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.
Souverian
Andrew Bird Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Church steeple's catching fire
And if you promise spring
Then I know you are a liar
Cause in the spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The thrushes sing
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles will burn my feet
And if you join our chorus
You'll never fear anymore
So here it comes, just the chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Souverian
Souverian
The elder
Souverian
Souverian
The free
Souverian
Souverian
The felled heart
So very young
So very young
Were we
Birds were singing
Still my lover won't return to me
You promise spring
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips scar my lungs
And the thistles are burning my feet
So here it comes, the chorus
You will never fear anymore
If you join our chorus
We will meet on a fatal shore
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get over
over the elders
and under the elders
pretend that you're older now
Under the elders
the older get younger
the younger get older
over the elders
under the elders
bending the branches down
We were so very young
Still my lover won't return to me
Thrushes sing
Still my lover won't return to me
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
While thistles still burn my feet
The song Souverian by Andrew Bird speaks of loss, desperation, and promises that are broken. The first stanza talks about the bells ringing and the church steeple catching fire. These could be metaphors for something burning down or the destruction of something significant. The line "if you promise spring, then I know you are a liar" refers to the promise of a change or a new beginning. The singer believes that this promise is hollow because even in the spring, with its tender grasses, there is still no return of the lover. There is a deep sense of hopelessness in the words "still my lover won't return to me".
The following lines about wild parsnips and thistles burning the feet and scarring the lungs could be a reference to the singer's suffering due to his lover's absence. However, the chorus shows a glimmer of hope through the repetition of the word Souverian. It could mean finding freedom from this pain or love, or even death. The elder, free, and felled heart are the three interpretations of Souverian provided in the song. The refrain ends with "we will meet on a fatal shore", signaling a journey or a final destination that all souls will meet regardless of what Souverian means.
Later, the lyrics have another repetition of the chorus with slight variations. The stanza that follows talks about pretending to be older and bending branches, but it is unclear what it refers to. The song ends with the same sense of lament, with birds still singing and the singer still missing their love. The lyrics of Souverian are a complex metaphorical representation of loss and the struggles that follow.
Line by Line Meaning
The bells will ring
The church bells will sound
Church steeple's catching fire
The bell tower is burning
And if you promise spring
If you make false promises
Then I know you are a liar
I know you are not truthful
Cause in the spring
During the season of spring
Tender grasses won't burn easily
The grass is not dry enough to catch fire
The thrushes sing
The birds are chirping
Still my lover won't return to me
My romantic partner is absent
Wild parsnips they still scar my lungs
I am still affected by poisonous plants
While thistles will burn my feet
I am still vulnerable to being hurt
And if you join our chorus
If you become a part of our group
You'll never fear anymore
You will no longer be afraid
So here it comes, just the chorus
Now we will only sing the refrain
We will meet on a fatal shore
We will rendezvous in a dangerous place
Souverian Souverian The elder
Referring to the wise, experienced leader
Souverian Souverian The free
Referring to the independent, liberated individual
Souverian Souverian The felled heart
Referring to the defeated or broken-hearted person
So very young So very young Were we
We were once very inexperienced
Birds were singing
The birds were chirping
Under the elders the older get younger the younger get over over the elders and under the elders pretend that you're older now
We can learn from our elders and they can learn from us, and we should all respect each other's experiences
Under the elders the older get younger the younger get older over the elders under the elders bending the branches down
We all have different perspectives and ways of living, and we should all try to empathize with each other
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Andrew Wegman Bird
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind