Bill Callahan – Too Many Birds

Know something about this song or lyrics? Add it to our wiki.
Send "Too Many Birds" Ringtone to Cell

Too many birds in one tree
Too many birds in one tree
And the sky is full of black and screaming leaves
The sky is full of black and screaming

And one more bird
Then one more bird
And one last bird
And another

One last black bird without a place to land
One last black bird without a place to be
Turns around in hopes to find the place it last knew rest
Oh black bird, over black rain burn
This is not where you last knew rest
You fly all night to sleep on stone
The heartless rest that in the morn, we'll be gone
You fly all night to sleep on stone, to return to the tree with too many birds
Too many birds
Too many birds

If...
If you...
If you could...
If you could only...
If you could only stop...
If you could only stop your...
If you could only stop your heart...
If you could only stop your heart beat...
If you could only stop your heart beat for...
If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart...
If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat.

Send "Too Many Birds" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by seeeasick


Too Many Birds song meanings
Add your thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:The ending sounds: If you could die for love?
    Flag tungpakfooon April 02, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat.

    That happens to me sometimes, it's called a heat palpitation.
    Flag blanktom2on May 08, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The birds are thoughts. Pretty sure this is a song about anxiety, perhaps in the form of ocd.
    Flag xyzzyxon April 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It seems as something is happening, ....THEN one more bird
    ....one last black bird....
    What is the difference for this last black bird?

    if you could only stop your heart beat - maybe he needs a rest from his feelings?
    Flag ctrllineon February 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It seems as something is happening, ....THEN one more bird
    ....one last black bird....
    What is the difference for this last black bird?

    if you could only stop your heart beat - maybe he needs a rest from his feelings?
    Flag ctrllineon February 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:two things; the last line, as it unfolds, is about the heart skipping a beat maybe, like when you fall in love - i read that in a review.

    given time, i think the song is about thoughts crowding the mind, similar to 'all thoughts...' on the same record, and that the stopping of the heartbeat is about escaping thought - the whole record talks to me of somebody stuck between existential emptiness and heartbreak at the beauty of nature and life.
    Flag GramGramon January 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is about too many birds sitting on one tree (which of course is a metaphor for too many people in one place fighting for the same thing). In the end there is no place for the one black bird and he has to go and sleep on a stone, which gives him no real rest. Each day he keeps return to the tree but only finds it full and has to return to the stone.

    I'm not sure what the last bit means but I think "If you could only stop your heart beat for one heart beat. " is describing the birds desire to rest, he wishing that his heart could rest just for an instant.
    Flag Cyberghoston January 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is gorgeous.
    Flag TheWrongGirlon December 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i really like the ending, don't really understand it though :S
    Flag lauracookeon August 22, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain