A one-man orchestra of the imagination

Musical innovator Andrew Bird winds together his trademark violin technique with xylophone, vocals and sophisticated electronic looping. Add in his uncanny ability to whistle anything, and he becomes a riveting one-man orchestra.

Well, there's lots to talk about,

but I think I'm just going to play to start off.

(Music)

♫ When I wake up ♫

♫ in the morning ♫

♫ I pour the coffee ♫

♫ I read the paper ♫

♫ And then I slowly ♫

♫ and so softly ♫

♫ do the dishes ♫

♫ So feed the fishes ♫

♫ You sing me happy birthday ♫

♫ Like it's gonna be ♫

♫ your last day ♫

♫ here on Earth ♫

(Applause)

All right.

So, I wanted to do something special today.

I want to debut a new song that I've been working on

in the last five or six months.

And there's few things more thrilling

than playing a song

for the first time in front of an audience,

especially when it's half-finished.

(Laughter)

I'm kind of hoping some conversations here

might help me finish it.

Because it gets into all sorts

of crazy realms.

And so this is basically a song

about loops,

but not the kind of loops that I make up here.

They're feedback loops.

And in the audio world

that's when the microphone gets too close

to its sound source,

and then it gets in this self-destructive loop

that creates a very unpleasant sound.

And I'm going to demonstrate for you.

(Laughter)

I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry.

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫

♫ This is a -- (Feedback)

All right. I don't know if that was necessary to demonstrate --

(Laughter)

-- but my point is it's the sound of self-destruction.

And I've been thinking about

how that applies across a whole spectrum of realms,

from, say, the ecological, okay.

There seems to be a rule in nature

that if you get too close to where you came from,

it gets ugly.

So like, you can't feed cows their own brains

or you get mad cow disease,

and inbreeding and incest

and, let's see,

what's the other one?

Biological -- there's autoimmune diseases,

where the body attacks itself

a little too overzealously

and destroys the host,

or the person.

And then -- okay, this is where we get to the song --

kind of bridges the gap to the emotional.

Because although I've used scientific terms

in songs,

it's very difficult sometimes to make them lyrical.

And there's some things

you just don't need to have in songs.

So I'm trying to bridge this gap

between this idea and this melody.

And so, I don't know if you've ever had this,

but when I close my eyes sometimes

and try to sleep,

I can't stop thinking about my own eyes.

And it's like your eyes

start straining to see themselves.

That's what it feels like to me.

It's not pleasant.

I'm sorry if I put that idea in your head.

(Laughter)

It's impossible, of course, for your eyes to see themselves,

but they seem to be trying.

So that's getting a little more closer to a personal experience.

Or ears being able to hear themselves --

it's just impossible.

That's the thing.

So, I've been working on this song

that mentions these things

and then also imagines

a person who's been so successful

at defending themselves from heartbreak

that they're left to do the deed themselves,

if that's possible.

And that's what the song is asking.

All right.

It doesn't have a name yet.

(Music)

♫ Go ahead and congratulate yourself ♫

♫ Give yourself a hand, the hand is your hand ♫

♫ And the eye that eyes itself is your eye ♫

♫ And the ear that hears itself is near ♫

♫ 'Cause it's your ear, oh oh ♫

♫ You've done the impossible now ♫

♫ Took yourself apart ♫

♫ You made yourself invulnerable ♫

♫ No one can break your heart ♫

♫ So you wear it out ♫

♫ And you wring it out ♫

♫ And you wear it out ♫

♫ And you break it yourself ♫

♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫

♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫

♫ Breaking your own ♫

(Applause)

Thanks.

(Applause)

All right.

It's kind of cool. Songwriters can sort of get away with murder.

You can throw out crazy theories

and not have to back it up with data

or graphs or research.

But, you know, I think reckless curiosity

would be what the world needs now,

just a little bit.

(Applause)

I'm going to finish up with a song of mine

called "Weather Systems."

(Music)

♫ Quiet ♫

♫ Quiet down, she said ♫

♫ Speak into the back of his head ♫

♫ On the edge of the bed, I can see your blood flow ♫

♫ I can see your ♫

♫ cells grow ♫

♫ Hold still awhile ♫

♫ Don't spill the wine ♫

♫ I can see it all from here ♫

♫ I can see ♫

♫ oh, I ♫

♫ I can see ♫

♫ weather systems ♫

♫ of the world ♫

♫ Weather systems ♫

♫ of the world ♫

♫ Some things you say ♫

♫ are not for sale ♫

♫ I would hold it where ♫

♫ our free agents of some substance are ♫

♫ scared ♫

♫ Hold still a while ♫

♫ Don't spill the wine ♫

♫ I can see it all from here ♫

♫ I can see ♫

♫ oh, I ♫

♫ I can see ♫

♫ weather systems of the world ♫

♫ Weather systems ♫

♫ of the world ♫

Thanks.

(Applause)