Isaak's music can be described as a blend of country, blues, rock'n'roll, pop and surf rock.
He signed a contract to Warner Brothers Records in 1984 for his first album "Silvertone". Isaak's contract was renewed in 1988 when Warner moved him to their Reprise Records label.
His best-known song is "Wicked Game". Though released on the 1989 album "Heart Shaped World", an instrumental version of the song was later featured in the David Lynch film 'Wild at Heart' (and also years later in the 2000 film The Family Man). An Atlanta radio station DJ began playing the full version and it quickly became a nation-wide top ten hit. The music video for the song was directed by Herb Ritts and was a big MTV and VH1 hit; shot in black and white, it starred Isaak and model Helena Christensen rolling on the beach, embracing and whispering in each others' ears.
In 1999, Isaak's "Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing" was featured in Stanley Kubrick's final film 'Eyes Wide Shut', starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.
In 2001, Chris Isaak starred in his own television show, 'The Chris Isaak Show'. It aired from March 2001 to March 2004 in the United States on the cable television network Showtime. This adult comedy show featured Chris Isaak and his band playing themselves with the episode plots based on fictional accounts of the backstage world of Chris Isaak - the rock star next door.
In 2004, his track "Life Will Go On" was featured on the 'Chasing Liberty' soundtrack, which starred Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode.
He hosted a talk show on the Biography cable channel in the United States in 2009 that offered a unique twist - each guest was a musical artist, and both Chris and the artist performed various songs throughout each show. Eight episodes aired in early 2009, featuring guests Trisha Yearwood, Stevie Nicks, Glen Campbell, Michael Buble, Chicago, The Smashing Pumpkins, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), and Jewel.
Isaak has also appeared in numerous films, mostly playing minor cameo roles, though he starred with Keanu Reeves and Bridget Fonda in the 1993 Bernardo Bertolucci-directed 'Little Buddha', and also played a major role in David Lynch's 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992). Other motion pictures include 'Married to the Mob' (1988), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'That Thing You Do!' (1996), and 'A Dirty Shame' (2004). He also guest-starred on the Super Bowl Sunday (1996) edition of the television sitcom Friends and on the HBO miniseries, From the Earth to the Moon (HBO).
Chris is also an amateur boxer, avid surfer and a former Golden Gloves champion.
Yellow Bird
Chris Isaak Lyrics
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Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me.
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
You're more lucky than me.
They're all the same those pretty girls.
Take tenderness, then they fly away.
Yellow bird, yellow bird.
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
You're more lucky than me.
Wish that i were a yellow bird, i'd fly away with you.
But i am not a yellow bird, so here i sit.
Nothing i can do.
Yellow bird, yellow bird.
In Chris Isaak's 1963 hit song "Yellow Bird," the lyrics tell the story of a lonely man who spots a yellow bird sitting alone in a banana tree. He notices that the bird is also alone like him and wonders if his lady friend has left him again. The man empathizes with the bird's loneliness and suggests that it can fly away, luckier than him, who is stuck on the ground feeling helpless.
The man then shares his own story of having a pretty girl who also flew away, leaving him alone and sad. He becomes envious of the bird's ability to fly away in the sky while he is left with nothing but painful memories. The song ends with the man wishing he could fly away like the bird but realizing that he is not a yellow bird and is unable to do so.
The song's lyrics can be interpreted as a metaphor for relationships and the feeling of being trapped, unable to escape when the other person leaves. It also speaks to the universal human desire for freedom and the possibility of flying away from one's problems.
Line by Line Meaning
Yellow bird, up high in banana tree.
Observing a yellow bird high in a banana tree.
Yellow bird, you sit all alone like me.
Noticing the yellow bird sitting alone like himself.
Did your lady friend leave the nest again?
Asking if the bird's female companion left once more.
That is very sad, makes me feel so bad.
Feeling sad for the bird as he can relate.
You can fly away, in the sky away.
Acknowledging the bird's ability to fly away from problems.
You're more lucky than me.
Envious of the bird's freedom to escape situations.
I also had a pretty girl, she's not with me today.
Reflecting on a past relationship with a girl who is no longer with him.
They're all the same those pretty girls.
Stating that all pretty girls are alike in their tendency to leave.
Take tenderness, then they fly away.
Expressing the idea that women accept love then depart.
Wish that i were a yellow bird, i'd fly away with you.
Wishing to be a bird who can fly away from problems with the yellow bird.
But i am not a yellow bird, so here i sit.
Realizing that he is not a bird and cannot fly away from his problems.
Nothing i can do.
Admitting defeat and accepting his situation.
Yellow bird, yellow bird.
Repeating the song's title to conclude the piece.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Abkco Music Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: ALAN BERGMAN, MARILYN BERGMAN, NORMAN LUBOFF
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind