Andrew Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician. He was born in La… Read Full Bio ↴Andrew Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American musician. He was born in Lake Bluff, Illinois but currently resides in the Los Angeles area. Bird is a singer, a violinist and, since 2004, a guitarist. He is also an accomplished whistler.

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.

Not A Robot But A Ghost
Andrew Bird Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I run the numbers through the floor
Here's how it goes
I crack the codes I crack the codes
That end the war

The Hour

I pushed a note under your door

Here's how it goes
Things come to blows
But we don't want this anymore
No, we don't want this anymore
I crack the codes you end the war

I hear the clockwork in your core
Time strips the gears till you
Forget what they were for
I push the numbers through your pores
I crack the codes I crack the codes
To end the war

How's my living
You can call
Encrypted numbers
On bathroom stalls

There's something burning
It casts a pall

It's melting numbers right
Off the walls

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Andrew Bird's song, "Not A Robot But A Ghost," tell the story of someone who is using their intelligence and understanding of numbers to put an end to a war. The persona is skilled in cracking codes and running numbers through the floor to achieve peace. They are willing to do whatever it takes to end the violence, even if it means pushing the limits of what is considered ethical or right.

One of the main motifs in the song is the idea of cracking codes, which could refer to both deciphering secret messages and finding solutions to problems. However, the lyrics also suggest that this kind of computational intelligence can come at a price. As the persona takes on the responsibility of ending the war, they begin to lose touch with their own humanity. The clockwork in their core and the gears that time is stripping away represent the persona's own inner workings, as they become more and more focused on the numbers and less and less connected to their emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

I run the numbers through the floor
I analyze the data in detail

Here's how it goes
Let me explain

I crack the codes I crack the codes
I solve the problems

That end the war
To bring peace

The Hour
The time has come

I pushed a note under your door
I left you a message

Things come to blows
We are at odds

But we don't want this anymore
We want to resolve this conflict

No, we don't want this anymore
We are tired of fighting

I hear the clockwork in your core
I understand your inner workings

Time strips the gears till you
As time passes, you forget