Hi folks,
Not long now till the tour kicks off. Looking forward to heading off around the country - hope to catch you somewhere along the way!
THE BIRDS
A few years back, I went to India for an extended holiday and borrowed a little half-sized guitar for the trip. I think I had hoped I might have some sort of Beatles-esque moment and suddenly write the 5 best albums of all time whilst doing Yoga for 10 hours a day at an Ashram in Rishikesh. Alas, I only managed ONE song the entire 9 weeks I was travelling (yes, just the one.. really... ), and that song has rarely ever seen the light of day since, courtesy of it being a little bit, um how should I put this...., rubbish! It's a bit of a comment on spiritual healing you see, but sadly nothing worth carrying a guitar round India for... The Indian public transport system is typically very user-UNfriendly, so the less baggage the better. Guitars (half-sized or otherwise...) not recommended!
Having said that, it wasn't all a lost cause, because in the middle of the trip I did manage to come up with a few bars of a song that would become The Birds. I can even remember where in fact - it was in a small room at the foothills of the Himalayas in a town called Mcleod Ganj, the home of the Dalai Llama. It was just an idea at the time, a few chords and a few words, nothing more, and to be honest I never thought it would turn into anything much because it didn't really seem like the type of thing I would play. So as with many of my ideas, I put it to one side for a few months, and it was only after returning to Australia that I decided to work on it a little bit more. Thus "The Birds" was born.
Whilst I often say this song is about working in office buildings (based on my own experience at the time), in a broader sense it's about comfort zones. It's about the places we put ourselves that feel "safe", and having the courage to step outside that "safe" place if you feel it's not right for you, or you need a change. That decision is not always an easy one, but I have always found it invariably leads you to where you need to be.
In my case, I was working as a book-keeper in the city and staring out my window each day at the maze of office blocks surrounding me. In a way, all those people at their desks reminded me of a whole bunch of birds sitting in a tree. Perched safely out of harms way, but at the same time missing out on the rest of the world outside. It wasn't that I was extremely unhappy at that time in my life, but I was acutely aware that I needed to move on - and the song came to me whilst that process of realisation was taking place. I am not a poster-boy for bold career moves by any means, but I am glad I was able to write something about the experience, because I think a lot of us are often faced with that type of decision. And, for me, the long-term benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone will always outweigh the short-term feelings of fear or uncertainty. (This is not something I am always able to put in to practice mind you, but I like to think I am improving).
And so you can hear at the end of the song - the lone bird has left the tree, has escaped from the madness, and can now look ahead to the future. It's an uncertain future, but at the same time a future filled with the promise of something new. A future to look forward to, because the journey is only just beginning...
Production-wise you will hear a lot of things on this track. From dancing violas to fluttering ukeleles to screeching recorders, meandering accordions and plenty more. Essentially, I tried to build the song based on the image of birds sitting (or playing) in a tree. So the different instruments I guess are different types of birds - all with their unique form of song or dance (personalities if you like) - hopping and singing around the tree as the song progresses. The sense of theatre/drama was also important to me, because the song has always had a cabaret element when I have played it live. I was incredibly frustrated at times with how long the album actually took to put together, but it was nice to have the time to work on a song like this and take it somewhere near the place I had imagined it might sound. It wasn't the easiest song to record, but I had a lot of fun with it.
A big thanks to the guys in the band, all of whom got right into the spirit of being "a bird in a tree" (as I asked them to before we tracked the song). Call me biased, but I reckon there's a lot of that energy in the final recording.
Thanks for tuning in. Next week - The Edge. A very different song to this one!
Cheers,
Renny
THE BIRDS
Look at all the birds, sitting in their favourite tree
Peering down at strangers, clinging to the branches in the ever-changing breeze
And everyone that’s come and gone
Has heard them sing the same old song year after year.
I could climb the highest branch, learn their little nesting dance.
But I still won’t belong here.
So don’t shed a tear for me, Cause I’ll drift with the falling leaves.
And I’ll float down till I touch the ground, find a place to settle down
Till whenever the wind sets me free.
Look at all the birds, sitting in their favourite tree.
Oh tell me please.
Do you think they’d care if I made them all aware
Of the beauty they never will see.
Everyone that’s come and gone
Has heard them sing the same old song year after year.
I could learn the same lines, chirp away in the confines
But I wanna say no, I wanna let go, I wanna keep breaking the rules.
So don’t shed a tear for me, cause I’ll drift with the falling leaves.
And I’ll float down till I touch the ground, find a place to settle down
Till whenever the wind sets me free.
Till whenever the wind sets me free.
Oh I know it’s never always easy, oh I know it’s never always fair.
But I’ll take my chances on fleeting romances.
Oh I know it’s never always easy, oh I know it’s never always fair
But the top of the tree, is never what it seems to be.
So don’t shed a tear for me, cause I’ll drift with the falling leaves.
And I’ll float down till I touch the ground, find a place to settle down soon
Please don’t shed a tear for me, cause I’ll drift with the falling leaves
And I’ll float down through the canopies with the butterflies and the centipedes
Till whenever the wind takes me.
Even if it breaks me.
What ever the wind makes me I’ll be. I’ll be.
Oh so don’t shed a tear for me.
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Glock, Keyboards, Ukelele, Clarinets, Recorders – Renny
Drums – Matt Field
Bass – Pat Savina
Violas – Carl St Jaques
Accordion and additional Piano – Kent Eastwood
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