Iron & Wine — Flightless Bird, American Mouth
Album: The Shepard's DogAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 189
Length: 3:55
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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I was a quick wet boy, diving too deep for coins
All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys
Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere
Have I found you, flightless bird?
Jealous, weeping
Or lost you, American mouth?
Big pill looming
Now I'm a fat house cat nursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos, those fishing lures
Thrown in the cold and clean blood of Christ mountain stream
Have I found you, flightless bird?
Grounded, bleeding
Or lost you, American mouth?
Big pill, stuck going down
All of your street light eyes wide on my plastic toys
Then when the cops closed the fair, I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map and called for you everywhere
Have I found you, flightless bird?
Jealous, weeping
Or lost you, American mouth?
Big pill looming
Now I'm a fat house cat nursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos, those fishing lures
Thrown in the cold and clean blood of Christ mountain stream
Have I found you, flightless bird?
Grounded, bleeding
Or lost you, American mouth?
Big pill, stuck going down
Comments (32)add comment
Need to follow this with Reuben and the Jets "Charlena", seriously.
What the hell? The slow drip torture song.
This guy is so amazing.
Absolute brilliant
we need songs like this to defend ourselves against a Martian invasion:
Iron & Wine are similar in my mind to Built to Spill - both an auto-rate Ho-Hum. Narcolepsy-inducing 
Is it me, or has the RP BBS been really thumb-twiddlingly slow of late, particularly if you want to write a comment?
Is it me, or has the RP BBS been really thumb-twiddlingly slow of late, particularly if you want to write a comment?
Some days, more than others - I find the constant bickering in these boards exhausting. Just enjoy the music people! And if you do not like a particular song - give it a few minutes and it will be over... geesh.
bam23 wrote:
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
tl; dr.
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
tl; dr.
bam23 wrote:
it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired
If you don't like something, complaining about excessive duration is completely legitimate, and nothing to do with a deficit of attention. I enjoy the multi-song sequences and long songs Bill picks out, but if he were to for some inexplicable reason, play a whole Eminim CD, and through equally inexplicable circumstance you were still listening, you don't think your aural palate would be a bit soured?
it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired
If you don't like something, complaining about excessive duration is completely legitimate, and nothing to do with a deficit of attention. I enjoy the multi-song sequences and long songs Bill picks out, but if he were to for some inexplicable reason, play a whole Eminim CD, and through equally inexplicable circumstance you were still listening, you don't think your aural palate would be a bit soured?
just lovely. almost a nostalgic feel to it.
one of many that Bill has introduced me to that at first was not crazy about but the more I listened, the more I heard and ultimately the more I liked.
Thanks Bill.
Thanks Bill.
One of his best he's really beginning to grow on me. Some people have compared our music to Iron and Wine....can't see it myself but I'm not complaining, he's very good :-) judge for yourself https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656132090&v=app_2405167945&ref=profile
That was beautiful. (the song, not all your arguing)
bam23 wrote:
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
I think you just won a prize for general snottiness.
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
I think you just won a prize for general snottiness.
Tarquin wrote:
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
I've decided not to rate this song at this time. It wouldn't be fair to Iron&Wine. The Decemberists' song played just before it completely tainted my listening experience for this song. It dragged on so long that I wasn't sure that we had moved on to another song. Hopefully, I'll be in a better mood the next time this song comes around on the playlist.
No. I agree with one of the comments for the Decemberists' song that often precedes this song, that patience for longer songs seems to elude far too many listeners. Listening to music seems to be a purely passive exercise for far too many people. Of course, at one level it is passive, but it says much more about the limited perspective of the listener if he/she cannot appreciate (or claims this is the case) the merits of one piece because the previous piece was longer than he/she desired. In other contexts, I would think that someone would be embarrassed to state that, as a consequence of something like ADD, a piece of music or any other performance was so long that it damaged the ability to hear or appreciate another piece. Maybe your time should be spent doing something less taxing. TV affords the opportunity to shift ones' attention elsewhere, and easily. There may be hope for you, yet.
to Bill & Rebecca for introducing us to many new sounds we may like and/ dis-like...helps our ears & minds to expand.
Tarquin wrote:
^This
Bill, please try this song away from The Decemberists
I've decided not to rate this song at this time. It wouldn't be fair to Iron&Wine. The Decemberists' song played just before it completely tainted my listening experience for this song. It dragged on so long that I wasn't sure that we had moved on to another song. Hopefully, I'll be in a better mood the next time this song comes around on the playlist.
^This
Bill, please try this song away from The Decemberists
tedious treacle
I'm always a sucker for the well-written sappy song that grabs your emotional shorthairs and makes you listen until you weep.
soooooooooooooooo nice!
I've decided not to rate this song at this time. It wouldn't be fair to Iron&Wine. The Decemberists' song played just before it completely tainted my listening experience for this song. It dragged on so long that I wasn't sure that we had moved on to another song. Hopefully, I'll be in a better mood the next time this song comes around on the playlist.
Heartachingly sweet...almost as good as Our Endless Numbered Days.
probably the best album i've bought in the last 6 months. 
This band's songs usually are rather delicate anyway (sans the co-operation with Calexico; that album rocked), but this one is especially so. Makes me happy and dreamy... 
A must for fans of the Endless Numbered Days album.
Yeah, it was produced in a studio, but Sam doesn't compromise his style one bit. The instrumentation (and musicians) he chose to work with fits in well.
Cool liner notes, too :)
Yeah, it was produced in a studio, but Sam doesn't compromise his style one bit. The instrumentation (and musicians) he chose to work with fits in well.
Cool liner notes, too :)
...this song leaves my SO sentimental - i wish there were a 7.5...
I find I like almost everything this group does.
And of course leave it to Bill to introduce my ears to all of their quality tracks I'd never heard before...
radio performed this service once...
as did mtv for a very brief time...
God save RP - long live Bill (and the listeners who support him!)
9 bordering on 10 
This is fine, but gimme more wine!
Great song, Great CD.
....which was their last ditch attempt to be played on am radio and even with a hs photo of Frank on the cover it failed in that quest.