Andrew Bird tends to move away from complete and explainable meaning in order to allow the listener to come to their own conclusions, or just enjoy the sound of the words. But, as he's mentioned in interviews, much of this album was written after a breakup. The lines in the verses seem to say that he can see that everything around him is supposed to be fine, but there's just a deep feeling that it will never go away.
"Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me..."
Andrew Bird uses a lot of plays on words, homophones ("Souverian" and "so very young"), and verbal/aural palindromes (e.g., "Oh No" and "On Ho") in his writing. Perhaps a big reason he used the word "Souverian" was because it is homophonic with "so very young." When you juxtapose different words together that sound the same, your brain tries to make some connection where there previously wasn't one... one of the great things about art.
Andrew Bird uses a lot of plays on words, homophones ("Souverian" and "so very young"), and verbal/aural palindromes (e.g., "Oh No" and "On Ho") in his writing. Perhaps a big reason he used the word "Souverian" was because it is homophonic with "so very young." When you juxtapose different words together that sound the same, your brain tries to make some connection where there previously wasn't one... one of the great things about art.
A breakup song...?
Andrew Bird tends to move away from complete and explainable meaning in order to allow the listener to come to their own conclusions, or just enjoy the sound of the words. But, as he's mentioned in interviews, much of this album was written after a breakup. The lines in the verses seem to say that he can see that everything around him is supposed to be fine, but there's just a deep feeling that it will never go away.
"Thrushes sing Still my lover won't return to me..."
Andrew Bird uses a lot of plays on words, homophones ("Souverian" and "so very young"), and verbal/aural palindromes (e.g., "Oh No" and "On Ho") in his writing. Perhaps a big reason he used the word "Souverian" was because it is homophonic with "so very young." When you juxtapose different words together that sound the same, your brain tries to make some connection where there previously wasn't one... one of the great things about art.
Andrew Bird uses a lot of plays on words, homophones ("Souverian" and "so very young"), and verbal/aural palindromes (e.g., "Oh No" and "On Ho") in his writing. Perhaps a big reason he used the word "Souverian" was because it is homophonic with "so very young." When you juxtapose different words together that sound the same, your brain tries to make some connection where there previously wasn't one... one of the great things about art.