Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Cage the Songbird

On the lyric sleeve, this one bears the dedication "For Edith Piaf", which would suggest that this tragic tale attempts to eulogize the beloved French chanteuse in much the same fashion that "Candle in the Wind" paid tribute to Marilyn Monroe. I don't think it's that simple.

If it intends to pay homage, I would think that it could do a bit better than lines like

Sober in the morning light
Things look so much different
To how they looked last night
A pale face pressed to an unmade bed
Like flags of many nations flying high above her head


Knowing what we know now about Elton and his excesses during this time frame, I have a feeling Bernie might just be making a wry observation about his musical partner.

Regardless, there are some very nice lines to be found here, not the least of which is the chorus:

And you can cage the songbird
But you can't make her sing
And you can trap the free bird
But you'll have to clip her wings
`Cause she'll soar like a hawk when she flies
But she'll dive like an eagle when she dies


Maybe it attempts to castigate and celebrate at the same time, but I don't think so.

Musically, it's a predominantly acoustic arrangement, with Quaye and Johnstone playing precise figures and James Newton Howard providing flute-like synths. Graham Nash and David Crosby join in on backing vocals, and are used to great effect on the chorus- the syncopated, slashing guitar and vocal on the penultimate line gives way to soaring harmonies on the last, the likes of which only the battle-tested voices of C and N can provide.

This really is a lovely song- in fact, I think it's one of the best on Blue Moves- and the tale it tells is quite sad. But I can't help but feel it's delivered with an arched eyebrow and tongue in cheek.

Crystal Gayle certainly took it at face value in 1983, ignoring whatever inherent ironies there might be and not only covering the tune but also naming the album after it. It went to #5 on the country charts that year.

2 comments:

Lars said...

though I only bought Blue Moves well after release- used copy, and as the last of my purchases reflected in the solarprestige pantheon, I did really like cage the songbird. I had digitized my LP years ago when the first Mac applications came out for this- adaptec toast4 on OS9. Jan 2021, i stuck the vinyl on the turntable for a redigitization now that there is a much better declick program (clickrepair). had mostly forgotten the song sequences, but found the 1st lp to be a reasonable hjanuary songset. and once again, cage the songbird leaps out from the others with its lovely melody and vocals. my first intro to Blue moves was from a good friend who listened closely and appreciated "tonight" for its statement, even if thst sort of song is not always on the top of many playlists. will give lp 2 a whirl now. glad to see your log is still up for reference, now that i am over 60 years on.

Johnny Bacardi said...

Thanks for your comment! It's nice to know that people are still finding this blog after all this time.