Big Bird In A Small Cage

I think the song illustrates the point that art comes from being in a poor situation. People often say that poetry and writing and painting is fueled by sadness, and that when they're happy, they have nothing to express. The 'bird needs the small cage in order to create beautiful art.

It makes me think of Taming of the Shrew. Alot. Think about it.

I think its a song could be interpreted in many ways but it made me think of it as a metaphor for the rich 1% of the world keeping small children in factories so that they can enjoy good for cheap. The small children being the big birds ( big birds meaning could have big futures) in a small cage ( in the factories that control their lives ) and the sad song they sing that the 1% enjoys being the goods that are sold for cheap because of child labor.

Another interpretation I think of is of a free-spirited child being trapped in a very controlled environment. The free spirit being the large bird (big personality, bright future and large imagination) being trapped in a small cage ( or a small town where they are not challenged or have very controlling parents who do not encourage their free-spiritedness) The lovely song the free spirit sings is the song that their parents and their peers wish them to sing. They are trapped because of where they grow up.

That first line of the third verse is "Well we rolled into town, into sweet New Orleans"

there was a house half way 'round the world

and I was invited in for a small taste of gin

there was a hallway a thousand birds long

but the biggest one of all was in a cage too small

I asked the care taker 'cause he was a maker

looked at me and laughed, took another sip from his glass

he said open up your ears and hearts...

you put a big bird in a small cage

and he'll sing you a song

that we all love to sing along

to the sound of the bird that warns

[verse]

well we rolled into town in the sweet new orleans

to the Apple Barrel Bar it was a hole in the wall

the ceiling's weren't tall, the floors were the ground

but the sound that you make would just warm your hearts

[verse]

well it was quarter to twelve and the boys walked in

they got their black suits on and the songs would begin

you open up your ears and hearts...

you put a big bird in a small cage

and he'll sing you a song

that we all love to sing along

to the sound of the bird that warns

I think it's "to the sound of the bird that mourns"

I tkink the song is about captivity, and the ones who live in the captivity are not the birds- they are actual real people. They are hidden in "a house half way round the world" and no one knows about this place. They are being held against their will. Their freedom and their free will have been taken away- they are being made to do the things other people enjoy. That is why they are so sad and mourning doing it.

The ones who made them do those things are "the midnight boys with their black suits" and just showing up is enough for "the birds" to start "singing their songs", no waiting. They know exactly what they're supposed to do and when to do it, and that is why I don't believe it's about the birds at all.

"You put a big bird in a small cage and he'll sing you a song"- you lock someone up so they can't move, and they will have to do what you tell them to do.

This song to me is about the beauty of a free spirit- even wen trapped in an envronment not big enough for them... some may see as a disadvantage... God can still use them to show beauty to others. The song they sing of thousands of birds is the most beautiful of all, even if at the time they are sad