Songs Dedicated To Birds
The animal kingdom has been a source of inspiration for artistic creations since time immemorial. On this occasion, we want to remember some beautiful songs dedicated to birds.
Selection of songs dedicated to birds
Human beings used these beings to talk about themselves in different circumstances. Sometimes as a childhood memory or lost love; others, as symbolism of freedom. Although also, sometimes, it only performs a poetic description of the bird, its flight or its song.
Here we leave a wide selection of topics covered from different angles by artists from different times and places. We hope you like it.
– My gulls
In this song included on the La Paloma album , released in 1969, Joan Manuel Serrat recalls her childhood. “(…) I grew up dreaming, near the sea, / beside the rocks, / one day I learned to fly, / I learned to fly / like my seagulls”, he sings.
Later, the Catalan singer laments: “I was left alone / digging the ground, looking for my childhood. / It will never come back, / it stayed behind, / under the sand, by the sea, / beside some rocks / that cannot fly, / like my seagulls”.
-Blackbird (Blackbird)
Half a century ago, Paul McCartney wrote on this topic, which is said to have served as an inspiration during the racial tensions that gripped the United States long ago. Blackbird was then included on the double album titled The Beatles , also known as The White Album .
“Blackbird that sings in the death of the night, / take its wings and learn to fly. / (…) Fly blackbird, fly (…) / All your life / you’ve waited for this moment to fly”. What is certain is that the Turdus merula that McCartney mentions is characterized by emitting a melodious and flute sound, which is heard during twilight.
-Toty
Also black in color, but with a violet and greenish glow, the Ptiloxena atroviolacea is an endemic bird of Cuba. To this bird, Silvio Rodríguez dedicated the song that opens the album Expedition , released in 2002.
“Beautiful soot totí, / screen of the universe, / fun, shutter, / inverse ghost, / arrow of a divine demon”, sings Silvio. If you want to hear this inspired creation by the great Cuban troubadour, here’s a link.
– Pájaro campana
Also known as araponga and bell bird, the Procnias nudicollis is the national bird of Paraguay. However, it is an endangered species because of habitat loss and intensive hunting for the animal market.
The truth is that this bird, which sings in a similar way to the echo of a metallic blow, inspired a beautiful Paraguayan polka composed in the first years of the last century. Popularized by Félix Pérez Cardozo, its author was Carlos Talavera.
And although they emphasize their instrumental versions where the harp shines, the Argentinean Eduardo Rayo knew how to write the lyrics : “Alucinante arponga, / light that blooms on a branch, / it flies joyfully and courageously. Your corner is mine. / Love and illusion with the ding-dong / of its trill”.
– Endecha española
Among the songs dedicated to birds, we could not fail to mention this beautiful work by the multifaceted María Elena Walsh. Although Argentina has stood out for its creations dedicated to children, it has also released albums for adult audiences.
Endecha española is included in the 1975 album El buen Modo . In the song, Walsh mentions four birds and relates them to different Spanish cities. Thus, she tells us about the pigeon that descends to Rambla de Barcelona “with death in its wings”, and the stork that makes its nest in a bell tower in Valdepeñas.
It also refers to a seagull from San Fernando de Cádiz and the swallows that “will always return to Seville in the dark”. If you want to hear this song, we leave here the version of the great Victor Manuel.
