Beam was raised outside Columbia, South Carolina, United States where his father worked in land management and his mother was a schoolteacher. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor's degree and the Florida State University Film School with an MFA degree. Until the first Iron & Wine album, Beam's main source of income was as a professor of film and cinematography at the University of Miami and Miami International University of Art & Design. He had been writing songs for over seven years before a friend lent him a four-track recorder. His friends handed out copies of demos that he had made, and the owner of Sub Pop Records personally contacted Beam and proposed a deal.
Beam released his first album, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on the Sub Pop label in 2002; Beam wrote, performed, recorded, and produced every track on the album by himself at a studio in his home. The album features acoustic guitars, banjo, and slide guitar; its music has been compared, variously, to that of Nick Drake, Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, Elliott Smith, and Ralph Stanley.
In 2003 The Sea & The Rhythm was released, an EP collecting other home-recorded tracks along the same lines as those on the debut. Beam's second album, Our Endless Numbered Days (2004), was recorded in a professional studio with a significant increase in fidelity. The focus still lies on acoustic material, but the inclusion of other band members gives rise to a very different sound.
Beam released an EP titled Woman King in February 2005, and the EP In the Reins, a collaboration with Calexico was released in September 2005. This joint work mostly features new full-band versions of previously recorded Iron and Wine rarities.
One of his most famous songs is a cover, which was featured on a commercial for M&M’s candies and in the 2004 film “Garden State” (and on its popular soundtrack), of "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service.
"Kiss Each Other Clean" is the fourth studio album by Iron & Wine, released January 25, 2011. The album's title is taken from the lyrics of track 10, "Your Fake Name Is Good Enough for Me". The album marks a further change in style – in an interview with SPIN magazine, Beam said “It’s more of a focused pop record. It sounds like the music people heard in their parent’s car growing up… that early-to-mid-’70s FM, radio-friendly music."
http://www.ironandwine.com/
bird stealing bread
Iron & Wine Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I've not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
Or places we used to go
I've a picture of you
By the seaside
There's a bird stealing bread
That I brought
Out from under my nose
Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I've missed you lately
And the way we would speak
And all that we wouldn't say
Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread out from under your nose?
Tell me, baby, tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I've been thinking lately
Of a night on the stoop
And all that we wouldn't say
If I see you again
On the street by the beach
In the evening
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread out from under my nose?
The lyrics of "Bird Stealing Bread" by Iron & Wine speaks of a relationship that has ended. The singer is trying to find out whether his lover still thinks of him, whether the memories of their time together still linger in her mind. He describes a favorite picture of his lover that he carries with him, taken at the seaside. He recalls the times they spent on the beach and other places together that he no longer sees her at. The metaphor of the bird stealing bread represents what he feels has happened to their love. It was something he had, but now it is gone. The bird stealing bread out from under his nose indicates that he lost her unexpectedly, much like the bird took the bread from him without his realizing it was happening.
He also asks his lover whether her new man can make her happy on a rainy day and whether they talk the way they both used to. Notably, the singer seems to be still holding on to the past relationship and hoping that she feels the same way as he does. He wonders if her new man's hands in her hair feel as familiar to her as his did or if they feel more like the bird stealing the bread. These questions depict the singer's insecurities about his past relationship while he tries to understand if she still cares.
Overall, "Bird Stealing Bread" explores the loss and the pain of a past relationship, and the lingering thoughts of the singer for the past. It represents the struggle with moving on and coming to terms with the fact that sometimes, things need to end.
Line by Line Meaning
Tell me, baby, tell me
Asking the listener if they will share something with the singer.
Are you still on the stoop
Questioning if the listener is still hanging out on their front step.
Watching the windows close?
Enquiring if they observe the closing of the windows of the houses around.
I've not seen you lately
The artist has not encountered the listener recently.
On the street by the beach
Referring to the place they used to wander together.
Or places we used to go
Alluding to their past experiences of hanging out in various places.
I've a picture of you
The singer has a photograph of the listener.
On our favorite day
Referring to a particular day they enjoyed the most.
By the seaside
The photograph was taken near the sea.
There's a bird stealing bread
In the photograph, there's a bird grabbing the artist's food.
That I brought
The singer had brought that bread.
Out from under my nose
The bird took the bread while the artist was not noticing.
Does his company make
Asking if the listener enjoys the time they spend with someone else.
Light of a rainy day?
Questioning if that person brings joy in a dull situation.
How I've missed you lately
The singer conveys their feelings of missing the listener recently.
And the way we would speak
Memories of how they used to talk.
And all that we wouldn't say
Awareness of the unsaid things between them.
Do his hands in your hair
Enquiring if that person touches them in a pleasant way.
Feel a lot like a thing
Questioning if the touch feels like an object or something better.
You believe in
If the touch feels real and genuine to the listener.
Or a bit like a bird
Suggesting if the touch feels fleeting like a bird.
Stealing bread out from under your nose?
Are they taking anything away secretly from the listener like the bird stealing bread.
Do you carry the words
Asking if the listener holds some things they wish to say.
Around like a key or change?
Comparing it to things people carry with them all the time like keys and change.
I've been thinking lately
The singer has been thinking about the listener lately.
Of a night on the stoop
Recalling a specific night they spent together on their porch.
And all that we wouldn't say
Acknowledging of the things they left unsaid that night.
If I see you again
Speaking of the possibility of running into the listener again.
In the evening
Time of day that the artist envisages running into the listener.
Will you fly like a bird
Wondering if the listener will escape like a bird again.
Stealing bread out from under my nose?
Questioning if the listener will take anything away from the singer, probably his joy or peace.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SAMUEL ERVIN BEAM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TheRainbowWillow
Lyrics:
Tell me, baby
Tell me
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I’ve not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
The places we used to go.
I’ve a picture of you
On our favorite day by the seaside
There’s a bird stealing bread
That I brought out from under my nose.
Tell me baby
Tell me
Does this company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I’ve missed you lately
And the way you would speak
And all that we wouldn’t say.
Did his hand in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing you believed in?
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread out from under your nose?
Tell me baby
Tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I’ve been thinking lately
Of the time on the stoop
And all that we wouldn’t say.
If I see you again on the street by the beach in the evening,
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread out from under my nose?
TheRainbowWillow
Lyrics:
Tell me, baby
Tell me
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I’ve not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
The places we used to go.
I’ve a picture of you
On our favorite day by the seaside
There’s a bird stealing bread
That I brought out from under my nose.
Tell me baby
Tell me
Does this company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I’ve missed you lately
And the way you would speak
And all that we wouldn’t say.
Did his hand in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing you believed in?
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread out from under your nose?
Tell me baby
Tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I’ve been thinking lately
Of the time on the stoop
And all that we wouldn’t say.
If I see you again on the street by the beach in the evening,
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread out from under my nose?
A H
I didn’t realize how prophetic this song would become
ThiccBoi
Losing of the love of your life over some bullshit is the hardest things I have ever had to deal with. I did everything for her.
Camryn Sowers
It will get better, I promise
ThiccBoi
@Camryn Sowers it did. After all was over and I healed as a person, I realized my self worth and overcame the heartache. Not only did I grow as a person but I also saw just how badly she was using me.
Camryn Sowers
@ThiccBoi ❤️
Space Alien Jesus
@ThiccBoi ❤
squishmango
this is one of the most pretty songs i've heard
porpoise_mitten
not many artists are brave enough to openly address the topic of avian thievery in such direct and unambiguous language. and to those who say "birds aren't real," i just have one question: then who's stealing our bread?
Stana Milanovich
Thank you for asking the REAL questions.