Fools

When Birch introduced this song at her WXPN concert this past June, she said she wrote it "while I was living in Los Angeles -- and I guess I'll just leave it at that." Reading some of her mini-bios on the Internet, I learned that she moved to L.A. after high school with initial aspirations of working as a film composer. She honed her musical chops there by playing the piano in hotels and bars by day and performing her own songs at night in "muso joints" (I'm not sure what these are; my guess is that they are clubs frequented by serious music fans). Her talent attracted offers from various sectors of the SoCal entertainment business, but she eventually decided to move to England, where secured a record deal and was able to focus on writing and performing her own songs.

Knowing all this, it isn't much of a stretch to guess that this song is a rebuff of those in the SoCal entertainment industry who tried to pull Birch in various directions as she was trying to stay true to herself as a musician. In the lyrics, Birch portrays these "fools" as over-solicitous suitors ("Knockin' at my door / Calling out my name") who want her for what they want her to be ("Tellin' me to change my ways"), not for what she is. Every suitor brings a different "vision" or "plan" for her future, and in trying to persuade her to their side, they attempt to plant seeds of doubt on her personal musical ambitions ("Laughin' in my head / Telling me my dream's gone cold").

But Birch, to her credit, won't let others lead her astray; she knows her heart and stays true to her artistic drive ("One city of angels / It ain't goin' put out my flame / Ooh my love is a fire / No one can tame"). She would rather fail on her own ("stand out in the rain") than compromise herself artistically by submitting to the cajolery of others. (The rain could also be a literal reference to the wet British climate, which contrasts with sunny southern California.)

On a more general note, Birch is the daughter of a pastor, and evidence of her religious upbring can be found in many of her songs on "Bible Belt," including this one. Here, the "fools" resemble agents of the Devil, with the tools of temptation and deceit at their disposal ("You tell me lies / You look me in the eyes"). It may seem ironic that the "city of angels" (i.e., Los Angeles) is the source of Birch's troubles, but according to Christian doctrine, Satan was an archangel before being cast out of heaven, and he can assume the form of an angel as part of his deceptions.