Callahan started out as a highly experimental artist, using substandard instruments and recording equipment. His early songs often nearly lacked melodic structure and were clumsily played on poorly tuned guitars (possibly influenced by Jandek, whom Callahan admired), resulting in the dissonant sounds on his self-released cassettes and debut album Sewn to the Sky. Much of his early output was instrumental, a stark contrast to the lyrical focus of his later work. Apparently, he used lo-fi techniques not primarily because of an aesthetic preference but because he didn't have any other possibility to make music. Once he signed a contract with Drag City, he also started to use recording studios and a greater variety of instruments for his records.
From 1993 to 2000, Callahan's recordings grew more and more "professional" sounding, with more instruments, and a higher sound quality. In this period he recorded two albums with the influential producer Jim O'Rourke and Tortoise's John McEntire, and collaborated with Neil Hagerty. After 2000's Dongs of Sevotion, Callahan began moving back to a slightly simpler instrumentation and recording style, while retaining the more consistent songwriting style he had developed over the years. This shift is apparent in albums such as Rain on Lens, Supper, and A River Ain't Too Much to Love.
Smog's songs are often based on simple, repetitive structures, consisting of a simple chord progression repeated for the duration of the entire song. His singing is strikingly characterized by his baritone voice and a style of delivery without being over-emotional. Melodically and lyrically he tends to eschew the verse-chorus approach favoured by many contemporary songwriters, preferring instead a more free-form approach relying less on melodic and lyrical repetition. Themes in Callahan's lyrics include relationships, moving, horses, teenagers, bodies of water, and more recently, politics. His generally dispassionate delivery of lyrics and dark irony often obfuscate complex emotional and lyrical twists and turns. Critics have generally characterized his music as depressing and intensely introverted, with one critic describing it as "a peep-show view into an insular world of alienation." Despite this there is also a broad swathe of joy throughout Callahan's work and more attentive critics have picked up on Callahan's tendency to black humour, a tendency often confused with a depressed mental state or a genuine obsession with the morbid, a confusion no doubt caused by his deadpan vocals.
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) recorded Callahan's song Bathysphere on her 1996 album What Would the Community Think. She covered him again in 2000 on her Covers Record doing the song Red Apples.
Smog's Cold Blooded Old Times appears on the High Fidelity soundtrack. The song Vessel in Vain (from Supper) was also used on the soundtrack of the independent British film Dead Man's Shoes in 2004. In October 2007, Cadillac released a commercial which featured Smog's song Held and Bob Dylan driving a 2008 Escalade through the desert.
As of 2007 he lives in Austin, Texas where he released Woke on a Whaleheart. It was his first record release as Bill Callahan.
Too Many Birds
Bill Callahan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Too many birds in one tree
And the sky is full of black and screaming leaves
The sky is full of black and screaming
And one more bird
Then one more bird
And one last bird
One last black bird without a place to land
One last black bird without a place to be
Turns around in hopes to find
The place it last knew rest
Oh black bird, over black rain burn
This is not where you last knew rest
You fly all night to sleep on stone
The heartless rest that in the morn, we'll be gone
You fly all night to sleep on stone
To return to the tree with too many birds
Too many birds
Too many birds
If
If you
If you could
If you could only
If you could only stop
If you could only stop your
If you could only stop your heart
If you could only stop your heart beat
If you could only stop your heart beat for
If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart
If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat
The song "Too Many Birds" by Bill Callahan begins with the repeated phrase "Too many birds in one tree" and describes a scene in which the sky is full of black and screaming leaves. The imagery of the birds and the sky draws up a sense of chaos as too many birds exist in one tree, causing a feeling of unrest and disorder. The lyrics then focus on one last black bird without a place to land, turning around in hopes to find a place to rest. The bird is seemingly lost and unable to find refuge, wandering alone and left without a place to be.
In the second half of the song, the lyrics take a shift as the phrase "If you could only stop your heart beat" is repeated multiple times. This phrase can be interpreted in multiple ways, but it may suggest a desire to stop the heart from beating, meaning a desire to escape the chaos and unrest in the world. The lyrics seem to connect to the idea of finding rest and peace, something the black bird could not seem to find, and the desire to rid oneself of the desire to seek rest and peace altogether.
Overall, "Too Many Birds" paints a powerful image of chaos and disorder, calling attention to the difficulties in finding rest and peace in the midst of overwhelming situations. The lyrics suggest a desire to escape the chaos and unrest, but it is unclear whether this is something that can truly be achieved.
Line by Line Meaning
Too many birds in one tree
The tree is overcrowded with birds
And the sky is full of black and screaming leaves
The leaves are rustling because of the black birds.
Then one more bird
Another bird comes to the overcrowded tree.
And one last bird, and another
More birds continue to flock to the overcrowded tree.
One last black bird without a place to land
There is no more space for the black bird.
Turns around in hopes to find the place it last knew rest
The bird searches for a place to rest.
Oh black bird, over black rain burn
A sad, poetic way to address the bird.
This is not where you last knew rest
The bird cannot find a place to rest in this overcrowded tree.
You fly all night to sleep on stone
In desperation, the bird settles for a hard, uncomfortable rest.
The heartless rest that in the morn, we'll be gone
The rest is temporary, and the bird will have to search for a new resting place in the morning.
If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat
A longing for peace and stillness amid chaos.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BILL CALLAHAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind