Today the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared this magnificent bird extinct. In the 19th Century, the bird was hunted for trophies and its feathers used in hats. In the 1940s, industrial loggers clear-cut the entire Southeast forest that was home to the bird. There are haunting anecdotes of sightings of the last female flying through the decimated forest calling for a mate and hearing nothing. I hope this is at last a lesson to us to do better, to relook at our values. Providing a future for ourselves is inextricably linked to providing a future for the other inhabitants with which we share this planet.
Came back to this song after I read the news. Was through Sufjan's song I found out about this magnificent bird and its tragic backstory. "And the sewing machine" damn you, Singer.
This is continuing to happen, and when another species is exterminated and then declared extinct, I don't want to be a doddering old woman on a cane when rightfully angry future generations of Floridians demand to know why we did not work harder to save the Florida Scrub-jay and the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow and all I'll be able to do is reply, "We did try, we did try." Even with the growing momentum and calls to upgrade the jay's status to Endangered and officially adopt it as the state bird of Florida, we still might not be able to save it or the sparrow. And even though we are out in the field, leg-banding, mapping, acquiring and restoring habitat - it might not be in time to prevent their loss. And there will be angry, aggrieved children crying in museums, seeing the exhibits of extinct birds, cursing the adults before them for causing this. I know, because I once was one of those children - and again as an adult - when I saw the exhibits for the first time, and the monuments later.
I know it's an outtake and never even received a proper release, but this is still one of the more beautiful Sufjan compositions, in my opinion. Such a beautiful and melancholy song.
Very sad day that the Lord God Bird is officially gone forever. Thanks for memorializing this creature with music Sufjan. We humans face a reckoning for our crimes against nature and animals.
I grew up and live in the creek bottoms in the hills in southern Arkansas. I spent many a morning trundling through the woods listening to hammering of the Lord God. I hope they aren't all gone. They probably are though. All of the great cathedrals down here on Sandy and Bushy creek, miles and miles of hardwood bottoms have all been clearcut. Rest in Peace peckerhead
They're still here my friend. I live outside Fort Smith. About a week ago I saw a black and white crow sized bird on tree at the creek by my house. My first thought was pileated but no. This was something else. I could be wrong. I like to think not.
This song is about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in America. It is now most likely extinct. People called it the "Lord God Bird" or "The Great God Bird" because when someone saw it, they would exclaim "Lord God.... what a bird" The last one seen was in Arkansas.
This song makes me incredibly emotional now that this bird is declared extinct. I don't know, but picturing people going out and looking for it for decades when it has been extinct the whole time makes me tear up.
On Sept. 29, 2021, the U.S. government declared the ivory-billed woodpecker officially extinct. "And the watchers beware, lest they see it fall, and paradise might laugh when at last it falls."
I don't believe that he ever intended for this song to be on an official release. It definitely isn't an Illinois outtake; this song would have been on his Arkansas album!
The saddest thing is collectors would shoot them for their collections though thy were already nearly extinct. When the last few were found and studied in the Singer tract in Arkansas in 1942, even the governors and president couldn’t stop the Singer Sewing Machine Co. from clear felling the last stand of old south forest to save the birds, though they were offered financial reimbursement. Gee I wish the governor had just said “That’s it. No more cutting.”
There's a book about the same bird titled "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley. We had to read it in 10th grade, and once I heard this song I was reminded of it.
ZPrivileged to hear him perform this Iive in Durham, NC, in his butterfly tour, and even the crushing psychotropics doctors had burdened me with could not kill that experience, that joyful concert! (Fired them that month. Doing just fine ten years later, thank you very much! )
It came out on NPR when they talked about the discovery of the Great Lord Bird thought to be extinct. 2005 - It is not on an album , but he does it in concert.
We are at the beginning of a human-caused mass extinction, and this bird has become one of the first species to be needlessly sacrificed. I want to cry.
I think the sewing machine lyric is a reference to the Singer company, which purchased the last plot of land where the ivory billed woodpecker was conclusively spotted.
You should check out the audio document regarding the bird which includes Sufjan's song as snippets. Basically what I got from it was that this bird returned as if a gift from god. Where its return sparked a tourism industry in the small town to boost up their economy. Sadly though, as of today, it still hasn't gone well due to the fact no one still is able to "see" the bird.
Thank you Sufjan for this eulogy. Yet another species needlessly sacrificed because of human selfishness and greed. Rest in peace beautiful Ivory billed woodpeckers. 🪽🪽🪽
Also the disappearance of the sewing machine industry that was once the lifeblood of the community. The motion of a woodpecker mimics that of a sewing machine. God was there for the people of the town through the hardship of recession.
