Der gelbe Vogel
Morgenstern Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hoch oben in dem Baum
Sitzt ein kleiner Vogel
Aus meinem letzten Traum
Kenne ich sein Lied
Er singt es nur f?h
Mit seiner feinen Stimme
Ich sehe zu ihm hinauf
Von meinem Fenstersims

Jetzt hat er mich gesehen
Er fliegt zu mir herab
Seine leichten Fl?br
Schlagen auf und ab
Der kleine gelbe Vogel
Sitzt nun auf meinem Arm
Und wir singen beide
Sein wundersch? Lied

Nach einer kurzen Weile
Hat er es dann Leid
Er l?t mich hier alleine
Er macht die Fl?reit
Er fliegt zu seinem Sitze
In des Baumes Spitze




Und dort singt er wieder
Sein wundersch? Lied

Overall Meaning

The song "Der gelbe Vogel" by Morgenstern captures the story of a dream of the singer where he sees a small, yellow bird perched high up on a tree. He recognizes the bird's song from his dream and gazes up at him from his window sill. As the bird notices him and flies down, the singer watches in awe as the bird beats its wings up and down, settling on his arm.


Together the two sing the beautiful song which the bird had been singing in his dream. However, after a short while, the yellow bird decides to leave and flies back to the highest branches of the tree whence it came. The song is a beautiful metaphor for fleeting moments of happiness or beauty that we might experience in our lives, like the moment of meeting a beautiful bird, and how they might leave just as suddenly as they came.


The song's metaphor for the transient beauty of life becomes evident when we see how fleeting the interaction between the bird and the singer is. The song also touches upon themes of hope, and how sometimes something as simple as the song of a bird can bring immense joy into our lives. The language Morgenstern uses in the lyrics is breathtakingly beautiful, as he paints a vivid picture of the bird, the tree, and the singer.


Line by Line Meaning

Hoch oben in dem Baum
At a high point on a tree


Sitzt ein kleiner Vogel
Sits a small bird


Aus meinem letzten Traum
From my last dream


Kenne ich sein Lied
I know his song


Er singt es nur f?h
He sings it only for me


Mit seiner feinen Stimme
With his delicate voice


Ich sehe zu ihm hinauf
I look up to him


Von meinem Fenstersims
From my windowsill


Jetzt hat er mich gesehen
Now he has seen me


Er fliegt zu mir herab
He flies down to me


Seine leichten Fl?br
His light wings


Schlagen auf und ab
Flap up and down


Der kleine gelbe Vogel
The small yellow bird


Sitzt nun auf meinem Arm
Now sits on my arm


Und wir singen beide
And we both sing


Sein wundersch? Lied
His beautiful song


Nach einer kurzen Weile
After a short while


Hat er es dann Leid
He then gets tired of it


Er l?t mich hier alleine
He leaves me alone here


Er macht die Fl?reit
He spreads his wings


Er fliegt zu seinem Sitze
He flies back to his perch


In des Baumes Spitze
At the top of the tree


Und dort singt er wieder
And there he sings again


Sein wundersch? Lied
His beautiful song




Contributed by Jasmine I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found

More Versions