Andrew Bird Interpretation

First of all, I think Andrew Bird is one of the most incredible and talented musicians of our time. He is truly a genius. In this live performance, which I always find to be raw and authentic, a genuine feeling is given to this already amazing song. You also can observe how multi-talented Andrew bird is, using only a female guitarist/vocalist as his accompaniment besides his voice and violin (which is used in unique was) to create a very strings-heavy song. At first he starts out by strumming his violin, a technique I’ve never seen done so well, with no other accompaniment but a female guitarist by his side. He then continues to strum the violin along with undertones from the guitarist to introduce the first verse. No melody, no accompaniment,

In this Folk-type song, Bird causes air to vibrate by plucking and stroking (guitar, violin). Once again, the violin becomes the dominant of the song, accompanied with “ooooh” sounds from him as well, a beautiful accompaniment. The song’s melodic motion is both conjunct and disjunct. All the added elements of this song although few are absolutely captivating and impressive. The plucks and loops of this arrangement is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. The meaning of the song, is vague, however my interpretation of it is, as he repeats many times, “starting over” but being unable to do so because of memories of the past. Someone could say that the “you” Bird is addressing is an ex lover, that he’s trying to get to come to him by asking them to “Come back to Chicago--The City of Light”, trying to explain how he is “half empty, half full” without the lover. It seems like he’s trying to coerce someone into coming where he is, and erase the miles between them no matter how far apart they are, pleading them to “cometh over”. He explains that he is really struggling without his or her presence, and that he wants them to come back so badly to be able to truly start