@@King_of_carrot_flowers Sorry, I´m probably wrong about this, but does he sing "sewing machine"? I hear "sawing machine" which also fits perfectly in the lyric..
ABSOLUTELY NOT. I teach a class where we listen to this and an audio doc about the writing of the song and the town where it is set, Brinkley. it's about the loss of sewing, factory, manufacturing jobs, and the call of the city to the young people who have no future in a tiny town.
@KAHANU ERMEYAS-TULU Reread my comment. Slowly. It’s not about religion. And the bird is only part of the song - a symbol of disappearing small towns in rural America. If you are still not convinced... Why don’t you Google it - “"sufjan stevens npr brinkley” and listen to the doc?
Today the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared this magnificent bird extinct. In the 19th Century, the bird was hunted for trophies and its feathers used in hats. In the 1940s, industrial loggers clear-cut the entire Southeast forest that was home to the bird. There are haunting anecdotes of sightings of the last female flying through the decimated forest calling for a mate and hearing nothing. I hope this is at last a lesson to us to do better, to relook at our values. Providing a future for ourselves is inextricably linked to providing a future for the other inhabitants with which we share this planet.
Thank you for these words 💚
Wow. Thank you for sharing this really moving comment. ❤️❤️❤️
Came back to this song after I read the news. Was through Sufjan's song I found out about this magnificent bird and its tragic backstory.
"And the sewing machine" damn you, Singer.
The story is absolutely heartbreaking
This is continuing to happen, and when another species is exterminated and then declared extinct, I don't want to be a doddering old woman on a cane when rightfully angry future generations of Floridians demand to know why we did not work harder to save the Florida Scrub-jay and the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow and all I'll be able to do is reply, "We did try, we did try."
Even with the growing momentum and calls to upgrade the jay's status to Endangered and officially adopt it as the state bird of Florida, we still might not be able to save it or the sparrow. And even though we are out in the field, leg-banding, mapping, acquiring and restoring habitat - it might not be in time to prevent their loss.
And there will be angry, aggrieved children crying in museums, seeing the exhibits of extinct birds, cursing the adults before them for causing this. I know, because I once was one of those children - and again as an adult - when I saw the exhibits for the first time, and the monuments later.
Sufjan Steven's outtakes and "throw-away" songs are light-years above and beyond most people's "greatest hits." Thank you, Sufjan.
I know it's an outtake and never even received a proper release, but this is still one of the more beautiful Sufjan compositions, in my opinion. Such a beautiful and melancholy song.
no
Very sad day that the Lord God Bird is officially gone forever. Thanks for memorializing this creature with music Sufjan. We humans face a reckoning for our crimes against nature and animals.
I grew up and live in the creek bottoms in the hills in southern Arkansas. I spent many a morning trundling through the woods listening to hammering of the Lord God.
I hope they aren't all gone. They probably are though. All of the great cathedrals down here on Sandy and Bushy creek, miles and miles of hardwood bottoms have all been clearcut.
Rest in Peace peckerhead
Do you write?
Seriously man, you should be a writer. This comment made tears well in my eyes.
They're still here my friend. I live outside Fort Smith. About a week ago I saw a black and white crow sized bird on tree at the creek by my house. My first thought was pileated but no. This was something else. I could be wrong. I like to think not.
I've probably read your comment 3-4 times in the last 10 minutes. Beautiful
How cool to have heard this wonderful, exploited bird.
If there is an underrated song in the world it has to be this one...
What a beautiful melody!!!!
I know right!
This song is about the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the largest woodpecker in America. It is now most likely extinct. People called it the "Lord God Bird" or "The Great God Bird" because when someone saw it, they would exclaim "Lord God.... what a bird" The last one seen was in Arkansas.
Not quite correct. The largest known woodpecker in North America. The largest in the America's was the Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico, also gone now.
@Clarence Jones Not quite correct. North America exists in Space, and itself is endangered.
no shit.. they are everywhere here in ontario
@@stevenicholson2358 Nope
This song makes me incredibly emotional now that this bird is declared extinct. I don't know, but picturing people going out and looking for it for decades when it has been extinct the whole time makes me tear up.
This song has always me mezermized me ever since I heard it on NPR years ago.
Same 😂
This is the first Sufjan Stevens song I have heard (last night on NPR) and I love it!
On Sept. 29, 2021, the U.S. government declared the ivory-billed woodpecker officially extinct.
"And the watchers beware, lest they see it fall, and paradise might laugh when at last it falls."
I don't believe that he ever intended for this song to be on an official release. It definitely isn't an Illinois outtake; this song would have been on his Arkansas album!
How I love to hear his voice. It's very comforting.
Yes
The actual name of this song is "The Lord God Bird"
The saddest thing is collectors would shoot them for their collections though thy were already nearly extinct. When the last few were found and studied in the Singer tract in Arkansas in 1942, even the governors and president couldn’t stop the Singer Sewing Machine Co. from clear felling the last stand of old south forest to save the birds, though they were offered financial reimbursement. Gee I wish the governor had just said “That’s it. No more cutting.”
bellissima :) Sufjan's ability to tell stories is nearly as fantastic as his ability to write meaningful music.
There's a book about the same bird titled "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley. We had to read it in 10th grade, and once I heard this song I was reminded of it.
ZPrivileged to hear him perform this Iive in Durham, NC, in his butterfly tour, and even the crushing psychotropics doctors had burdened me with could not kill that experience, that joyful concert! (Fired them that month. Doing just fine ten years later, thank you very much! )
a song of mourning now
it was a song he did exclusively for NPR.
It came out on NPR when they talked about the discovery of the Great Lord Bird thought to be extinct. 2005 - It is not on an album , but he does it in concert.
Forever my favourite by Sufjan
I can't stop listening! So good.
We are at the beginning of a human-caused mass extinction, and this bird has become one of the first species to be needlessly sacrificed. I want to cry.
goodbye to the great god bird :(
Tears
It was recorded for an NPR show in 2005, and was released on the NPR website.
Life is all memory 💙💚💛
Nice song! And it's great to hear on NPR(2014) that the bird may not be extinct after all.
This song turns me into a soppy puddling mess. What a world, what a world........ . . . . . . .
Great Song
Good music = Good life
I think the sewing machine lyric is a reference to the Singer company, which purchased the last plot of land where the ivory billed woodpecker was conclusively spotted.
The Lord God Bird
wonderful! many thanks!
There's a little audio doc that goes with this. Got it somewhere...
Such a sad story for the Ivory Billed.. we humans suck
You should check out the audio document regarding the bird which includes Sufjan's song as snippets.
Basically what I got from it was that this bird returned as if a gift from god. Where its return sparked a tourism industry in the small town to boost up their economy.
Sadly though, as of today, it still hasn't gone well due to the fact no one still is able to "see" the bird.
RIP TO THE GOOD LORD BIRD
the ivory billed woodpecker has officially been labeled extinct😢
I believe it's an outtake of Illinois.
high art
why isn't this damn song on Itunes?
Cause iTunes sucks :-)
Daniel Saenz just download it with a popular UA-cam downloader then convert the format.
FYI - The ivory-billed woodpecker has gone extinct.
Finally there's no one who dislikes the clip :)
It was not recorded for NPR it was recorded in collaboration with Long Haul Productions
Is the image above the original record sleeve of the song?
Thank you Sufjan for this eulogy. Yet another species needlessly sacrificed because of human selfishness and greed. Rest in peace beautiful Ivory billed woodpeckers. 🪽🪽🪽
🐦 will we every see the ivory-billed woodpecker every again?
how can anyone dislike this
I created 15 fake accounts to dislike it, so we'd know who is here to truly enjoy the song and who just wants to make trouble.
8/8/2021 i am here
the holy spirit
Yep
Sames!
challenge accepted and accomplished. you're welcome!
The disappearance of the bird is compared to the disappearance of modern religion
Also the disappearance of the sewing machine industry that was once the lifeblood of the community. The motion of a woodpecker mimics that of a sewing machine. God was there for the people of the town through the hardship of recession.
@@King_of_carrot_flowers Sorry, I´m probably wrong about this, but does he sing "sewing machine"? I hear "sawing machine" which also fits perfectly in the lyric..
@@brand7549 sewing, I think
ABSOLUTELY NOT. I teach a class where we listen to this and an audio doc about the writing of the song and the town where it is set, Brinkley. it's about the loss of sewing, factory, manufacturing jobs, and the call of the city to the young people who have no future in a tiny town.
@KAHANU ERMEYAS-TULU Reread my comment. Slowly. It’s not about religion. And the bird is only part of the song - a symbol of disappearing small towns in rural America. If you are still not convinced... Why don’t you Google it - “"sufjan stevens npr brinkley” and listen to the doc?
What album/release is this from?
Totally extinct now