His early work, which echoed gypsy jazz and traditional folk, has led into his current sound, which mixes rock with more broad compositions. His years of solo song-craft have now enabled him to produce a sound that is uniquely his own.
Trained by the Suzuki method from a young age and a graduate of Illinois' Northwestern University, Bird released his first solo album, Music of Hair, in 1996. Vastly different from his later releases, this first album showcases his violin skills and pays tribute to his fascination with both American and European folk traditions, as well as jazz and blues.
His initial commercial exposure was in collaborative work with the band Squirrel Nut Zippers. He was quickly lumped in with the swing craze that swept the United States music industry in the mid '90s; this is an affiliation that he is still working to shed.
Taking on the role of band leader in 1997 with Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire, he released the album Thrills. This was followed by Oh! The Grandeur in 1998. Both albums were heavily influenced by traditional folk, pre-war jazz and swing, with Bird relying on the violin as his primary musical instrument.
In 2001, Bird released The Swimming Hour, his third release with the Bowl of Fire and a dramatic departure from previous recordings. The Swimming Hour featured a mixture of styles, from the zydeco-influenced "Core and Rind" to more straightforward rock songs. He has often referred to this record as his "jukebox album".
The Bowl of Fire unofficially disbanded some time in 2003, having featured many skilled Chicago musicians including Kevin O'Donnell, Nora O'Connor, Andy Hopkins (aka Mr. Rudy Day), Jimmy Sutton, Colin Bunn and Ryan Hembrey.
Bird then released two subsequent solo albums, both distributed through the label operated by Ani DiFranco, Righteous Babe Records. The two records, 2003's Weather Systems and 2005's The Mysterious Production of Eggs, continue a progression towards an eclectic indie folk sound that has proven challenging to classify.
Bird's live solo shows have been notable in that he uses a multi-track system to sample and loop his own performance. For example, he may record a snippet of his performance on violin, then play a "loop" of that sound. This provides a more full-bodied sound and aurally suggests a band performance, rather than the sound of a solo artist.
Bird's next full-length album Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum) was released on March 20th 2007.
November 2007 saw the Soldier On EP originally a European tour-only release. But due to high demand and unanticipated critical acclaim was released digitally and in CD-format on both sides of the Atlantic. Critics and fans alike have hearkened to the EP's first track, "The Trees Were Mistaken", a complex yet austere looping composition that marks a departure from Bird's earlier body of work. It also contains a cover of Bob Dylan's "Oh Sister".
January 2009 saw Noble Beast, also available with instrumental album Useless Creatures, released worldwide to positive reviews.
The Fatal Shore Songfacts reports that Break it Yourself, Bird's sixth solo studio album, was released on March 6, 2012 through Mom+Pop records in the US and Bella Union in the UK. The origins of the LP lie in a couple of jam sessions by a gathering of Bird's friends in the singer's western Illinois barn, near the banks of the Mississippi River.
Of his 2019 album My Finest Work Yet, Talia Schlanger of NPR says "Bird zooms way out on humanity across history's timeline, seeking insight about our current age, in a way he hopes 'stays above the news feed noise.'" Many tracks, including the opener "Sisyphus," include Andrew's trademark whistling.
Armchairs
Andrew Bird Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of the space between our chairs
And I was a cartographer
Of the tangles in your hair
I sang the song that silence brings
It's the one that everybody knows, everybody knows
The song that silence sings
These looms that weave apocrypha
They're hanging from a strand
This dark and empty rooms were full
Of incandescent hands
Awkward pause, the fatal flaw
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is a crooked bow
Time you need to learn to love
The ebb just like the flow
Grab hold of your bootstraps and pull like hell
Until gravity feels sorry for you and lets you go
As if you lack the proper chemicals to know, oh
The way it felt the last time you let yourself fall this low
Time, time it's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow, oh, ooh
Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
At the bottom of this gigantic crater
An armchair calls to you
Yeah, this armchair calls to you
And it says that someday we'll get back at them all
With epoxy and a pair of pliers
As ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
Through the ragweed and barbed wire, oh
You didn't write, you didn't call
It didn't cross your mind at all, hey
Through the waves, the waves of hay and straw
You couldn't feel a thing at all
Fifty-five and three-eighths, time
Fifty-five and three-eighths time, time
The lyrics to Andrew Bird's Armchairs paint a vivid picture of a dream world where the singer is a cartographer of the tangles in the cosmonaut's hair. The imagery is figurative, with space acting as a metaphor for the distance between two people. The song speaks of the difficulty of communication and the fragile nature of relationship dynamics. The singer sings a song that embodies silence, the kind of song that everyone knows. This highlights the fact that so much of communication lies in the things we don't say. In the context of relationships, what doesn't get said can be just as important as what does.
The dark and empty rooms that the song references are full of incandescent hands, potentially symbolizing opportunities for connection that are missed. The awkward pause and the fatal flaw may represent moments of hesitation, regret, or missed chances. The song goes on to implore listeners to learn to love the ebb and flow of time, even when it feels like a crooked bow. In the end, an armchair calls to the listener as a hopeful beacon for the future, promising that someday we will get back at them all with epoxy and a pair of pliers. The final lines evoke a sense of longing and regret, with the singer acknowledging that sometimes we simply cannot feel things as deeply as we want to.
