressing the house itself and probably himself as well. I guess "Burden My Hand" is another reference to that sad incident—a recurring motif that haunts me whenever I hear his voice.

[Edit: clarity and a reference to the lyric]

I think it is about someone who never really cared how the people around him felt, and he also doesn't care whether these people love him or don't!! So he hurts them with no remorse and no regrets!!

I think it is about someone who never really cared how the people around him felt, and he also doesn't care whether these people love him or don't!! So he hurts them with no remorse and no regrets!!

It's a tribute to Ozzy

I agree with 7thDawn. these lyrics make think about Chris Cornell's older daughter, the one from his first marriage. when you divorce and leave, you hurt your child. it's something like killing a bird, destroying something the child will never have again. maybe I am wrong with the meaning, but that's what this song makes me think about. I just love the way he writes. :-)

I am a singer and I always had a thing for this song that I have listened to hundreds of times since this album was new. I believe there is a double metaphor. As the singer/performer,-(Chris Cornell) the reference to killing birds is the songwriters comparison to what he does for a living to being a chicken farmer who harvests chicken for a living. However, the title "Killing Birds" refers to how his undeniable talent as a performer commands people to listen to him as apposed to flipping him off or shooting a bird at him.

wow! When I first listene to this song i thought it was about the Iraq war a bit. And the long line of idiots is the presidents of America. And the not knowing why they had to develop better weapons but it never really made sense to kill and such really.

Just my interperatation.