Bird Song Recorded in Songs. (1 Viewer)

[Monahawk]

A work colleague of mine posed an interesting question to me this morning while on our break. He asked me how many songs or records did I know that contained bird songs in them.
I could only think of three, two of which were old Pink Floyd recordings -

Cirrus Minor - Nightingale, Song Thrush, Cuckoo.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - Herring Gull.

Small Faces, Lazy Sunday - Herring Gull, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Skylark.

There's bound to be more from the world of pop,rock,jazz or even classic. Can anyone do better or help out?

Si.

 

[monstafaktory]

I know of one, a band called Candidate on their album called Nuada (music inspired by the film the wicker man) - track is called beautiful birds and you hear gulls calling at the start of the track.

 

[Jacana]

these are quite famous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAStLPsSfgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1Z7QtyJVs

Beatrice Harrison accompanies a Nightingale

 

[hawkwind]

another pink floyd song has skylarks and ducks is grantchester meadows on the ummagumma album

 

[John B (not the sloop)]

"Senses working overtime" by XTC has rooks right at the end.

 

[Allen S. Moore]

Almost 10 years ago Ima Galguén from the Canarian island of La Palma recorded an album called Abismo arriba. This included the song Belmaco which begins with the calls of choughs, such a feature of her island.

More prosaically, Siren by Roxy Music includes a song called Nightingale, "you can guess the rest."

 

[lashinala]

My guess is several songs from the band Shearwater...lead singer probably posts on this forum too.

 

[Monahawk]

these are quite famous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAStLPsSfgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU1Z7QtyJVs

Beatrice Harrison accompanies a Nightingale

Thanks for posting those fascinating clips Jacana. I'd forgotten about the cellist Harrison. Two recordings of hers made in the 1920,s, Londonderry Air and Songs My Mother Taught Me, can be heard on the brilliant CD Nightingales.A Celebration.
I managed to weedle out a few more on the off chance,all of them from Pink Floyd again,[they seemed to have a fascination with birdsong].
Sheep - Skylark
High Hopes - Song Thrush
Marooned - Gulls

Thanks for the contributions so far.

Si.

 

[McMadd]

Jeff Beck duets with a Blackbird on a track called..."Blackbird" on his "You Had It Coming" album

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I can probably come up with lots, but to be starting with one of my favourites this is the Memory Band and 'Once Bittern':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y2mPvJQ3uQ
In addition to Bittern, there's Grasshopper Warbler, Bearded Tit and a few other reedbed birds in there.
The song 'Carolina Wren' by Electrelane is also very good.

 

[Carless]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boFJwTiqBXc

Song "Pleocene" by Japanese Musician Haruomi Hosono. Hosono was the leader of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, which was the first major band of the musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is now better known in the west.

I hope the song above prominently features sampled peacock calls. But I can't check as my laptop has no working sound, and my external sound interface is at work. If there are no peacocks, please say, and I'll hunt down a better version.

 

[Seatallen]

Pink Floyd do indeed seem to have a thing about bird song.There's another skylark sequence on 'The Wall'.

I heard a lovely CD a few years back that included curlews on one of the tracks but I can't remember who it was by.

 

[Monahawk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boFJwTiqBXc

Song "Pleocene" by Japanese Musician Haruomi Hosono. Hosono was the leader of the band Yellow Magic Orchestra, which was the first major band of the musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who is now better known in the west.

I hope the song above prominently features sampled peacock calls. But I can't check as my laptop has no working sound, and my external sound interface is at work. If there are no peacocks, please say, and I'll hunt down a better version.

Yes Carless could hear the peacocks.
Another for the list. The late soul singer Minnie Ripertons 1975 hit Lovin' You had Nightingale featured in the song.

Si.

 

[JTweedie]

Blur - Clover over Dover has Herring Gulls at the start http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5bdb-sKRcE

Boards of Canada - The Smallest Weird Number sounds like wildfowl and a Curlew in this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLmdIXaZ0LQ

Another one from Boards of Canada - Rue the Whirl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK7MMLeU2Gw this has House Sparrows through it, but you may need to listen using headphones to pick them up as it's very faint.

 

[david kelly]

Kate Bush's Aerial contains the song of a Blackbird on some tracks and the cover is sonograms of Blackbird song made to look like the limestone islands off Thailand.

David

 

[John Tindale]

Blackbird: Beatles.

 

[Richard Klim]

Kate Bush's Aerial contains the song of a Blackbird on some tracks...

...and Woodpigeon.

Richard

 

[Mono]

Peatbog Faeries - Faerie Stories has swifts in it

 

[Captain_of_Crunch]

Great topic. The Austrian electro-musician B.Fleischmann recorded a very nice piece featuring several Coots. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the track or the album it came from - must have been 2004 or 2005.

Also, would this count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Kz8Nxb-Bg

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

The wondrous Argentinian musician Juana Molina is quite influenced by birds and uses quite a lot of recordings in her songs, particularly Rufous Horneros and Greater Kiskadees. Here's a fine example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omoH618fmgQ