Bird Alone
I woke up to grey skies, thunder and the sound of rain. What a perfect Monday! I have food in the fridge and enough cigarettes to hide away at home. So I made myself coffee and put on a gorgeous album to accompany the rain, Abbey Lincoln's "You Gotta Pay the Band" with Stan Getz on saxophone. This was the last album Getz made in the studio before he passed away a few weeks later. Hank Jones' piano playing is also a miracle of economic yet no less emotional expression. The first track is my favorite. Written by Lincoln herself, she says she thought at first that the song was about Miles Davis, until she realised that it was about herself. She was too selfish. This song is about me too.
Bird alone, flying high
Flying through a clouded sky
Sending mournful soulful sounds
Soaring over troubled grounds
Bird alone with no mate
Turning corners tempting fate
Flying circles in the air
Are you on your way somewhere
Gliding soaring on the wind
You're a sight of glory
Flying way up there so high
Wonder what's your story
Bird alone flying low
Over where the grasses grow
Swinging low then out of sight
You'll be singing in the night
Bird alone, flying high
Flying through a clouded sky
Sending mournful soulful sounds
Soaring over troubled grounds
Bird alone with no mate
Turning corners tempting fate
Flying circles in the air
Are you on your way somewhere
Gliding soaring on the wind
You're a sight of glory
Flying way up there so high
Wonder what's your story
Bird alone flying low
Over where the grasses grow
Swinging low then out of sight
You'll be singing in the night