Lyrics for Birdhouse in Your Soul as interpreted by Irrational

Birdhouse in Your Soul Lyrics
I'm your only friend
I'm not your only friend
but I'm a little glowing friend
but really I'm not actually your friend
but I am

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
who watches over you
make a little birdhouse in your soul
Not to put too fine a point on it:
say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
make a little birdhouse in your soul

I have a secret to tell
from my electrical well
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out
the whistles and bells
so the room must listen to me
filibuster vigilantly
My name is blue canary one-word
spelled l-i-t-e
My story's infinite
like the Longiness Symphonette
It doesn't rest

There's a picture opposite me
of my primitive ancestry
which stood on rocky shores and
Kept the beaches shipwreck free
Though I respect that a lot
I'd be fired if that were my job
After killing Jason off and
countless screaming argonauts
Bluebird of friendliness
like guardian angels its
always near
(and while your at it
leave the nite lite on inside the
birdhouse in your soul)

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davewoody
02-07-2002

Rated +2 
ok basically, this is sung from the perspective of a night light, in the shape of a blue canary, to whoever is in the room. i'm not too sure about the logines symphonette part though. the best verse in this song is the last one, it's really quite funny

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Spruce
04-14-2002

Rated +2 
The Longiness Symphonette was a popular musical act/performance from the '50s or '60s. An orchestra would play short versions of well-known classical music pieces, launching from one piece to another without stopping. You'd hear 2-3 minutes of Bach, then some Tchaichowsky, then a little bit of Mozart, one after the other. That's where the lyric "...it doesn't rest," comes from. It wasn't a full-fledged symphony, but an easy-on-the-ears "symphonette." You can guess that the serious critics hated it, since it was basically the K-Tel of its day, but it was a big hit with Joe Average. Clever stuff.

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RainyEar
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
I think the blue canary in the song is the spark you see when you plug something into a socket.

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doortodoor
05-28-2002

Rated 0 
I like that idea that the blue canary is a spark as that works nicely with the first lyric of blue canary in the outlet by the lightswitch, unfortunately the rest of the lyric and song make it clear that the subject of the song is a light. Clever thought though.

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Shaelock
05-30-2002

Rated 0 
I've always thought this song was supposed to represent God. "He" watches over you, never rests, "my story is infinite", etc. The verse, "Not to put too fine a point on it:
say I'm the only bee in your bonnet
make a little birdhouse in your soul" to me sounds like, "I am your one true god, make room in your heart for me". The primitive ancestry would be perhaps a reference to the Greek and Roman gods....?

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doortodoor
05-31-2002

Rated 0 
The Johns have actually admited this one's about a night light so that takes some of the mystery away. Accross the room from the night light is a picture of a lighthouse which would be his primitive ancestry.

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canteendave
06-11-2002

Rated 0 
Yeah, i like God better. Way to go, Shaelock.

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scheisse
06-18-2002

Rated 0 
... but it's not about God, it's about a light. or a nightlight, says doortodoor. the lyrics fit for both - what watches over us all? light... there's a light on next to my computer right now. there are lights in my bedroom, lights at school, lights in the stores, churches, and so on...

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doortodoor
06-29-2002

Rated 0 
The thing about TMBG is the lyrics tend to be the odder of the possibilities. The thought of a song about G-d watching over us is pretty ordinary, there are many songs of this theme. The Johns tend to go for odder meanings to their songs hence, writing a song about a nightlight shaped like a blue canary. Also, have you seen the music video? Tons of lights in it.

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scandor
07-17-2002

Rated +1 
This song does make sense about God watching over us. But there are two things that prove the songs is written about a light, The first being, My name is blue canary one-word spelled l-i-t-e" It spells it out there "LITE" Of course it's spelled wrong, but it flows which is probably why it's spelled that way. The other part, "There's a picture opposite me, of my primitive ancestry, which stood on rocky shores and, Kept the beaches shipwreck free" He is refering to a lighthouse. Well thats my opinion on the song.

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pyroheart
08-11-2002

Rated 0 
Definitely about a bluebird shaped night-light across the room from a painting of a lighthouse. That being said, the God comparison is an interesting metaphor, with the "simple message," "birdhouse in your soul" and obvious "guardian angel" references. Or you could take the comparison farther, since the lighthouse is used as the 'original' light and the nightlight is kinda trying to follow it's example. Unsuccessfully, with "killing Jason off" and "screaming argonauts," but trying. Maybe the nightlight is someone trying to follow God? Or some amateur angel? Yeah, I know I'm over analyzing, but I enjoy it. I like this song though. Reminds me of my old nightlight... it was an orange owl though.

