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Oh, my talking bird
Though you know so few words
They're on infinite repeat
Like your brain can't keep up with your beak
And you're kept in an open cage
So you're free to leave or stay
Sometimes you get confused
Like there's a hint I am trying to give you
The longer you think, the less you know what to do
It's hard to see your way out
When you live in a house in a house
Cause you don't realize
That the windows were open the whole time
Oh, my talking bird
Though your feathers are tattered and furled
I'll love you all your days
Till the breath leaves your delicate face
It's all here for you as long as your choose to stay
It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away
Though you know so few words
They're on infinite repeat
Like your brain can't keep up with your beak
And you're kept in an open cage
So you're free to leave or stay
Sometimes you get confused
Like there's a hint I am trying to give you
The longer you think, the less you know what to do
It's hard to see your way out
When you live in a house in a house
Cause you don't realize
That the windows were open the whole time
Oh, my talking bird
Though your feathers are tattered and furled
I'll love you all your days
Till the breath leaves your delicate face
It's all here for you as long as your choose to stay
It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away
Lyrics submitted by TDDx8, edited by Aristas, catherinec
Track duration: 03:23
"Talking Bird" as written by Benjamin Gibbard
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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the first time i heard this song, i saw the character as my grandma. she knew few words she'd repeat, she'd get confused, she didn't really know where she was in those last few years in the nursing home, her once lustrious hair was flat and unkempt...she was our talking bird.
but unlike the last line, we wanted her to fly away...not that we didn't love her dearly; we just wanted her to be herself again without any of the physical discomfort she suffered.
i can't really listen to this song too often anymore...
Our main character is the one speaking in this song. He is talking to Cath, calling her his talking bird. A talking bird suggests that in his eyes, she's treasured and adored as a pet bird would be. He tells her that he loves and and he will always be there for her, but that is she ever feels like she needs to, she's free to leave. He offers her everything he has, and tells her that it's all hers for the taking as long as she stays. It's a sweet thing to say, but what makes it difficult is that they aren't really together cause they love each other, but because they need someone so badly.
See the next song for further progression on our character's story.
Because I feel like that all the time with my boyfriend... I can't make up my mind whether I want to leave or stay or if I really do love him. For me, the song switches from the girlfriend to boyfriend... I don't think Ben meant for it to be like that but that is just my opinion.
Drunk lonely thanksgiving.
the girl jumped because she felt caged. this song is about the narrator trying to reason with his girlfriend, trying to convince her not to jump. the last verse is what happens after she jumps. she survives the fall and the narrator tells her that he'll always love her and that she has something to live for.
al least, that was my interpretation of the song.
Okay, so you know how the meanings of songs can differ depending on the situation you are going through when you hear it? Well, that happended to me with this song. I first heard it when i was having a bit of struggle in my relationship with God. Now, i'm NOT SAYING THIS SONG IS ABOUT GOD. AT ALL. This song, is probably about a love relationship, his "bird" being his lover.
However, i just couldnt help but notice how you can make this song about God if you wanted to.
Oh, my talking bird
(God is one talking in the song. You are the "talking bird" A bird, a delicate creation, praying/talking to him.)
Though you know so few words
They're on infinite repeat
Like your brain can't keep up with your beak
(You're praying to him, and you don't really know what to say. You're repeating things.)
You're kept in an open cage so you're free to leave or stay
(The open cage is like your free will. You are free to stay in your relationship with God, or leave him.)
Sometimes you get confused
Like there's a hint that I'm trying to give you
(Sometimes, you may get confused in your relationship with him, like what he wants from you.)
The longer you think the less you know what to do
(Pretty self explanatory there. The more you think about it, the more confused you get, and you cant just do that. You have to do something. Talk to God.)
It's hard to see your way out
(to be free)
When you live in a house in a house
(When you live in your own world, in this planet.)
'Cause you don't realize
That the windows were open the whole time
(You don't realize that God IS still there for you, waiting.)
Oh, my talking bird
Though your feathers are tattered and furled
I'll love you all your days
'Till the breathe leaves your delicate frame
It's all here for you as long as you choose to stay...
(Meaning, God's love, grace, peace, etc. is here for you)
It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away...
Again, i'm not saying this song is about God. I just thought it was amazing how easily this song could be about him. And maybe, it can be inspirational for someone if they listen to the song with this meaning in mind.
<3 and peace!
I almost feel like this girl falls into a pattern of bad relationships: "though you know so few words" - all you know is these bad choices/relationships, "they're on infinite repeat" - she keeps up with the same pattern, "like your brain can't keep up with your beak" - the decisions she's making aren't very smart... This also kind of makes sense with the second to last stanza, where he talks about her "feathers are tattered and furled"... kind of makes her sound a bit broken, but that he loves her anyway, and he would like to offer her a relationship where she would be loved and protected, treated right... but that she needs to choose that herself.
But one day I listened to it, and now it's one of my favorites. Beautiful metaphor, and it's tempo matches the melancholy feeling.
As for me, this song smybolizes my personality. It's as if, I am the bird but I am also the narrator. I take it as a conflict with myself. The last lines I take as a promise. If I stay true to myself, I will have what I please, but I am also afraid to go for it for fear I will get hurt. It's as if, this bird doesn't know that now it's in a cage, if it really wishes to be set free...Maybe this bird has started to be comfortable with life in a cage.
However, when I first started listening to the song, I was still the narrator and my boyfriend (now ex boyfriend) was the bird. His father committed suicide two weeks into our relationship and we hadn't known each other well before hand. Some might say the situation was odd, but it never terrified me. I acted as any girlfriend would, whether we were together for a short amount of time or a long amount of time. I went over the night it had happened, and so did my mother - even though she didn't know the family and had never met his father. I wanted to act as a pillow, comforting and soothing...Forms to the situation, breaks your fall, etc. It was terribly difficult for me, however. "Oh, my talking bird, though your feathers are tattered and furled, I'll love you all your days, 'til your breath leaves your delicate frame." This did not neccesarily symbolize love, but this was the line that spoke the most to me at this point in time. His feathers were tattered and furled because he was so broken and lost without his father, and with what his father had done. I would take care of him, no matter what would happen or given the circumstances. "It's hard to see your way out, when you live in a house in a house 'cause you don't realize the windows were open the whole time." This verse spoke to me as well, because he wasn't sure what to do with our relationship and whether or not to stay or leave...However, the windows were open, so if he chose to leave, I would have let him go. It did end that way, too. He broke it off with me, I guess I could have reminded him of his father's death. But I set him free, even though the last line says "it's all here for you, as long as you don't fly away." Well, when he flew away, I never spoke to him, so I wasn't there anymore.
Either way, whatever the song means to you (after all this site is called SongMeanings), feel free to share. It's beautiful, to me, how songs can be interpreted differently. I think this one, however, is open for great discussiones, verses some of them others that are on this site. =) I also think it's a very beautiful song, perfectly constructed. The lyrics, and the sound of his voice together, they really touch your heart deep. So I believe, it's really supposed to get to you and symbolize whatever you want it to symbolize. I think he would be pleased with the comments left on here. =)