Bird Of Prey (M. Steele / M. Hamilton) - Analysis by RealInspectorShane
Year: 1994
Band: Crash Wisdom
Album: Unreleased.
First Live Performance: 5/12/94
Last Live (Surfaced) Performance: 6/2/94
TAB [coming soon?]
Lyrics:
Predator with an angel smile
I hear you call my name
I hear you speak when I’m alone
Promises you are whispering
Striking one, now have you come for me?
Will I be free
Arise in your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
Every hour of my days on earth
Help me find my way
I’ve made a prison of this earthly place
Help me I’m so afraid
Striking one, now have you come for me
Will I be free
Take me into your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
Somewhere sufferin' so like
And if we can live in the
Soul, will we, we dieeee...
Striking one, now have you come for me
Will I be free
Arise in your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
No fear, no pain
In a finer state of grace
Ooooh
A bird of prey
Analysis:
As with several other Crash Wisdom songs, no recordings of Bird of Prey besides May and June 1994 concert versions have surfaced, and the song has never been discussed in interviews. Although as such it is again difficult to know much about the compostion of the song, an interview with CW guitarist John Thomas suggests that the song was written and most likely recorded in an uncirculated studio version by early 1994. Lyrically the song is unusual for how it twists standard songwriting conventions into something rather different. This is most apparent in the song's perspective, which subverts the old cliche of a protagonist addressing a person (usually a lover) and wishing to be saved by them. The address in Bird of Prey however is directed on a more abstract level towards death. Indeed, the opening verse's reference to the title-figure calling out and speaking 'when I'm alone' suggest that the figure is an abstraction imagined by the protagonist, or to take this notion even further a sort of mental illness. Furthermore, the bridge is quite ambiguous in asking whether 'we can live in the soul', before the lyrics conclude that regardless of this question, the death-figure striking the protagonist would create 'a finer state of grace'. In other words, where many songs concerning death discuss an afterlife for the dead, Bird of Prey leaves it open to the listener whether such a place even exists. Even considered purely on its lyrics, Bird of Prey stands out as a distinctive and memorable song.
A version was later performed by Mike Hamilton.
Quotes: N/A
Reviews: N/A
Year: 1994
Band: Crash Wisdom
Album: Unreleased.
First Live Performance: 5/12/94
Last Live (Surfaced) Performance: 6/2/94
TAB [coming soon?]
Lyrics:
Predator with an angel smile
I hear you call my name
I hear you speak when I’m alone
Promises you are whispering
Striking one, now have you come for me?
Will I be free
Arise in your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
Every hour of my days on earth
Help me find my way
I’ve made a prison of this earthly place
Help me I’m so afraid
Striking one, now have you come for me
Will I be free
Take me into your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
Somewhere sufferin' so like
And if we can live in the
Soul, will we, we dieeee...
Striking one, now have you come for me
Will I be free
Arise in your embrace
Strike like a bird of prey
No fear, no pain
In a finer state of grace
Ooooh
A bird of prey
Analysis:
As with several other Crash Wisdom songs, no recordings of Bird of Prey besides May and June 1994 concert versions have surfaced, and the song has never been discussed in interviews. Although as such it is again difficult to know much about the compostion of the song, an interview with CW guitarist John Thomas suggests that the song was written and most likely recorded in an uncirculated studio version by early 1994. Lyrically the song is unusual for how it twists standard songwriting conventions into something rather different. This is most apparent in the song's perspective, which subverts the old cliche of a protagonist addressing a person (usually a lover) and wishing to be saved by them. The address in Bird of Prey however is directed on a more abstract level towards death. Indeed, the opening verse's reference to the title-figure calling out and speaking 'when I'm alone' suggest that the figure is an abstraction imagined by the protagonist, or to take this notion even further a sort of mental illness. Furthermore, the bridge is quite ambiguous in asking whether 'we can live in the soul', before the lyrics conclude that regardless of this question, the death-figure striking the protagonist would create 'a finer state of grace'. In other words, where many songs concerning death discuss an afterlife for the dead, Bird of Prey leaves it open to the listener whether such a place even exists. Even considered purely on its lyrics, Bird of Prey stands out as a distinctive and memorable song.
A version was later performed by Mike Hamilton.
Quotes: N/A
Reviews: N/A
Michael Steele
Edmund Dulac - "The Firebird"
