Bird Songs

The image above is by Rowena Dugdale. To see more samples or commission her work, go here.

When I put up my last For a Song feature, I wasn’t planning to make it bird week on Oliver di Place. But birds are nature’s musicians, so it only makes sense that they would be an inspiration to songwriters. And some wonderful (human) music has come from this. So, for this, you won’t even need binoculars. Let’s have a look.

Gordon Bok: The Maiden in Bird‘s Plumage

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Birds turn up in traditional song all the time. Some are omens, others, sacred messengers, and still others are lovers. The Maiden in Bird’s Plumage is a Danish folk song, but it shares many features with Celtic myth and legend. The story begins with a man hunting a white hind. In Celtic lore, this is a marker, warning the listener that this will be a tale of magic, and so it is here. Soon enough, the hind transforms into a falcon. Then the hero meets the son of the forest lord, who tells him that this is an enchanted maiden, and he explains how to break the spell. Celtic lore has many tales like this, and many of them were probably sung by the bards in olden days, but this is the first time I have heard a tale like this set to music. It works beautifully.

Emmylou Harris: Little Bird

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Little Bird is performed by Emmylou Harris, but it may sound like someone else to you, That’s because the song is a cowrite between Harris and Kate and Anna McGarrigle. The sisters also contribute background vocals, and Kate plays accordion. Still the song suits Harris well. The bird is a messenger, to let a man know of her love, and Harris makes this one tender and completely convincing.

Dolly Parton: Raven Dove

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Raven Dove is a prayer. Dolly Parton believes in a Heavenly savior, and here the bird becomes a messenger from God, delivering a promise of peace. This one has just enough gospel trimmings, but with a wonderful mostly acoustic arrangement, featuring mandolin and dobro.

Joni Mitchell: Black Crow

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Of course, Black Crow was going to be in this set. If you know the song, don’t listen to it just yet. First imagine in your head the drum part. Got it? Good, now listen. Maybe you noticed, there is no drum part. But the drive of Joni Mitchell’s rhythm guitar part certainly makes it feel like there is. In arranging this, I’m sure Mitchell knew that a drum part would anchor the song and hold it in place. But Mitchell’s narrator sees a black crow in flight, and notices that it is far from it’s nest, perhaps even lost. It reminds the narrator of her own feelings of being adrift. So there are no drums, and the bass part catches the air currents, and does not anchor the song either.

Spotlight Song of the Week:

Kara Suzanne: Madeliene

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Kara Suzanne sings in an alto voice with a bit of a sob in it. This serves her bluesier material well. The arrangements on Parlor Walls range almost from folk to rock in its various guises. Suzanne can modulate her voice to suit each song, so she is free to write in a variety of styles, with even a hint of country here and there. She shows herself to be a wonderful writer, skilled at capturing character and mood without resorting to cliché. All of this is on display in Madeliene, which also features the most subtle use of horns I have ever heard.

The Night Sky

I grew up and still live in New Jersey. Our air is not the cleanest, so I never had a view like this of the night sky. Nevertheless, I was always inspired by what I saw. I wanted to be an astronaut, and explore the sky. This was the great adventure of my youth, when we as a country had yet to reach the moon. As I got older, I found out that, to be an astronaut, you had to be in the Air Force, and that was out of the question for me. So I moved on to other dreams. But the awe that the night sky inspired has never left me. And I can see now that I am not alone. Here then is a set of songs inspired by that sense of awe.

Tasmin Archer: Sleeping Satellite

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Remember this one? Tasmin Archer had a hit with Sleeping Satellite in 1993. But now, she is all but forgotten. She did another album in 1996, and then not again until 2006, so it’s not all that surprising. But this one is definitely worth another listen. Archer equates the awe of the night sky with the rush of emotion that comes with a new love. Here, she has reached the point where she wonders if it all happened to fast. Musically, this one reminds me in all the right ways of the music Seal was making at the time. But lyrically, this one belongs to Archer alone.

Kate Bush: Constellation of the Heart

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In olden days, sailors navigated by the stars. Kate Bush turns that inward, and proposes to navigate through love in the same way. Musically, this sounds to me as if it could have been produced by George Clinton. It’s a surprising sound for Bush, but she makes it work. And this one really cooks.

Afro Celt Sound System: Dark Moon, High Tide

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I couldn’t resist including this one. Afro Celt Sound System began with the concept of finding common ground between Celtic and African music. Later, they would add other influences, but here is the original idea in its pure form. Electronics are used to smooth the rough edges, but are not intrusive. Dark Moon, High Tide is a fine example of their art.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: Ideas Are Like Stars

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It seems to me that Mary Chapin Carpenter has created a character here who has what is known as “high-functioning autism”, or Asperger’s Syndrome. That may be a reach on my part, but the description of Joseph here fits. His life is lonely because he is “odd”. He forms a waitress’s name with coins he leaves her for a tip. And he can spend the entire night just watching the night sky. I applaud Carpenter for this spot-on and wonderfully sympathetic portrait.

Having said that, I would love to know the actual background for this song. It feels like it was based on a real person. If anyone has more information, please share it in the comments.

Emmylou Harris: Jupiter Rising

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As night falls, and the stars come into view one by one, Emmylou Harris sings of a hoped for new love. Once there are enough stars visible, pictures form in the sky, and the resolution of this hoped-for romance will become clearer. Harris does not state any of this in her lyric, but, to my ears, it is strongly implied. Maybe I should write the resulting lyric, and send it to her. But I prefer to just listen to Jupiter Rising, and let my imagination wander. In a way, all of these reactions to the beauty of the night sky are about imagination.