Andrew Bird

What you see at the Field Museum is only like, 10 percent of the collection. It's birds of paradise and passenger pigeons…

— Andrew Bird

I've always found that whatever you say about indie rock, it is the most inclusive genre or title for anything. It doesn't…

— Andrew Bird

I have some irrepressible pop impulses to write an appealing, concise song. And I also have some irrepressible kind of restlessness as…

— Andrew Bird

I've always found that whatever you say about indie rock, it is the most inclusive genre or title for anything. It doesn't…

— Andrew Bird

The music that I write is often not necessarily full of doom and gloom. You'll notice in most of the darkest songs,…

— Andrew Bird

Sometimes I think I don't have much choice in the matter. It's just what happens, and I'm following my instincts the whole…

— Andrew Bird

Norman is a very up-close, personal, character drama and I'd like to do something more zoomed out, a little more pastoral, some…

— Andrew Bird

I think when I was pretty young I got really into the tone of my instrument and I remember just playing one…

— Andrew Bird

Correlation across replicated environments adds a whole new dimension of complexity of the environment, ... You would expect most application groups to…

— Andrew Bird

If something gets under my own skin, and keeps reoccurring, it starts to take on a certain weight and value, and I…

— Andrew Bird

You travel with the hope that something unexpected will happen. It has to do with enjoying being lost and figuring it out…

— Andrew Bird

In New York, I'm playing in a church, solo, doing instrumental stuff. There's talk of doing more, like, installation-type things with some…

— Andrew Bird

I've done my share of busking, and it's fun until it isn't. There are musicians in the subways that will make you…

— Andrew Bird

Pretty much any given day, barring some major distraction, I get melodies coming to me. Lyrics don't come quite as easily. So…

— Andrew Bird

There's always a tension between wanting to write a really concise, instant gratification type song that gets under your skin the first…

— Andrew Bird

I can't relate to the process of just disappearing and writing a record, all at the same time, followed by the sort…

— Andrew Bird

If you take a little time, let's say three weeks off, after recording a song, and you listen to it every other…

— Andrew Bird

I didn't have the patience for the research, or anything like that. I just like how it sets the imagination off. It's…

— Andrew Bird

The fact that I wasn't expected to read music at all and was absorbing everything by ear... it had a huge affect…

— Andrew Bird

I've always felt that dark lyrics with dark music is pretty useless. Maybe that's a strong statement - not useless, but for…

— Andrew Bird

“Beekeeper sing of your frustration In this litigious breeze Of accidental pollination In this era without bees We keep breeding desperation In…

— Andrew Bird

With the words, a lot of things start with questions. Some word kind of piques my interest, and I love the way…

— Andrew Bird

I don't like super-descriptive modern fiction. I like, "Here's what was happening in 1582 all over the planet." Then that gets my…

— Andrew Bird

There's songs that could either be taken as a conversation between two people, like "The Privateers," or "Why," from a much earlier…

— Andrew Bird

When I start asking my friends, "What do you think this means?" And it leads to way more interesting conversations than what…

— Andrew Bird

I'm just trying to get my body in shape so that I can handle it. It's a very physically demanding thing. I've…

— Andrew Bird

There is something comforting about going into a practice room, putting your sheet music on a stand and playing Bach over and…

— Andrew Bird

Usually bands with violins - it's this little, poorly amplified looking kind of futile on stage, and that's not the way that…

— Andrew Bird

A good espresso to me is a little bit salty; you just become used to a good taste. Anytime I go into…

— Andrew Bird

“We were all basically alone, and despite what all his studies had shown what was mistaken for closeness was just a case…

— Andrew Bird

Songwriters can sort of get away with murder. You can throw out crazy theories and not have to back it up with…

— Andrew Bird

I guess I'm attracted to more archaic words because they can be imbued with more meaning, because their definition is elusive.

— Andrew Bird

The problem is, when you're working with orchestras, you only get the orchestra for about two hours before the performance to pull…

— Andrew Bird

I'm not a home-studio guy. I spend a lot of time working by myself developing songs, but I really need some other…

— Andrew Bird

I haven't had that many people onstage for a while, and I'm looking forward to that. They're all such creative musicians in…

— Andrew Bird

Melodies are just honest. They can only be what they are. Words have the capacity for deception. Theyre all full of subtext,…

— Andrew Bird

Since I first picked up the violin, I've been very interested in tone and texture: I would have very visceral reactions to…

— Andrew Bird