Bird on the Wire

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"Bird on the Wire"
Song by Leonard Cohen
from the album Songs from a Room
ReleasedApril 1969
Recorded26 September 1968
Studio Nashville, Tennessee
Genre Contemporary folk
Length3:28
Songwriter Leonard Cohen
Producer Bob Johnston

"Bird on the Wire" is a song written by Canadian musician Leonard Cohen that became one of his signature songs. It was recorded 26 September 1968 in Nashville and included on his 1969 album Songs from a Room . A May 1968 recording produced by David Crosby, titled "Like a Bird", was added to the 2007 remastered CD. Judy Collins was the first to release the song on her 1968 album Who Knows Where the Time Goes . Joe Cocker also covered the song on his second studio album the following year and his version reached #78 in Canada. [1]

Contents

In the 1960s, Cohen lived on the Greek island Hydra with his girlfriend Marianne Ihlen, the woman depicted on the back cover of Songs from a Room. She has related how she helped him out of a depression by handing him his guitar, whereupon he began composing "Bird on the Wire", inspired by a bird sitting on one of Hydra's recently installed phone wires, followed by memories of wet island nights. He finished it in a Hollywood motel.

Cohen has described "Bird on the Wire" as a simple country song, and the first recording, by Judy Collins, was indeed done in a country setting. He later made various minor changes, such as the modifications present on Cohen Live . Different renditions are included on all of his live albums. On occasion he also performed Serge Lama's French version, "Vivre tout seul", in concert.

In the sleevenotes to a 2007 rerelease of Songs From A Room, the song was described as "simultaneously a prayer and an anthem, a kind of Bohemian 'My Way'." [2]

Composition

In the liner notes to the 1975 compilation The Best of Leonard Cohen , Cohen wrote about the song:

I always begin my concert with this song. It seems to return me to my duties. It was begun in Greece and finished in a motel in Hollywood around 1969 along with everything else. Some lines were changed in Oregon. I can't seem to get it perfect. Kris Kristofferson informed me that I had stolen part of the melody from another Nashville writer. He also said that he's putting the first couple of lines on his tombstone, and I'll be hurt if he doesn't.

It has been suggested that the song to which Kristofferson was referring is "Turn Me On", written by Nashville songwriter John D. Loudermilk, which was originally recorded by Mark Dinning in 1961 and later covered by many other artists, including Nina Simone, and which shares a similar melody and some lyrical patterns with Cohen's song. [3]

Cover versions

Many artists have covered the song, often as "Bird on a Wire" (indeed, this variation appears in the compilation The Essential Leonard Cohen ), including:

Charts

Leonard Cohen version

Chart (1969)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [7] 32
Chart (2016)Peak
position
France (SNEP) [8] 137

The Neville Brothers version

Certifications

The Neville Brothers version

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) [18] Gold5,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - April 17, 1971" (PDF).
  2. ↑ Sleevenotes, Songs From A Room, 2007 SONY
  3. ↑ Hickerson, Joe (22 March 2007). "The Songfinder: A Reader-Assisted Song Search Service". Sing Out!: The Folk Song Magazine. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "RPM Top 30 AC - September 5, 1987" (PDF).
  5. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - March 17, 1990" (PDF).
  6. ↑ "Watch Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen on Wednesday, January 3 on CBC". CBC Arts, 29 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Leonard Cohen – Bird on the Wire" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  8. ↑ "Leonard Cohen – Bird on the Wire" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Hits of the World: Canada". Billboard . Vol. 102, no. 33. 18 August 1990. p. 70.
  10. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 1272." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 7977." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  12. ↑ "The Neville Brothers – Bird on a Wire" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "The Neville Brothers – Bird on a Wire". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  15. ↑ "Adult Contemporary" . Billboard . 7 July 1990. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  16. ↑ "End of Year Top 50 Singles 1990". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 26 November 2025.
  17. ↑ Lwin, Nanda. "Top 100 singles of the 1990s". Jam!. Archived from the original on 29 August 2000. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  18. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – The Neville Brothers – Bird on a Wire". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 26 November 2025.

Further reading

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