At the urging of friends, Jones sent out Baby Bird tapes to record companies, but his music was roundly rejected; however, Chrysalis Music did offer a publishing deal which Jones accepted, applying his earnings towards financing a series of independently-released, limited-edition collections. The first disc of material culled from the vast Baby Bird archives, I Was Born a Man, appeared in 1995; within the course of a year, three other acclaimed albums -- Bad Shave, Fatherhood, and The Happiest Man Alive -- followed, and won Jones a contract with Echo Records.
Upon making the leap to a major label, Baby Bird mutated from a one-man project into a full band, as Jones assembled a backing group comprised of guitarist Luke Scott, bassist John Pedder, keyboardist Hugh Chadbourne, and drummer Rob Gregory.
In this new incarnation, (now renamed Babybird) they debuted in late 1996 with the album Ugly Beautiful, a lush, sparkling collection of re-recordings of favorite songs from Jones' back catalogue, all selected by fans by means of postcard ballots included in the first four albums.
In 1997, the last in the series of Babybird albums, Dying Happy (Baby Bird 5) was assembled; issued in a limited pressing of 1000 copies, the disc compiled a number of previously unreleased songs that Jones had kicking around. It states on the back "This does not represent, and should not be confused with the work of BABYBIRD THE BAND. This is the sole work of Stephen Jones, who recorded these songs between 1988 & 1995 on a four track tape recorder."
A 2002 box-set of all the lo-fi recordings also included a new and previously unreleased LP entitled The Black Album, consisting of dreamy, falsetto-led pop, in a similar vein to Dying Happy.
Jones can currently be found lurking in the background as the brainchild of orchestral pop group Death Of The Neighbourhood.
Take Me Back
Baby Bird Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Little cuts and bruises underneath your chin
You begged them to bury you before your life sets in
She sees me in the garden
Pulling petals off the flowers
She closes all the windows
Shuts down on the bed and shivers
Before it happened
Take me back in time to the place where it happened
Where it happened
He scratched your eyes, your pretty eyes
With a handful of rusty nails
And then he pushed you into a ditch
With the slugs and the snails
I'm so angry she's not angry
Every second of every hour
She shuts the door and slides the latch in
Tries to wash him off in the shower
Take her back in time to the place before it happened
Before it happened
Take me back to the roadside where, where it happened
Before it happened
Where it happened
He lay there for three days
Your heart held in his knuckles
He tried to pull out your hair
Rip the scalp with his buckle
Look at you now
You're like no girl I know
I would have stabbed him
(Who would have stopped me?)
I would have stabbed him
(You would have stopped me)
Dead
The Baby Bird's song Take Me Back talks about a woman who was found on the roadside with cuts and bruises underneath her chin. She begged those who found her to bury her before her life sets in. The person singing the song talks about a woman he sees in the garden pulling petals off flowers. She closes all the windows, shuts down on the bed, and shivers. The person singing the song tries to take her back in time to the place before it happened- before her traumatic experience, before she was hurt, before the person who hurt her ruined her life.
The lyrics of the song depict excruciating pain and trauma that the woman went through. She was scratched in her eyes with a handful of rusty nails and pushed into a ditch with slugs and snails. The person singing the song is angry that the woman is not angry- every second of every hour, she shuts the door and slides the latch in and tries to wash her pain off in the shower. The man who hurt her held her heart in his knuckles for three days and tried to pull out her hair and rip the scalp with his buckle. As the song ends, the person singing the song says, "Look at you now, You're like no girl I know. I would have stabbed him."
The song Take Me Back portrays the pain and trauma that women go through daily. It describes the aftermath of violence against women, the hurt, and how difficult it is for some of them to move on from it. The song's lyrics and melody are touching and heartfelt, and they communicate the message of standing by women and supporting them in their journey towards healing.