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Wabbajack
09-28-2002

Rated 0 
surprised no one's tried to make this connection, yet:
blue canary nitelite as Jesus.
ooohhhhh!
See, cause it's in the outlet by the lightswitch, so it shines on the lightswitch, so when the room is dark, you can find the switch.
"I have a secret to tell
It's a simple message and I'm leaving out
the whistles and bells
so the room must listen to me ...
my story's infinite/it doesn't rest"
sounds like a very jesus-y thing to say, to me
so, the "picture opposite me" would be God in the Old Testament fashion, but jesus wouldn't do as seemingly wella job, because he had a more socratic teaching method, and would expect others to learn from Jason's mistake
i seriously doubt TMBD had this in mind when writing it, but it makes one think, no?

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scheisse
06-13-2003

Rated +1 
no.

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Oberon
07-03-2003

Rated 0 
Is it possible they were all just taking drugs and don't even know what it's about themselves?

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wallet
04-12-2004

Rated 0 
TMBG has said themselves, that most of their songs really don't have a meaning. A nightlight or spark could be a good guess, but i think it is another song by them with lyrics that were just scrambled together.

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xamyxhx
05-28-2004

Rated 0 
I think the fact that it goes 'one word spelled l-i-t-e' is to show that ti is a commercial light, because of the way it is spelled, like many products use different, 'quirky spellings'.

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map_sort_map
06-11-2004

Rated 0 
I think the song is a metaphor for the change in most people's view of God from Jehovah as a dangerous, angry sky deity who issues solid moral judgements to sensitive Jesus who still demands exclusive worship but wants a "personal relationship" and never actually does anything -- basically being indistinguishable from one's conscience. This nite-lite god is mass-produced and impotent, but still shows a vague reflection of a god worthy of the name. It's not about what god *is* but more about how people think about god, I think.

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ThatOtherGuy
09-24-2004

Rated 0 
It is clearly talking about a nightlight (referencing the Jason and the Argonaughts .. as if he read it by the nightlight but never finished it). But I think it is more similar to Plato and the allegory of light allowing people to learn and grow and this light was what was his friend and allowed him to learn and that story is infinate.

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togatora
11-06-2004

Rated 0 
Really, TMBG did say this song was about a nightlight. It was on their website, although it is true that a lot of their songs have no meaning at all, such as Particle Man. I remember them saying it was kind of funny how many peole try to find the deeply hidden meaning in that song, and many of their others.

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skacore_dude
11-19-2004

Rated 0 
By the way, it says "one note spell l-i-t-e" not "one word spelled l-i-t-e". I just thought you should know.

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moochersminion
12-24-2004

Rated 0 
At the beginning he's definately a nightlight and his ancestry is a lighthouse...but i think when he's talking about killing jason off, etc, he's the sirens...possible meaning there? or maybe those words just sounded good together to john and john...

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UglinessMan
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
"Tho I respect that a lot, I'd be fired if that were my job after killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts."

In other words, I have a lot of admiration for the work that the lighthouse does, but I'm just a little night-light, my light isn't powerful enough for that task. If it had been me on that shore when Jason and the Argonauts arrived, they would have crashed and died because of my shortcomings, and I would have beem fired as a result.

Is that clear enough?

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dfwillis
01-13-2005

Rated 0 
Thank you UglinessMan. I've listened to that song for almost 15 years now and never truly understood what that line meant. You are a true Giant. Now, who is Jason and what are Argonauts? Were they some sort of early settlers to America or something? Did they come over with Chis Columbus? Oh, the song. The most catchy song ever written, hands down.

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AlmightyDoerOfStuff
01-13-2005

Rated 0 
Jason and the Argonauts are from ancient Greek mythology. They traveled on a ship called the Argos and did stuff. I'm not sure what, not having read the story (epic poem? Not sure.), so maybe someone else can elaborate.

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mattp
01-24-2005

Rated 0 
Yes, that's the Jason and the Argonauts from ancient Greek lit. Jason's the rightfull heir to the kingdom that his uncle Pelia has grabbed and Jason's mother hid him away until he came of age to be able to take back the kingdom. When Jason comes to claim his birthright, Uncle P suggests that Jason go on a quest to prove he is fit to rule the kingdom. Let's see... how about getting the Goldn Fleece which is protected by a dragon. "No Problem,' says Jason and he sets off across the sea to certain death on the Argo wit the rest of the nauts. Lots of laughs with mighty deeds, hot chicks, ship-eating rocks, etc.

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