He was on the Colbert Report and apparently one of the things he was thinking of while writing this song was a teratoma, "a fibrous mass of teeth and hair".
There's also a TED talk where he performs the "half finished" song and explains it was inspired by feedback loops, which he describes as "the sound of self-destruction"
Just to add a couple of tidbits:
He was on the Colbert Report and apparently one of the things he was thinking of while writing this song was a teratoma, "a fibrous mass of teeth and hair".
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/410579/march-13-2012/andrew-bird
There's also a TED talk where he performs the "half finished" song and explains it was inspired by feedback loops, which he describes as "the sound of self-destruction"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrwaDlrXB6w