Little Bird

Before I get to the meaning I just want to get to some prelude: Imogen Heap's parents separated when she was 12. One can infer that her parent's had been conflicted for years prior.

In short, I feel that this song is from the perspective of Imogen Heap as a child; during the years prior to the divorce of her parents, when they were so conflicted.

Little bird, little bird, little bird, what d'ya hear?
The clink of morning cheers
Orange juice, concentrate
Crossword puzzles start to grate
One across
4 letter word it's just not sitting

Imogen describes a typical morning in the Heap household. At the end of the verse Imogen mentions that a 4-letter word isn't fitting quite well. I may be going out on a ledge when I say this, but I think that the word she's referring to is the word "good," or something equal in length and meaning.

Little bird, little bird, little bird, what do you see?
A picture perfect scene
Two tone lawns are manicured
The garden's wearing haute couture
It's hiding something
It's trying too hard

The first chorus shows that Imogen's surroundings are esthetically perfect. "May be too perfect!" as the connotes in the 5th and 6th lines. This indicates fishy behavior that isn't in accordance with the visuals in her life.

Little bird, little bird, little bird, where are they now?
Daytime TV. lounge
A carriage clock, a mantelpiece
A family wiped up j-cloth cleaned
Unsaid, festers
In the throws of the sofa

Imogen is curious of her parent's whereabouts. Imogen continues to elaborate on the incredulous aesthetics. She states that the family photo is "clean", but, only because of the j-cloth that did so. Imogen becomes increasingly festered because she's being kept away from the problems that her parents are going through; she knows something is going on, but wishes she knew more!

Little bird, little bird, little bird, how are you feeling?
Like help in quarantine
Pearly white touch down smile
Absent creases round the eyes
Tell tale, hard sell, we smell rats in the kitchen

Imogen states that the "little bird" is helping her while she's in quarantine. Also, she iterates the fact that smiles(possible of the whole family) are faux, as they lack creases around the eyes of their displayers. (Look in the mirror, smile softly, notice the lack of creases, then, smile big and wide, to the point that your eyes have creases around them:) Later, Imogen asks her parents to inform her of what's going on, it's apparently a "hard sell". Her parents, in their benevolent attempt to shield their daughter, make-up the excuse, "WE SMELL RATS IN THE KITCHEN!" and run off to investigate the purported reason to run off from the inquisition.

Little bird, little bird, little bird what can we do?
Think tank, think rescue
Simon says, Etch-a-Sketch
Some encoded message only he would get
Quickly now
'Cause this is not how it ends!

She continues conversing with the little bird, asking, what can be done? She considers failing completely or, being rescued. As she continues, one of her parents, amid a game of Simon says, has told her to draw something completely out of her knowledge with her etch-a-sketch(which Imogen loves to play with). Her parents just want to keep her busy and safeguarded from their arguments. At the end of the verse, Imogen grows increasing flustered by her unknowingness and the task which her father has told her to complete.

As for the last verse, I really don't want to divulge my interpretation, because I feel it to be the most heartfelt and saddening verse. I would love for everyone to have their own meaning for it, and, their own explications of this song.

Let me know what you think!

Personally I felt the whole creepy child abuse feeling when I first heard the song...it's too sinister and strange to be simply talking about direct parent conflict (only). It's too layered.

Coming from an abusive home, this song strongly indicates abuse emotionally,and most horrifically sexually.so called "four letter word" isn't the good, it's the "f" word denoted by that cross word puzzel starting to grate.. going on "we smell rats in the kitchen" indicates a family member knows about whats going on and does nothing... this is all clearly tipped off by the verse proceeding:

Think tank, think rescue Simon says, Etch-a-Sketch Some encoded message only he would get Quickly now 'Cause this is not how it ends"!

To wrap it up, when she asks "little bird where have you gone"? this would be that she or someone she knew was liberated from the abuse and no longer needs an imaginary outlet to stop the festering tentions of on going abuse..

This song is pretty self explanitory to those who have been abused, perfect song to help others know they aren't alone.

