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Little Bird Lyrics
Your heart sings like a kettle
And your words, they boil away like steam.
And a lie burns long while the truth bites quick,
A heart is built for both it seems.
You are lonely as a church,
Despite the queuing out your door.
I am empty as a promise, no more.
When the time comes,
And rites have been read,
I think on you often
But for once I meant what I said.
I was salted by your hunger,
Now you've gone and lost your appetite
And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight.
I am lonely as a memory
Despite the gathering round the fire.
Aren't you every bird on every wire?
When the time comes,
And rites have been read,
I think on you often
But for once I meant what I said.
Here I stay, I lay me down,
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
Here I stay, I lay me down,
In a house by the Hill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
And your words, they boil away like steam.
And a lie burns long while the truth bites quick,
A heart is built for both it seems.
You are lonely as a church,
Despite the queuing out your door.
I am empty as a promise, no more.
And rites have been read,
I think on you often
But for once I meant what I said.
Now you've gone and lost your appetite
And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight.
I am lonely as a memory
Despite the gathering round the fire.
Aren't you every bird on every wire?
And rites have been read,
I think on you often
But for once I meant what I said.
Here I stay, I lay me down,
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
Here I stay, I lay me down,
In a house by the Hill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill.
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This song is about her break up with Damien Rice. Lisa said in a interview " It’s a snapshot in time as well.[...] But that one when I wrote it, it was really hard for me to write and really hard for me to sing for a long time, but I think it was important for me to write it. I think I needed to.” She also describes it as not a "mean song or a brutal song or a happy song. It feels quite… quiet"
This song makes me cry everytime I hear it.
Obviously, it's about a breakup (specifically Hannigan's with Damien Rice).
"Your heart sings like a kettle And your words, they boil away like steam."
The man she loves is very emotional and erratic, and his volatile emotions are obvious - therefore it's hard to take anything he says seriously.
"And a lie burns long while the truth bites quick, A heart is built for both it seems."
No matter how long the lies the lies in the relationship have been perpetuating, once the truth is faced both parties are snapped back into reality. And as much as the heart wants to believe the delusion and deny the truth, once it accepts it, in time the heart can survive.
"You are lonely as a church, Despite the queuing out your door."
Echoing another commenter, the subject believes that no matter how many women the man tries to assuage himself with, he's broken and lonely inside.
"When the time comes, And rights have been read, I think of you often But for once I meant what I said."
In an interview, Rice once said Hannigan's last words to him were that they were better off alone. This may be what she meant. After all is said and done, what remains is that although she clearly loves him, she stands firm in her resolve to let him go.
"I was salted by your hunger, Now you've gone and lost your appetite"
She was drawn in by his charm and need to be loved - but ultimately she realizes she was used, and abandoned as soon as he was tired of her.
"And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight. I am lonely as a memory Despite the gathering round the fire. Aren't you every bird on every wire?"
Ultimately, the subject has to let him go because he doesn't want to be shackled by the responsibility of a relationship.
"Here I stay, I lay me down, I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. Here I stay, I lay me down, In a house by the Hill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill. I'm dug from the rubble, and cut from the kill."
Not sure about this part - anyone have any ideas?
Yeah, it's all too apparent. I love the line "You are lonely as a church, despite the queuing outside your door", possible referring to the slews of female replacements that Damien has sang alongside with since Lisa's departure. They are all temporary and none could ever quite be what she was to Damien. Plus, the Leonard Cohen's allusion of "bird on a wire" pretty much sends the message home. Like a bird on a wire, Damien has tried in his ways to be free.
may i ask a stupid question? what does it mean with:
"And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight"?
I believe she means that even a little bird can put up a sure fight (instead of not being to put up much of one). The whole song is beautifully written, I especially love that verse:
I believe she means that even a little bird can put up a sure fight (instead of not being to put up much of one). The whole song is beautifully written, I especially love that verse:
"I was salted by your hunger, Now you've gone and lost your appetite And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight. I am lonely as a memory Despite the gathering round the fire. Aren't you every bird on every wire?"
"I was salted by your hunger, Now you've gone and lost your appetite And a little bird is every bit as handy in a fight. I am lonely as a memory Despite the gathering round the fire. Aren't you every bird on every wire?"
The last like is really something: Aren't you every bird on every wire......
The last like is really something: Aren't you every bird on every wire......
I know this beautiful song is about a personal 'breakup' Lisa went thru - that touches so many people who can identify with these sentiments & the images she paints lyrically. I discovered this song on the end-credits of the movie 'Maudie'. I searched for the song to read the lyrics, and read them several times.
It's interesting how one interprets lyrics - (& note my interpretation is not bc of the movie) but wherever your at in life, the events you've endured, are living now, or anticipating will influence your reception of everything . . . As an older person - (but single,/alone) I read these lyrics as if my husband passed away . . . Each line seems to point to how I would feel, discussions we had about who would go first -' I meant what I said' referring to what we would or wouldn't do after the other one passed - the line about 'arent you every bird on a wire' would be how I would see him in every living thing I encountered . . . The queu out the church door of course his funeral. And all the other words of this song point to that for me, as a love song, with longing, missing, a little bitterness, sweetness, resignation, memories . . .