Singin' 'bout Coprophagia

I just realized that Andrew Bird does precisely that in "Tenuousness:"

When coprophagia was writ
Know when to stand or when to sit
Can't stand to stand, can't stand to sit
And who would want to know this?
Click. Click. Click.

This seems to be the best version You Tube has to offer:

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast - $1.99 @ Amazon

Buy.  This.  Album.  Even if you have no idea who Andrew Bird is trust me on this one thing and buy this album.  I assume it is a mistake and that Amazon will correct it momentarily, because seriously, how can this album be $1.99?  Either way the deal only lasts 24 hours so don't dally.  

$1.99?  Are you kidding me?

Measure for Measure

Is a new blog over at  the NYT with songwriters talking about their creative process.  The first post is by one of my favorites, Andrew Bird (mentioned earlier here).  Its an interesting read on how he is working through writing an as yet unfinished song.

Who the Deuce Can Parleyvous a Cow?

[I'm not a big embedded audio fan but we'll give it a whirl, feel free to push play and listen while you read]


I've had an Andrew Bird song running around in my head for a week or two. Its off his new EP, Soldier On, that he released on his European tour stint. There are some really good tunes on this short collection but the song in question here is his rendition of "How You Gonna Keep Em Down on the Farm." Bird originally recorded it for the Janet Reno helmed compilation Song of America but also released it on Soldier On.



The song was originally penned back in 1919 by Walter Donaldson, Sam M. Lewis, and Joe Young and in its original form was a much more upbeat affair than what Bird gives us here. It makes an appearance in the Judy Garland, Gene Kelly film Me and My Gal which is set in the context of the war that was drawing to a close when it was penned rather than the one which was ongoing when it was filmed, but which certainly provided it with new inspiration. Despite its original upbeat lilt the song's lyrics are maudlin at best - and that is how Bird plays it, and makes it more so with a few tweaks in the lyrics - and you can feel the very real apprehension of a mother and father somewhere in the mid-west feverishly expecting their son to return home from the front lines and with equal fervor fearing that the cornfields are never going to have the allure that "Paree" had (or Detroit, Chicago, New York, Boston, etc., etc., etc.,) - and they were ultimately right.

So, give it a listen above, or if you are so inclined I have it on good authority that it can be found for download here.

Also, your going to want to check out this mashup of another Bird track off of Soldier On, The Trees Were Mistaken, with the Youngbloodz tune Presidential - how great is that photoshop!