Line by Line Meaning
I dreamed you were a cosmonaut
I had a dream where you were an astronaut
Of the space between our chairs
The physical gap between our chairs
And I was a cartographer
And I was mapping the details
Of the tangles in your hair
Of the knots in your hair
I sang the song that silence brings
I hummed the song that represents silence
It's the one that everybody knows, everybody knows
The one that resonates with everyone
The song that silence sings
The song that accompanies silence
And this, this is how it goes
And this is how it sounds
These looms that weave apocrypha
These machines that produce false information
They're hanging from a strand
Hanging by a thread
This dark and empty rooms were full
The empty rooms filled with light
Of incandescent hands
Hands glowing bright
Awkward pause, the fatal flaw
The silence that kills a conversation
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is unpredictable
Time is a crooked bow
Time bends things in ways we can't predict
Time you need to learn to love
You need to learn to appreciate time
The ebb just like the flow
The waxing and waning of life
Grab hold of your bootstraps and pull like hell
Put in a lot of effort
Until gravity feels sorry for you and lets you go
Until things start going your way
As if you lack the proper chemicals to know, oh
As if you're not equipped to understand
The way it felt the last time you let yourself fall this low
The last time you felt this down
Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
After more than 55 years
At the bottom of this gigantic crater
At the bottom of a big hole
An armchair calls to you
You are feeling drawn towards a chair
Yeah, this armchair calls to you
You are being pulled towards this chair
And it says that someday we'll get back at them all
The chair is giving you hope for the future
With epoxy and a pair of pliers
With tools to fix things
As ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
As old creatures start to move
Through the ragweed and barbed wire, oh
Through difficult terrain
You didn't write, you didn't call
You didn't get in touch
It didn't cross your mind at all, hey
You didn't even think about it
Through the waves, the waves of hay and straw
Through natural barriers
You couldn't feel a thing at all
You were emotionally detached from the situation
Fifty-five and three-eighths, time
More than 55 years have gone by
Fifty-five and three-eighths time, time
Time continues to pass
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ANDREW WEGMAN BIRD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
F W
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I dreamed you were a cosmonaut
Of the space between our chairs
And I was a cartographer
Of the tangles in your hair
[Verse 2]
I sang the song that silence brings
It's the one that everybody knows, oh everybody knows
The song that's silencing
And this, this is how it goes
[Verse 3]
These looms that weave apocrypha
They're hanging from a strand
These dark and empty rooms were full
Of incandescent hands
[Bridge]
Awkward pause, the fatal flaw
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is a crooked bow
Time you need to learn to love
The ebb just like the flow
[Verse 4]
Grab hold of your bootstraps and pull like hell
Until gravity feels sorry for you and lets you go
As if you lack the proper chemicals to know, oh
The way it felt the last time you let yourself fall this low
[Bridge]
Time, time it's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow, oh, ooh
[Verse 5]
Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
At the bottom of this gigantic crater
An armchair calls to you
Yeah, this armchair calls to you
[Verse 6]
And it says that someday we'll get back at them all
With epoxy and a pair of pliers
As ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
Through the ragweed and barbed wire, oh
[Outro]
You didn't write, you didn't call
It didn't cross your mind at all, hey
Through the waves, the waves of A.M. squall
You couldn't feel a thing at all
Fifty-five and three-eighths, time
Fifty-five and three-eighths time, time
ZachTheCommie
I always imagine this song being played like a soundtrack as you drive down an empty bridge or highway in the middle of the night with dozens of yellow-gold street lights casting moving shadows through your car as you contemplate the girl you're leaving behind you.
aesoprocksGM
@mcsc177 Same. This happened to me with the girl who showed me these songs. It broke me, i'll always love her, she left the first time, me the second, and I'll never let that happen again with us.
ButtholeMagic
It's perfect.
mcsc177
@ZachTheCommie this hit me so hard dude.
Davzard
The intro is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever heard?!
Amy P
The XXX's intro
obnoxious blob
I have a great suggestion. try listening to Bahamas' All I've ever known..
SwitcherooU
Not nearly enough views for one of the best songs from one of the best albums of the last 10 years.
vibesforever
Hey just wanted to say that I've listen to this since I was a little baby and I still love it! I can imagine sitting in a rocking chair reading a book in a house in the woods. I love this so much
F W
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I dreamed you were a cosmonaut
Of the space between our chairs
And I was a cartographer
Of the tangles in your hair
[Verse 2]
I sang the song that silence brings
It's the one that everybody knows, oh everybody knows
The song that's silencing
And this, this is how it goes
[Verse 3]
These looms that weave apocrypha
They're hanging from a strand
These dark and empty rooms were full
Of incandescent hands
[Bridge]
Awkward pause, the fatal flaw
Time, it's a crooked bow
Time is a crooked bow
Time you need to learn to love
The ebb just like the flow
[Verse 4]
Grab hold of your bootstraps and pull like hell
Until gravity feels sorry for you and lets you go
As if you lack the proper chemicals to know, oh
The way it felt the last time you let yourself fall this low
[Bridge]
Time, time it's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow
Time's a crooked bow, oh, ooh
[Verse 5]
Fifty-five and three-eighths years later
At the bottom of this gigantic crater
An armchair calls to you
Yeah, this armchair calls to you
[Verse 6]
And it says that someday we'll get back at them all
With epoxy and a pair of pliers
As ancient sea slugs begin to crawl
Through the ragweed and barbed wire, oh
[Outro]
You didn't write, you didn't call
It didn't cross your mind at all, hey
Through the waves, the waves of A.M. squall
You couldn't feel a thing at all
Fifty-five and three-eighths, time
Fifty-five and three-eighths time, time