Bird On A Wire by lazarus57

lazarus57 - Bird On A Wire

lazarus57

Jul 05, 2025 11:17am

SNACK BUDDY REQUEST (PER YOUR REQUEST MY FRIEND) "Bird on the Wire" is a song written by Canadian musician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Leonard Cohen</a>, which became one of his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_signature_songs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">signature songs</a>. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville,_Tennessee" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Nashville</a> and included on his 1969 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_from_a_Room" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Songs from a Room</a>. A May 1968 recording produced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crosby" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">David Crosby</a>, titled "Like a Bird", was added to the 2007 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remaster" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">remastered</a> CD. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Collins" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Judy Collins</a> was the first to release the song on her 1968 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Knows_Where_the_Time_Goes_(Judy_Collins_album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Who Knows Where the Time Goes</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cocker" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Joe Cocker</a> also covered the song on his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cocker!" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">second studio album</a> the following year and his version reached #78 in Canada.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_on_the_Wire#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[1]</a>In the 1960s, Cohen lived on the Greek island <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(island)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Hydra</a> with his girlfriend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Ihlen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Marianne Ihlen</a>, the woman depicted on the back cover of Songs from a Room. She has related how she helped him out of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">depression</a> by handing him his guitar, whereupon he began composing "Bird on the Wire", inspired by a bird sitting on one of Hydra's recently installed phone wires, followed by memories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_intoxication" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">wet</a> island nights. He finished it in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood,_Los_Angeles" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Hollywood</a> motel.Cohen has described "Bird on the Wire" as a simple <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">country</a> song, and the first recording, by Judy Collins, was indeed done in a country setting. He later made various minor changes, such as the modifications present on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cohen_Live" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Cohen Live</a>. Different renditions are included on all of his live albums. On occasion he also performed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Lama" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Serge Lama</a>'s French version, "Vivre tout seul", in concert.In the sleevenotes to a 2007 rerelease of Songs From A Room, the song was described as "simultaneously a prayer and an anthem, a kind of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemianism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Bohemian</a> '<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Way" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">My Way</a>'."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_on_the_Wire#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[2]</a>Composition[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bird_on_the_Wire&action=edit&section=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">edit</a>]In the liner notes to the 1975 compilation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Leonard_Cohen" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">The Best of Leonard Cohen</a>, Cohen wrote about the song:I always begin my concert with this song. It seems to return me to my duties. It was begun in Greece and finished in a motel in Hollywood around 1969 along with everything else. Some lines were changed in Oregon. I can't seem to get it perfect. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Kris Kristofferson</a> informed me that I had stolen part of the melody from another Nashville writer. He also said that he's putting the first couple of lines on his tombstone, and I'll be hurt if he doesn't.It has been suggested that the song to which Kristofferson was referring is "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turn_Me_On_(Mark_Dinning_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Turn Me On</a>", written by Nashville songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Loudermilk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">John D. Loudermilk</a>, which was originally recorded by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Dinning" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Mark Dinning</a> in 1961 and later covered by many other artists, including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Nina Simone</a>, and which shares a similar melody and some lyrical patterns with Cohen's song.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_on_the_Wire#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a> <img src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h1MI7kIOWV4/maxresdefault.jpg" alt="Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire | Full Concert Documentary In HD ..."> <img src="https://cinehill.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/bird-e1500628325746.jpg" alt="Bird On A Wire: Leonard Cohen - Cinehill Film Festival">