I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach ten thousand stars how not to dance. —E.E.Cummings
It’s a new year…….the fires have abated, the hurricanes have been left to gestate in the oceans, the rain has finally arrived, the air has cleared, and the song of birds can be heard once again.
Bird Songs
They sing about their lives on the water. Warbling, chirping, and chatter float through the canyons and trees, waking up the morning.
As the old Gospel song proclaims, hope can be found by keeping your eye on the sparrow,
that small bird that gains strength from the flock as it belts out tunes of joy and freedom.
But what about the winter when breath stands still and frost fills the air—do they grow more feathers—do their feet freeze—are their nests caked in ice—do their songs retreat into the darkness waiting for the Earth to tilt closer to the sun?
The answer might lie in the origin of song—simple sounds for gossip, courtship, and danger,
bringing order to random cacophony, harmony to the orchestration of nature.
Charlie Parker, Jerry Garcia, and Mahalia Jackson conjured birds in their music, bringing notes to the scattered sounds of rapture and relief—
flight captured on keys, beaks bopping the bass. They joined the birds on the branches to record the passing winter, and the birth of better days.
Bird Song Notes:
“Bird Song” by Jerry Garcia (for Janis Joplin)
Charlie Parker “Bird”
(melodic lines like birdsong)
Mahalia Jackson “His Eye on the Sparrow” (Special Grammy Award 2010)
