Birdland - Live

Lyrics

His father died
 ♪
 Left him a little farm in New England
 All the long black funeral cars left the scene
 And the boy was just standing there alone
 Looking at the shiny red tractor
 Him and his daddy used to sit inside
 And circle the blue fields and grease the night
 It was if someone had spread butter on all the fine points of the stars
 'Cause when he looked up they started to slip
 Then he put his head in the crux of his arm
 And he started to drift, drift to the belly of a ship
 Let the ship slide open, and he went inside of it
 And saw his daddy 'hind the control board streamin' beads of light
 He saw his daddy 'hind the control board
 And he was very different tonight
 'Cause he was not human, he was not human
 ♪
 Little boy's face lit up with such naked joy
 That the sun burned around his lids and his eyes were like two suns
 White lids, white opals, seeing everything just a little bit too clearly
 And he looked around and there was no black ship in sight
 No black funeral cars, there was nothing except for him, the raven
 And fell on his knees and looked up and cried out
 ♪
 No, daddy, don't leave me here alone
 Take me up, daddy, to the belly of your ship
 Let the ship slide open and I'll go inside of it
 Where you're not human, you are not human
 ♪
 But nobody heard the boy's cry of alarm
 Nobody there 'cept for the birds around the New England farm
 And they gathered in all directions, like roses they scattered
 And they were like compass grass coming together into the head of a shaman bouquet
 Slit in his nose and all the others went shooting
 And he saw the lights of traffic beckoning like the hands of Blake
 Grabbing at his cheeks, taking out his neck
 All his limbs, everything was twisted and he said
 I won't give up, won't give up, don't let me give up
 I won't give up, come on, I won't give up, I won't give up
 Take me up fast, take me, take me up quick
 Take me up quick, take me up, up to the belly of a ship
 Let the ship slides open and I go inside of it, where I am not human
 ♪
 I am not human
 I am helium, raven, so this movie is mine
 So he cried out as he stretched the sky
 Pushing it all out like latex cartoon, am I all alone in this generation?
 Am I all alone
 We'll just be dreaming of animation night and day
 And won't let up, won't let up and I see them coming in
 Oh, I couldn't hear them before, but I hear 'em now
 It's a radar scope in all silver and all platinum lights
 Moving in like black ships, they were moving in, streams of them
 And he put up his hands and he said, "It's me, it's me
 I'll give you my eyes, oh please, please take me up
 Don't leave me, please don't leave me here
 The sun, the sign, the cross
 Like the shape of a tortured woman, the true shape of a tortured woman
 The mother standing in the doorway letting her sons
 No longer presidents but prophets
 ♪
 They are gonna run through the fields dreaming in animation
 It's all gonna split his skull
 It's gonna come out like a black bouquet shining
 Like a fist that's gonna shoot them up
 Like light, like Mohamed Boxer
 Take them up up up up up up
 Up, up to the belly of a ship
 Let the ship slide open and I'll go inside of it
 Where we are not human, we're not human
 ♪
 Well, there was sand, there were tiles
 The sun had melted the sand and it coagulated
 Like a river of glass
 When it hardened he looked at the surface
 He saw his face
 And where there were eyes were just two white opals, two white opals
 Where there were eyes there were just two white opals
 And he looked up and the rays shot
 And he saw, raven comin' in
 And he crawled on his back and he went up
 Up up up up up up
 Sha da do wop, shaman do way, sha da do wop, shaman do way
 Sha da do wop, shaman do way, sha da do wop, shaman do way
 We like Birdland
 

Audio Features

Song Details

Duration
09:52
Key
1
Tempo
135 BPM

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