Their signature song is Gorecki, from their eponymous debut album and it was inspired by Henryk Górecki's Third Symphony, the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. Other essential songs are Cotton Wool, God Bless, B Line, Gabriel, Sweet, and Wonder.
To date, the band has released six studio albums: Lamb (1996), Fear of Fours (1999), What Sound (2001), Between Darkness And Wonder (2003), 5 (2011) and Backspace Unwind (2014). In 2003 they also issued a compilation entitled Best Kept Secrets.
In February 2005, Lamb announced that they would pursue their own solo projects, ending their collaboration for now. Their last concerts were in Paradiso, Amsterdam, and these shows appear in the DVD 'Lamb Live at the Paradiso' which was released in 2011.
Lou Rhodes released her first solo album Beloved One (2006) which received a Mercury nomination. This was followed by Bloom (2007), and One Good Thing (2010). Lou also branched out and became an author, with children's books The Phlunk (2013) and The Phlunk's Worldwide Symphony (2014 Strata Books).
Producer Andy Barlow focused on his band Hoof and a project called Luna Seeds with vocalist–songwriter Carrie Tree, and produced the Fink album Distance and Time. In 2013 Barlow's debut solo album as LOWB, Leap and the Net Will Appear was re-released on a new label, Distiller Records. Andy continued to work as a producer, working with Bristol band The Ramona Flowers on their album Dismantle and Rebuild (2014) which he also co-wrote. Most recently, he produced and mixed David Gray's new album Mutineers (2014).
The hiatus ended in 2009 when Lamb reunited and started performing again. Lamb returned to the studio the following year to record their fifth studio album 5 which was released in 2011. They also released their first live album in 2011 Live at Koko and the long-awaited DVD Lamb Lamb Live at the Paradiso.
In October 2014, the band released a new album Backspace Unwind, followed by a single 'We Fall in Love' (subsequently voted "Best Chillout/Lounge Track" at the International Dance Music Awards 2015). They began a tour in 2014 which included the UK and Europe. The tour continued into 2015 with shows and festivals in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
There are other artists with the same name:
(2) A group formed by Barbara Mauritz and Bob Swanson in San Francisco in the late 1960s. This group disbanded in 1972. The minor San Francisco group Lamb tend to be remembered only for their appearance on the Fillmore: The Last Days concert album, where they were one of several non-star artists on a set dominated by bigger names like the Grateful Dead, Santana, and Boz Scaggs. The band did actually put out three albums in the early '70s, however, and were quite an interesting group. Not only were they not readily comparable to other acts on the San Francisco rock circuit, but it's debatable whether they could be fairly categorized as a rock band at all. Their music blended jazz, folk, singer/songwriter pop, gospel, and even some classical and avant-garde influences. Certainly the dominant figure was singer Barbara Mauritz, whose bluesy and earthy vocals had considerable resonance, but which could also traverse the band's frequently mystical, poetic lyrics with much delicacy and nuance. Reminiscent in spots of such varied artists as Tim Buckley, Judy Collins (in her art-song phase), David Ackles, and Savage Rose (in that band's most gospel-soaked period), their records were ultimately idiosyncratic enough to defy ready comparison to anyone. And they were, too, ultimately too inaccessible to make much commercial impact, despite plenty of tracks of considerable power, beauty, and enigma.
Lamb were formed by the duo of Texan singer Mauritz and multi-instrumentalist (though primarily guitarist) Bob Swanson. The two (writing both separately and together) was responsible for the band's material. They attracted attention in San Francisco when they opened for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young for a few nights at Winterland in November 1969. Impresario Bill Graham became their manager, and producer David Rubinson, who had worked with notable groups such as Santana and Moby Grape, acted in that capacity for their first record. Their debut album on the Fillmore label, A Sign of Change, was perhaps their most uncompromising and experimental, relying largely on jazz-folk acoustic arrangements and spotlighting Mauritz's impressive voice on impressionistic, dream-like lyrics. They moved over to Warner Bros (while retaining Rubinson as executive producer) for the follow-up, Cross Between, which moved toward slightly more mainstream rock arrangements and a more pronounced gospel feel on several tracks. Yet others were throwbacks to the first album in their obscure but enchanting poesy, sometimes owing more to a classical-influenced art song tradition than conventional pop music.
Lamb went yet further toward gospel-rockish material on their third and final album, Bring Out the Sun, which was their most mainstream outing, though hardly mainstream overall, with a couple of tracks again giving vent to their more experimental jazz-folk-classical side. The LP was co-billed to Lamb and Barbara Mauritz, though Swanson was still involved as a composer and instrumentalist on much of the material. Whether or not this co-billing was intended as a transition from Lamb to a solo career, Mauritz was soon recording as a solo, putting out Music Box for Columbia. Her solo career didn't take off, however, although she continued to perform and write (composing the music for many commercials). In the mid-'80s, Bob Swanson returned full-time to photography. The Lamb founded by Swanson and Mauritz, incidentally, had no relation to either the Christian rock band Lamb that began to record later in the '70s, or the drum'n'bass duo Lamb that began recording in the late '90s.
(3) A demoscene musician, active from early 1990s till early 2000s, known for composing many chiptunes, as well as themed collection-album called Autumn Leaf.
(4) A messianic Jewish pop music group formed in 1972 by Joel Chernoff and Rick "Levi" Coghill. This group has recorded as recently as 2005 (with Ted Pearce replacing Rick Coghill).
(5) A Japanese duo from Tokyo, formed in 1999. Kudo sings, Nakamura does everything else. They make pretty, light-hearted, chilled-out pop.
(6) A Japanese rockband who regularly do shows in Tokyo, Japan. They're known for their melodic, emotional, and exciting sound with twin guitars, and bass and drums. Lamb's music has taken on elements from post-rock, math-rock, and pop.
Their first EP, MEME, was released in April of 2020.
The Caged Bird Sings
Lamb Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pretty as can be
Brought her home and caged her
So only he could see
He loved her and he praised her
And then he clipped her wings
Wondered at her beauty
Release me
Set me free
But slowly he got frightened
She'd lost her precious glow
He prayed and he pondered
But couldn't let her go
She tried her best to tell him
In every way she knew
'Till heaven took her body
And off her spirit flew
Release me
Set me free
And I'll bring you more
Bring you more
Bring you more
Joy than you can see
Suddenly the sky
Was filled with flying birds
Her song was sing by all of them
And finally he heard
Release me
Set me free
Release me
Set me free
The Lamb's song "The Caged Bird Sings" tells the story of a man who captures a small bird, cages it, and marvels at its beauty and singing talent. Over time, the man begins to realize that the bird is no longer happy and has lost its luster. Despite his love for the bird, he struggles with the idea of setting it free. The bird desperately tries to communicate its need for freedom, but ultimately dies in captivity. However, its song lives on and inspires other birds to soar freely. The man finally hears the bird's message and realizes that he must release her in order to experience the true joy of her song.
Line by Line Meaning
A man caught a tiny bird
A man captured a small bird
Pretty as can be
The bird was very beautiful
Brought her home and caged her
The man brought the bird to his home and trapped it in a cage
So only he could see
The man wanted to keep the bird all to himself
He loved her and he praised her
The man loved the bird and admired its qualities
And then he clipped her wings
The man cut the bird's wings so it could not fly away
Wondered at her beauty
The man marveled at how beautiful the bird was
As she began to sing
The bird started to sing
Release me
The bird wanted to be set free
Set me free
The bird wanted to be released from captivity
But slowly he got frightened
The man became afraid
She'd lost her precious glow
The bird was losing its beauty and vitality
He prayed and he pondered
The man thought deeply about what to do
But couldn't let her go
The man could not bring himself to release the bird
She tried her best to tell him
The bird did everything it could to communicate with the man
In every way she knew
The bird used all of its abilities to communicate
'Till heaven took her body
The bird died
And off her spirit flew
The bird's soul left its body
And I'll bring you more
The bird promised to bring the man more joy
Joy than you can see
The joy the bird would bring would be immeasurable
Suddenly the sky
All of a sudden, the sky
Was filled with flying birds
The sky was full of birds that were free to fly
Her song was sing by all of them
The other birds started singing the same song as the caged bird
And finally he heard
Finally, the man heard the bird's message
Contributed by Eva T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Krystal Rose
A man caught a tiny bird
Pretty as can be
Brought her home and caged her
So only he could see
He loved her and he praised her
And then he clipped her wings
Wondered at her beauty
As she began to sing
Release me
Set me free
But slowly he got frightened
She'd lost her precious glow
He prayed and he pondered
But couldn't let her go
She tried her best to tell him
In every way she knew
‘Til heaven took her body
And off her spirit flew
Release me
Set me free
And I'll bring you more
Bring you more
Bring you more
Joy than you can see
Suddenly the sky
Was filled with flying birds
Her song was sung by all of them
And finally he heard
Release me
Set me free
Release me
Set me free
VViinikainen
This song encapsulates the entirety of the human condition so well it makes me want to cry. Thank you for this. Thank you forever.
Rami S
This song killed my whole night. I think I'll play it every weekend. I'm trying to ignore the possible double meaning of ritual abuse of children, considering the caged girl and the monarch butterfly dude in one of her other clips. It's bad enough if it's just about birds, let alone humans. My bird and I have to have words. He was passed on to me by someone who couldn't look after him so he's already accustomed to humans and is now just as addicted to tea as me so I don't know what to do. That's just one of so many other problems.
Kyle Thayer
This is like a marriage between a gloomier perspective of Patrick Watson's lyrics in Big Bird in a Small Cage and Radiohead's piano and melody arrangements in Morning Bell.
Roiy Benkel
A man caught a tiny bird
Pretty as can be
Brought her home and caged her
So only he could see
He loved her and he praised her
And then he clipped her wings
Wondered at her beauty
As she began to sing
Release me
Set me free
But slowly he got frightened
She'd lost her precious glow
He prayed and he pondered
But couldn't let her go
She tried her best to tell him
In every way she knew
'Till heaven took her body
And off her spirit flew
Release me
Set me free
And I'll bring you more
Bring you more
Bring you more
Joy than you can see
Suddenly the sky
Was filled with flying birds
Her song was sing by all of them
And finally he heard
Release me
Set me free
Release me
Set me free