Originally Posted by flibish (Post 9803058)

I'm sorry but I think the song is terrible. It's my least favorite of them all.

Originally Posted by rantingthespian (Post 9803917)

It is my least favorite of the 4, but I still really like it.

It's just a nice little sweet song.

Originally Posted by Branty (Post 9804207)

The clicking reminds me of 'Blackbird' by the Beatles

Originally Posted by ibeheath (Post 9804562)

My fav. of the bonus songs.

Originally Posted by always-40 (Post 10001069)

I really enjoy this song. It's more of a dave solo song though, imo.

I've always thought there was a pretty obvious political message there. (no political bent on my part here, just interpreting what I hear) Seems like he was just chastising the war. "A comfort to count the battles won after the war is lost." The general custer reference seemed to be comparing him to gw bush and his stubborness regarding the war. red=republicans, so I think he's somehow belittling the republican party. Heck, you can even interpret it such that he was saying that gw has a little pp!

Originally Posted by TheGorge (Post 10017519)

The entire song, from beginning to end, is a look at the plight of the Native Americans during the expansion and rise of the United States and was purposely written to parallel McCartney's "Blackbird."

etc...

Originally Posted by TheGorge (Post 10017519)

Here's my take--Like McCartney's "Blackbird," a very meaningful song about the struggles of an African-American woman in the Deep South before and during the Civil Rights movement disguised as a simple, beautiful ditty, Dave's "Little Red Bird," although slightly more straightforward than "Blackbird," is also a very meaningful song within a simple, beautiful ditty.

The entire song, from beginning to end, is a look at the plight of the Native Americans during the expansion and rise of the United States and was purposely written to parallel McCartney's "Blackbird." The similarities between the songs are too numerous to be accidental, from the use of an acoustic guitar and click track to the use of "bird" in the title and an instrumental bridge. The subject in the "Little Red Bird" and “Blackbird” are different (Native Americans and not an African-American women), but the topics are the same (the struggles of a minority population in the United States). Creating an homage to "Blackbird" is no easy task, but Dave pulled it off masterfully. In my opinion, "Little Red Bird" is one of Dave's best efforts as a songwriter in recent years.

"Little Red Bird" opens with the lines, "Little Red Bird, under a chair, waiting for the crumbs to fall, Daddy said get a job, but don't you see Daddy how good I am at catching crumbs." Throughout the song, when Dave uses the phrase, “Little Red Bird,” he’s referring specifically to Native Americans. Beginning in the 1800s, Native Americans were forced to "wait for crumbs to fall" because their way of life, for the most part, was systematically being destroyed by an expanding United States. "Daddy said get a job" is likely a reference to the US government, in that Americans expected Native Americans to give up the way of life they had know for thousands of years for the way of life Americans were creating. “Little Red Bird’s” response to this request—“but don’t you see Daddy how good I am at catching crumbs”—is the Native American’s refusal to take up the new way of life. Rightly so, the Native American would rather stay out of American society and just catch the “crumbs” that come his or her way.

The second verse, “General Custer it’s said, overestimated his abilities to win, Sitting Bull turned the table on him, a comfort to count the battles won after the war is lost,” is a self-explanatory and it enables the listener to understand what Dave was singing about in the first verse and the refrain. The second verse tells us how “Little Red Bird” found himself “under a chair, waiting for the crumbs to fall” because we learn that “Little Red Bird” lost the war. The United States was successful in its efforts to displace and move Native Americans to reservations. Sitting Bull’s victory against General Custer was a lone triumph in an otherwise unwinnable war for the Native Americans.

The third verse, “If there was a place, hidden in the stars, reflected on heaven's graces, if God had an honest face, a troubled expression would be watching the human race,” is a reference to Dave’s belief that what happened to the Native Americans in the United States is an atrocity. If God was watching, he would be troubled (rightly) by the actions of the United States.

"Guns and Gods and Little Red Birds” is used throughout the song as a refrain. Dave’s use of the word gun refers to how the United States was able to win the war.

Originally Posted by Norman Smiley (Post 10054378)

You get an A -. I had to take off for some punctuation.

Originally Posted by TheGorge (Post 10017519)

Here's my take--Like McCartney's "Blackbird," a very meaningful song about the struggles of an African-American woman in the Deep South before and during the Civil Rights movement disguised as a simple, beautiful ditty, Dave's "Little Red Bird," although slightly more straightforward than "Blackbird," is also a very meaningful song within a simple, beautiful ditty.

The entire song, from beginning to end, is a look at the plight of the Native Americans during the expansion and rise of the United States and was purposely written to parallel McCartney's "Blackbird." The similarities between the songs are too numerous to be accidental, from the use of an acoustic guitar and click track to the use of "bird" in the title and an instrumental bridge. The subject in the "Little Red Bird" and “Blackbird” are different (Native Americans and not an African-American women), but the topics are the same (the struggles of a minority population in the United States). Creating an homage to "Blackbird" is no easy task, but Dave pulled it off masterfully. In my opinion, "Little Red Bird" is one of Dave's best efforts as a songwriter in recent years.

"Little Red Bird" opens with the lines, "Little Red Bird, under a chair, waiting for the crumbs to fall, Daddy said get a job, but don't you see Daddy how good I am at catching crumbs." Throughout the song, when Dave uses the phrase, “Little Red Bird,” he’s referring specifically to Native Americans. Beginning in the 1800s, Native Americans were forced to "wait for crumbs to fall" because their way of life, for the most part, was systematically being destroyed by an expanding United States. "Daddy said get a job" is likely a reference to the US government, in that Americans expected Native Americans to give up the way of life they had know for thousands of years for the way of life Americans were creating. “Little Red Bird’s” response to this request—“but don’t you see Daddy how good I am at catching crumbs”—is the Native American’s refusal to take up the new way of life. Rightly so, the Native American would rather stay out of American society and just catch the “crumbs” that come his or her way.

The second verse, “General Custer it’s said, overestimated his abilities to win, Sitting Bull turned the table on him, a comfort to count the battles won after the war is lost,” is a self-explanatory and it enables the listener to understand what Dave was singing about in the first verse and the refrain. The second verse tells us how “Little Red Bird” found himself “under a chair, waiting for the crumbs to fall” because we learn that “Little Red Bird” lost the war. The United States was successful in its efforts to displace and move Native Americans to reservations. Sitting Bull’s victory against General Custer was a lone triumph in an otherwise unwinnable war for the Native Americans.

The third verse, “If there was a place, hidden in the stars, reflected on heaven's graces, if God had an honest face, a troubled expression would be watching the human race,” is a reference to Dave’s belief that what happened to the Native Americans in the United States is an atrocity. If God was watching, he would be troubled (rightly) by the actions of the United States.

"Guns and Gods and Little Red Birds” is used throughout the song as a refrain. Dave’s use of the word gun refers to how the United States was able to win the war.