Birds are a natural symbol of infinite freedom, divine nature, grace, hope and peace.
A bird’s limitlessness and command over the turning skies has for centuries inspired human art, sparking our wandering imagination to dream of travel and profound change, as well as the safety of nestling down inside the fluttery feeling of love.
Our playlist collects some of the best songs about birds to perk up your feathers and set your spirit free.
Songs About Birds
1. Fleetwood Mac – Songbird
From Fleetwood Mac’s #1 album ‘Rumours,’ Songbird is a truly captivating love song.
They strip back their sound of all excess, leaving a sparse but lush landscape containing only piano and vocals, showing a depth of love which remains eternal while everything else is taken away.
Songbird has the overwhelmingly honest, emotional serenade of both a wedding song or a breakup song.
Lyrics like “For you, there’ll be no more crying, for you the sun will be shining,” could relate either to nestling with your partner, or the heartbreak of letting your lover fly free from a broken relationship.
Fleetwood Mac fluff their chorus with bird references; “And the songbirds are singing like they know the score, I love you, I love you, I love you, like never before.”
2. Oasis – Songbird
Oasis’ songbird is a girl who flits into life and flees from grasp. Oasis’ lyrics are notorious for their overall meaninglessness, but Songbird captures a flickering romance as colourful and pure as the peaceful mid-spring atmosphere its sound is reminiscent of.
Oasis place themselves as a songbird to win the love of a unique catch, “Gonna write a song so she can see, give her all the love she gives to me,” who is tangled with the qualities of birds, “She came and spread her wings … she flew away into the night.”
3. Jackson 5 – Rockin’ Robin
Rockin’ Robin is canopied by a 1950’s rock n’ roll vibe, with a flock of different birds found within its lyrics.
It paints a cute comedy scene of a singing robin rocking in the urban trees of Jaybird Street, while “Every little swallow, every chickadee, every little bird in the tall oak tree, the wise old owl, the big black crow, were flappin’ their wings singing go bird go.”
A lot of songs about birds are feathered with a slight ambience of heartbreak, but the Jackson 5 contrastingly ignite the concept with euphoric, dancing energy.
This Top Of The Pops rendition of Rockin’ Robin showcases the unmatched talent of the young Michael Jackson in all his innocent glory.
4. ABBA – Eagle
ABBA’s 1978 single, Eagle is about the dream of flight and limitless positivity. ABBA’s soaring chorus is undertoned with the vulturine darkness of a predatory animal, padded with the mystical sound of dreaming.
Eagle creates a panorama of power, freedom, possibility and fulfilled wishes, crafting a track to empower anyone trying to broaden their horizons.
“And I dream I’m an eagle, and I dream I can spread my wings… What a feeling to fly over mountains and forests and seas, and to go anywhere that I please.”
5. The Cinematic Orchestra – Arrival Of The Birds & Transformation
The Cinematic Orchestra fill their piece Arrival Of The Birds & Transformation with sonic scenery, like an inspiring flight of birds overtaking the landscape.
This instrumental track is blanketed in a profound, rich sound which distracts from the absence of lyrics, blanketed with the soft ambience of evening wings and free-flying feeling of both escape and belonging.
As the soundtrack for the acclaimed Stephen Hawking film, ‘The Theory Of Everything,’ Arrival Of The Birds… leads you to conquer impossibility whilst lacing the delicate grace of flying with hints of natural disaster.
6. The Beatles – Blackbird
The Beatles’ light-hearted acoustic track Blackbird is scattered with birdsong and nature’s simple sense of beauty. Blackbird is a song about learning to fly with broken wings and making your way through the blind darkness.
Blackbirds are sometimes seen as a spiritual symbol of death – an arcane sentiment which The Beatles adapt into a positive message of transformation instead, like the fresh air of life and potential for new beginning that springs after the end of an era.
In 2002, Paul McCartney confirmed that Blackbird was inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, ‘blackbird’ being a distastefully fitting analogy for the black community fighting against all odds to achieve their right of equality;
“Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and lean to fly, all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.”
7. Vera Lynn – (There’ll Be Bluebirds) The White Cliffs of Dover
War-time treasure Vera Lynn’s 1942 track is seeped in hope for peacetime and the dissolving of struggle. The melancholy of the Second World War is embellished with wistful optimism for the end of human suffering and return to normality.
The bluebirds over the beaches of Dover’s pure white cliffs symbolise British troops returning home in victory in aircraft from the mainland, “There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, just you wait and see. There’ll be love and laughter and peace ever after, tomorrow, when the world is free.”
Vera Lynn’s artful bird metaphor is relevant in both war and peace, as her timeless song is crafted to evoke hope for a better future in any situation.
8. T. Rex – Ride A White Swan
Marc Bolan’s bird concept is a mystical story of embracing authenticity and freedom.
While the lyrics of Ride A White Swan tread a fine line between nonsense and occultism, the first verse is coated with a spread-winged sense of moving forwards through the boundlessness of life;
“Ride it on out like a bird in the sky ways, ride it on out like you were a bird, fly it all out like an eagle in the sunbeam.”
T. Rex’s track implies spiritual freedom and an almost mindless positive outlook through the weird adventure of existence.
9. Tico & Frank Maglio FT. Lisa Rott – Knockin’ On Heaven’S Door
This last one might not be a ‘bird song’ but holds the purest form of birdsong within its homemade, acoustic set up.
Tico, the internet’s sweetest parrot, is a singer with an impeccable, innate sense of melody, tweeting in perfect key with his human backing singers.
Tico and The Man Frank Maglio partner with Lisa Rott in their stunning performance of the classic song, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – with a twist that any bird lover will adore.
This song in particular showcases the intelligence, curiosity and beauty of a happy bird, lapsed with the unique inter-species bond that can be summoned through music.