The correct lyrics according to the album booklet:

Little bird, little bird, little bird, what d'ya hear? The clink of morning cheers Orange juice, concentrate Crossword puzzles start to grate One across 4 letter word it's just not sitting

Little bird, little bird, little bird, what do you see? A picture perfect scene Two tone lawns are manicured The garden's wearing haute couture It's trying to hard

Little bird, little bird, little bird, where are they now? Daytime TV. lounge A carriage clock, a mantelpiece A family wiped up j-cloth cleaned Unsaid, festers In the throws of the sofa

Little bird, little bird, little bird, how are you feeling? Like help in quarantine Pearly white touch down smile Absent creases round the eyes Tell tale, hard sell, we smell rats in the kitchen

Little bird, little bird, little bird what can we do? Think tank, think rescue Simon says, Etch-a-Sketch Some encoded message only he would get Quickly now 'Cause this is not how it ends!

Little bird, little bird, little bird Well I've got one more question And I swear I'll let it rest

To me, this song is about an abusive home. That's just the first thing that came to my mind.

I think that it's telling the tale of this "little bird", which can actually be interpreted as Imogen, or a child that she is talking to about the situation, or just some other observer. The whole story is talking about how everything looks beautiful and fine on the outside of the home, but things are bad on the inside, eventually leading to the observer having to stop watching, or the child dying, or the family moving, etc..

I get a cover-up to a murder out of the song..... I don't know what makes me think this but it also sounds like a message was trying to be sent because of guilt and the person didn't know how to send the message. It's a very nice sounding song that catches the ear.... listen to it with the thoughts of the meaning I put in and let me know what you think

I'm going to have to agree with the people who say this is about abuse. Heap wouldn't use a line like, "We smell rats in the kitchen" if it was just about family members making an excuse not to talk to a kid. It's too sinister for that. No, the line refers to the narrator of the song knowing about abuse, as her determination to help grows. Also, there's a reference to a cleaned j-cloth. A j-cloth is something you use to clean fluids off of furniture - I think it refers to the family hiding blood that was literally spilled onto a table or chair. There's no explanation for the line if the song is about Imogen's parents divorcing when she was a child.

While AlexGui is probably right about the real meaning...but for me it was always so different. I was always the little bird, and Imogen was always speaking to me. You see...I see the world like most people dont. I see the suffering that is and that was...and I see people..., and it just kills me inside. I don't stop seeing it...it's constant. Just walking among others...I can see the looks on their faces and when someone is going through something...you can see it in their face.

It always helped me feel less alone in a sea of shallow teenagers. Like...maybe someone understands what it is to see the horror in the world...and to have to face it. I always wanted Imogen to see it...that's how I saw the song.

To me it's like there's this "perfect" house of one of her friends (or perhaps her own), where everyone is not really a family, they don't share feelings or talk much if at all. They sit around watching TV or playing their own games rather than interacting with each other like a family should. The family is just too obsessed with being "perfect" that they don't wish to share problems wit each other to retain the illusion of perfection. Then someone in the family has a problem, and the lack of interaction prevents them from sharing it with the family and trying to overcome it, so they just leave all the emotions and problems inside. The person confides in Imogen and she tries to help, but still the family is excluded from the person's problems. Eventually the problems overwhelm the person and they commit suicide, completely and totally shattering the family's illusion. The "little bird" is Imogen's friend or whoever was having the problems, and when they commit suicide she tells the family why.

That's what I got from it anyways :3

After I listened to this song a bunch of times in a row, because it's so beatiful, it started to remind me of this one time last year when my friend showed me this thing... it was a computer model of a musical instrument that was a combination of a bunch of different instruments and it played itself with little clockwork hands, with a little haunting melody. It was in a cluttered room and behind it there was a balcony that looked out onto a starry dark sky. We both agreed that it was really cool, but there was something inexplicably ominous about it too. I know this is strange, but that's the feeling this song gives me. It seems innocent at first listen, but then the intricate harmonies jump out at you with a strangely beautiful unsettlingness...