Line by Line Meaning
Found you on the roadside
I discovered you lying on the edge of the street
Little cuts and bruises underneath your chin
You had minor injuries and bruises on your lower jaw
You begged them to bury you before your life sets in
You pleaded with someone to end your life before it began
She sees me in the garden
She notices me when I am in the garden
Pulling petals off the flowers
Plucking the petals of flowers one by one
She closes all the windows
She shuts all the open windows
Shuts down on the bed and shivers
She recoils on the bed, and trembles with fear
Take her back in time to the place before it happened
Take her to an earlier time before the terrible incident
Before it happened
Before the dreadful event occurred
Take me back in time to the place where it happened
Take me to the location where the dreadful event occurred
He scratched your eyes, your pretty eyes
He painfully wounded your beautiful eyes
With a handful of rusty nails
He used rusty nails to injure you
And then he pushed you into a ditch
He threw you into a hole by the roadside
With the slugs and the snails
In the company of slimy worms and snails
I'm so angry she's not angry
I feel furious about the issue, but she doesn't seem as upset
Every second of every hour
Every moment in time
She shuts the door and slides the latch in
She locks the door tightly with a bolt
Tries to wash him off in the shower
She attempts to clean herself of the incident in the shower
He lay there for three days
He remained in the same location for three consecutive days after the incident
Your heart held in his knuckles
He held your heart close and controlled it
He tried to pull out your hair
He violently attempted to rip out your hair
Rip the scalp with his buckle
He cut open your scalp with a belt buckle
Look at you now
You have survived the terrible incident
You're like no girl I know
You are different from any other girl I have met
I would have stabbed him
I would have killed him in retaliation
(Who would have stopped me?)
(Would anyone have hindered me?)
Dead
Until he was no longer alive
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@linwei_v
* Can’t count how many depressed autumns I spent listening this song *
Found you on the roadside
Little cuts and bruises underneath your chin
You begged them to bury you before your life sets in
She sees me in the garden
Pulling petals off the flowers
She closes all the windows
Shuts down on the bed and shivers
Take her back in time to the place before it happened
Before it happened
Take me back in time to the place where it happened
Where it happened
He scratched your eyes, your pretty eyes
With a handful of rusty nails
And then he pushed you into a ditch
With the slugs and the snails
I'm so angry she's not angry
Every second of every hour
She shuts the door and slides the latch in
Tries to wash him off in the shower
Take her back in time to the place before it happened
Before it happened
Take me back to the roadside where, where it happened
Before it happened
Where it happened
He lay there for three days
Your heart held in his knuckles
He tried to pull out your hair
Rip the scalp with his buckle
Look at you now
You're like no girl I know
I would have stabbed him
(Who would have stopped me?)
I would have stabbed him
(You would have stopped me)
Dead
@neilb13
He had a bad old man who beat him
Took a hammer to his knees just to please him
Now he's thirty-five and half-alive
He's an open mouth in a beehive
He's gonna smile and be happy
Make everyone know that he's happy
Put his smiling face on a billboard
Kiss him from your car, he's happy
He's not happy
With his swollen lips around his early teens
In his dress he can't believe it's in his genes
Some days he's half-man, and then he's half-God
But on his blue days he wouldn't touch his greens
He's gonna make you smile and be happy
Make everyone know that he's happy
Put his smiling face on the tv
Kiss him from your chair, make him happy
He drowned his stepson in the duckpond
Let the wifebeater out to make a pop song
He put razor blades in the ice cream
Shot a paedophile in a wet dream
Mmm
He's got a young man who feeds him
Whispers sweet nothings just to please him
He makes him cool for the tv
Makes half the man he is a celebrity
With his swollen lips around his early teens
In his dress he can't believe it's in his genes
He's half a man, and half a God
One half bitch, one half dog.
He drowned his stepson in the duckpond
Let the wifebeater out to make a pop song
He put razor blades in the ice cream
Made nobody famous on the big screen
Put the whole wide world on remote control
He put a five times rapist on his tv show
On every single channel in every single home
You can even hear his voice on the telephone
Mmm
@carlix8035
God. Haven’t heard this one for years. Always saw it as a stand out track. Those lyrics. Really dark. Love it.
@bestuish
After 14 years, still love this song. Devastating.
@heathersand73
"I'm so angry she's not angry!" Soul ripping!
@XoXo475
Dec 2022 and this is still absolutely stunning …
@kolloduke3341
Man you can make an ice cube cry ...Deep respect !! Baby Bird one of a kind of band ..No one even comes close for real emotion..
@tasscat
This is a work of pure genius, I can't listen to it without crying. You begged them to bury you before your life sets in...
@meltempehlivan4767
Yıllar sonra kendimi yine burada buldum sanki ruhumdan bir parça olmuş eski bir dostum gibi oldu bu şarkı.. Umarım daima böyle dokunulmamış kalır ve keşfedilmez
@maglorcalaelen1
olur öyle arada
@Tunursenay
umarım
@maglorcalaelen1
allah allah yavvvvvvvvvvvVv