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.
Naming of Things
Andrew Bird Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The way you shot right through and how
You broke my window glass, fast
It happened so fast
I have to confess that I
That I was impressed that I
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
Here's where I disappeared
Where I fell off the pier
And to be rescued I did wait
I watched waterbugs skate
As they draw figure eights as they draw
From the bottom of the lake as they draw
I watched waterbugs skate as they draw
Bottom of the lake I watched the waterbugs skate
Memories like mohair sweaters
Stretched and piled faux distressed letters
Moose's horns and figure eights
White plastic bags in search of mates
What suffocates the land
In the memory of garbage can
Memory of garbage can
You can't be found when the bell rings
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The naming of things
Where the homeroom bell rings
The homeroom bell rings
Hey, just look at the mess you made today
Didn't really think it would get this bad
Hey, feel like you're living in a Russian play
Where it seems like you made everybody mad
You remind me of you
When you shot through
And broke my window glass
It happened so fast
I have to confess
I was impressed, I was impressed
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
The first part of Andrew Bird's "The Naming of Things" is about unexpected change and how we react to it. The singer is taken aback by the suddenness with which their window was broken, but rather than being angry, they're impressed by the speed of the event. This could be interpreted as a commentary on the way life happens--sometimes things happen so quickly that we can hardly process them, but it's important to stay curious and open to what might come next.
In the second part of the song, the singer reflects on a moment of isolation and vulnerability. They stand on the metaphorical pier waiting to be rescued, but the waterbugs skate by without noticing them. The singer watches the bugs draw figure eights in the water while they wait to be saved. This moment feels like a memory, something that's already happened and can't be changed. The image of the waterbugs is particularly interesting--they're so focused on their own activities that they don't take notice of the singer's plight. This could represent how we often become hyper-focused on our own lives and fail to pay attention to those around us.
In the final section, the singer shifts gears to talk about memory and how we define ourselves through the objects we keep. The moose's horns and figure eights and white plastic bags all represent different aspects of our identities. It's only by examining these objects that we can grasp who we are and where we come from. But at the same time, these memories and objects can suffocate us--as in the final line of the song, where the memory of the garbage can threatens to overtake us.
Line by Line Meaning
You remind me of you
The singer sees the other person as a reflection of themselves
The way you shot right through and how
The quickness and directness of the other person's actions
You broke my window glass, fast
The other person caused damage to the singer's property in a swift manner
It happened so fast
The suddenness of the situation
I have to confess that I
The artist has to admit something about themselves
That I was impressed that I
The singer was surprised by their own reaction to the situation
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
The damage caused did not diminish the singer's admiration for the other person
I was impressed
The artist found the other person's actions admirable
Here's where I disappeared
The artist is describing a location where they vanished
Where I fell off the pier
The location where the artist fell
And to be rescued I did wait
The singer needed assistance to get out of the water
I watched waterbugs skate
The artist observed bugs moving across the water's surface
As they draw figure eights as they draw
The singer is noting the patterns the bugs create
From the bottom of the lake as they draw
The bugs are moving up from the lake's floor to the surface
Bottom of the lake I watched the waterbugs skate
The singer is repeating their observation of the bugs in the water
Memories like mohair sweaters
The artist is comparing memories to a type of clothing
Stretched and piled faux distressed letters
The memories are like worn and overused letters
Moose's horns and figure eights
The singer is recalling the patterns and shapes they saw earlier
White plastic bags in search of mates
The bags could be symbolizing something that is searching for connection
What suffocates the land
The artist is commenting on something that is suffocating the environment
In the memory of garbage can
The cause of the suffocation is related to past actions or memories
You can't be found when the bell rings
The other person is not present when they are expected to be
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The other person did not attend an event that was important to the singer
The naming of things
The event was about the act of naming something
Where the homeroom bell rings
The event happened in a school setting
Hey, just look at the mess you made today
The singer is referring to the actions of the other person and the chaos it caused
Didn't really think it would get this bad
The severity of the situation was unexpected
Hey, feel like you're living in a Russian play
The artist is comparing the situation to a dramatic, chaotic play
Where it seems like you made everybody mad
The other person's actions have upset people around them
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ANDREW BIRD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind