Andrew Bird's one-man orchestra of the imagination

459,138 views ・ 2010-11-05

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Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:18
Well, there's lots to talk about,
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but I think I'm just going to play to start off.
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00:24
(Music)
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03:09
♫ When I wake up ♫
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03:13
♫ in the morning ♫
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03:16
♫ I pour the coffee ♫
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03:20
♫ I read the paper ♫
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03:23
♫ And then I slowly ♫
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03:30
♫ and so softly ♫
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03:39
♫ do the dishes ♫
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03:44
♫ So feed the fishes ♫
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03:52
♫ You sing me happy birthday ♫
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04:00
♫ Like it's gonna be ♫
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04:03
♫ your last day ♫
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04:07
♫ here on Earth ♫
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05:33
(Applause)
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05:44
All right.
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05:46
So, I wanted to do something special today.
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I want to debut a new song that I've been working on
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in the last five or six months.
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05:54
And there's few things more thrilling
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than playing a song
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for the first time in front of an audience,
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06:01
especially when it's half-finished.
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06:03
(Laughter)
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06:05
I'm kind of hoping some conversations here
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might help me finish it.
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06:09
Because it gets into all sorts
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of crazy realms.
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06:13
And so this is basically a song
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about loops,
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06:17
but not the kind of loops that I make up here.
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06:19
They're feedback loops.
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06:21
And in the audio world
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that's when the microphone gets too close
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to its sound source,
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and then it gets in this self-destructive loop
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that creates a very unpleasant sound.
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06:33
And I'm going to demonstrate for you.
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06:35
(Laughter)
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06:38
I'm not going to hurt you. Don't worry.
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06:43
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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06:49
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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06:51
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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06:54
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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06:56
♫ This is a loop, feedback loop ♫
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06:59
♫ This is a -- (Feedback)
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07:07
All right. I don't know if that was necessary to demonstrate --
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07:10
(Laughter)
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-- but my point is it's the sound of self-destruction.
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07:17
And I've been thinking about
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how that applies across a whole spectrum of realms,
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from, say, the ecological, okay.
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07:26
There seems to be a rule in nature
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that if you get too close to where you came from,
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it gets ugly.
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So like, you can't feed cows their own brains
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or you get mad cow disease,
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and inbreeding and incest
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and, let's see,
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what's the other one?
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Biological -- there's autoimmune diseases,
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where the body attacks itself
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a little too overzealously
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and destroys the host,
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or the person.
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And then -- okay, this is where we get to the song --
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kind of bridges the gap to the emotional.
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Because although I've used scientific terms
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in songs,
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it's very difficult sometimes to make them lyrical.
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08:12
And there's some things
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you just don't need to have in songs.
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08:18
So I'm trying to bridge this gap
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between this idea and this melody.
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08:23
And so, I don't know if you've ever had this,
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but when I close my eyes sometimes
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and try to sleep,
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I can't stop thinking about my own eyes.
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08:34
And it's like your eyes
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start straining to see themselves.
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08:38
That's what it feels like to me.
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08:40
It's not pleasant.
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08:42
I'm sorry if I put that idea in your head.
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08:44
(Laughter)
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It's impossible, of course, for your eyes to see themselves,
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but they seem to be trying.
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So that's getting a little more closer to a personal experience.
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Or ears being able to hear themselves --
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it's just impossible.
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08:59
That's the thing.
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09:01
So, I've been working on this song
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that mentions these things
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and then also imagines
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a person who's been so successful
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09:11
at defending themselves from heartbreak
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that they're left to do the deed themselves,
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09:17
if that's possible.
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09:19
And that's what the song is asking.
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09:23
All right.
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09:25
It doesn't have a name yet.
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09:27
(Music)
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11:23
♫ Go ahead and congratulate yourself ♫
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11:26
♫ Give yourself a hand, the hand is your hand ♫
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11:30
♫ And the eye that eyes itself is your eye ♫
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11:33
♫ And the ear that hears itself is near ♫
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11:37
♫ 'Cause it's your ear, oh oh ♫
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11:40
♫ You've done the impossible now ♫
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11:43
♫ Took yourself apart ♫
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11:47
♫ You made yourself invulnerable ♫
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11:50
♫ No one can break your heart ♫
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11:54
♫ So you wear it out ♫
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11:58
♫ And you wring it out ♫
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12:01
♫ And you wear it out ♫
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12:04
♫ And you break it yourself ♫
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12:06
♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫
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12:09
♫ Breaking your own, break it yourself ♫
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12:13
♫ Breaking your own ♫
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12:29
(Applause)
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12:33
Thanks.
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12:35
(Applause)
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12:40
All right.
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12:42
It's kind of cool. Songwriters can sort of get away with murder.
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12:45
You can throw out crazy theories
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and not have to back it up with data
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or graphs or research.
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But, you know, I think reckless curiosity
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would be what the world needs now,
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13:00
just a little bit.
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13:02
(Applause)
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13:06
I'm going to finish up with a song of mine
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13:08
called "Weather Systems."
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13:10
(Music)
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13:27
♫ Quiet ♫
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13:32
♫ Quiet down, she said ♫
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13:36
♫ Speak into the back of his head ♫
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13:39
♫ On the edge of the bed, I can see your blood flow ♫
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13:43
♫ I can see your ♫
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♫ cells grow ♫
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13:54
♫ Hold still awhile ♫
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13:57
♫ Don't spill the wine ♫
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14:00
♫ I can see it all from here ♫
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14:03
♫ I can see ♫
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♫ oh, I ♫
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14:07
♫ I can see ♫
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14:14
♫ weather systems ♫
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14:17
♫ of the world ♫
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♫ Weather systems ♫
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14:33
♫ of the world ♫
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15:07
♫ Some things you say ♫
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15:10
♫ are not for sale ♫
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♫ I would hold it where ♫
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♫ our free agents of some substance are ♫
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♫ scared ♫
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15:30
♫ Hold still a while ♫
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15:33
♫ Don't spill the wine ♫
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15:37
♫ I can see it all from here ♫
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15:40
♫ I can see ♫
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♫ oh, I ♫
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♫ I can see ♫
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♫ weather systems of the world ♫
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17:42
♫ Weather systems ♫
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♫ of the world ♫
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18:56
Thanks.
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18:58
(Applause)
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