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.
Two Way Action
Andrew Bird Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bathing in fluorescent light
Of a western Tennessee gas station
With a pack of two way action
I'm subsisting on a fraction
And I close my eyes and pretend
I'm on vacation
And it's all green blue
There goes my imagination
My returns fill me with dread
Will my houseplants be all dead
My significant be with another
I say, "Okay where was I"
But I can't repress a sigh
And I think I'm gonna
Yeah I think I'm gonna call my mother
Let the subject wander
To issues of blond hair
Or something or other
Like a bad haircut or a glass of cold water
Some of the things you wouldn't ordinarily thought
A will all be lost if you let it in
Maybe I'll never ever feel it again
I have been running all night
Bathing in fluorescent light
Of a western Tennessee gas station
With a pack of two way action
I'm subsisting on a fraction
Of what used to be a sugar free
Half melted bag of tastations
That hard candy sensation
It's sweeping the nation
And it puts my mind in traction
I'm subsisting on a fraction
And I close my eyes
And pretend that I'm on vacation
While it melts in my mouth
Still driving south in a TV nation
Like a bad haircut or a glass of cold water
Shouldn't I say what I really shouldn't oughta
And you spend half a day in
Some of these places like a flash of white light
That's in front of our faces
A state of peristalsis or a parastatic stasis
And we're off to the races
Oh yeah, and we're off to the races
Oh yeah and we're off to the races
And we're off to the races
The lyrics of Andrew Bird's song Two Way Action speak to the exhaustion and anxiety that come with long hours of driving, and the ways in which we distract ourselves from our own thoughts. The setting is a Western Tennessee gas station, with its harsh fluorescent lighting that gives the singer the illusion of being on vacation, away from the worries of everyday life. Yet, as the lights bleed through, the singer's imagination is stifled, and he is left to dwell on his personal fears and anxieties that await him at his destination.
He imagines the worst - his houseplants dying, his significant other with someone new, and the thought of returning to reality fills him with dread. He distracts himself by talking to his mother about trivialities like haircuts and cold water, but ultimately cannot escape the anxiety of his mysterious returns. The singer is losing his sense of self to the monotony of the road, with only half-melted hard candy and the pack of Two Way Action cigarettes to keep him grounded. The song is a contemplation of the ways in which we escape our own thoughts and the anxiety that comes with the unknown, all while navigating a road trip.
Line by Line Meaning
I have been driving all night
I've been driving throughout the entire night
Bathing in fluorescent light
Being surrounded by bright fluorescent lights
Of a western Tennessee gas station
Referring to a specific gas station located in Western Tennessee
With a pack of two way action
Referring to a product that provides a stimulating effect
I'm subsisting on a fraction
I'm only able to survive on a small amount of things
And I close my eyes and pretend
I imagine and pretend
I'm on vacation
That I'm taking a break from reality
But the lights bleed through
The bright lights are interfering with my ability to pretend
And it's all green blue
The colors of the lights are a mix of green and blue
There goes my imagination
My ability to imagine has been lost due to the bright lights
My returns fill me with dread
Thinking about returning to reality is making me anxious
Will my houseplants be all dead
I'm worried about the state of my houseplants when I return home
My significant be with another
I'm concerned my partner might be with someone else
I say, 'Okay where was I'
I'm trying to get back to where I was before I started worrying
But I can't repress a sigh
I can't help but let out a sigh
And I think I'm gonna
I'm contemplating doing something
Yeah I think I'm gonna call my mother
I'm considering calling my mother for comfort
Let the subject wander
Allow the conversation to flow naturally
To issues of blond hair
Talking about any random topic, like blond hair
Or something or other
Or anything at all
Like a bad haircut or a glass of cold water
Bringing up random topics like a bad haircut or cold water
Some of the things you wouldn't ordinarily thought
Things that you wouldn't usually think to talk about
A will all be lost if you let it in
If you allow yourself to overthink things, you'll lose sight of the present
Maybe I'll never ever feel it again
Perhaps I'll never be able to feel relaxed again
Of what used to be a sugar free
What was formerly a sugar-free snack
Half melted bag of tastations
Slightly melted bag of Tastations (a type of candy)
That hard candy sensation
Being able to feel the texture of hard candy
It's sweeping the nation
It's popular all over the country
And it puts my mind in traction
It's helping me stay focused
While it melts in my mouth
While the candy slowly dissolves in my mouth
Still driving south in a TV nation
Traveling down south while being heavily influenced by TV culture
Shouldn't I say what I really shouldn't oughta
I should watch what I say
And you spend half a day in
Spending half the day in a place
Some of these places like a flash of white light
Some places are like a quick, bright flash of light
That's in front of our faces
That's directly in front of us
A state of peristalsis or a parastatic stasis
Referring to a digestive state or a medical condition characterized by muscle weakness
And we're off to the races
We're on a journey with unknown outcomes
Oh yeah, and we're off to the races
Continuation of the previous line
Oh yeah and we're off to the races
Again, continuation of the previous line
And we're off to the races
Final repetition of the previous line
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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