Andrea Gibson's, "Birthday"
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- "Andrea Gibson performing "Birthday" at Keuka College in Penn Yan, NY, on September 30, 2009. Part of the upcoming Elephant Engine High Dive Revival DVD.
Filmed by C.R. Saxton ( / crsaxton )"
It's funny how even after listening to this hundreds of times, after memorizing the words, after knowing exactly how she's going to move her hand in the next instant, I still am inspired anew every single time. I still find something else to love about this poem every single time. I still reach tears every single time.
My brother died the day I turned fifteen and ever since then I have felt like my birthday kind of fell through the calendar. But this poem makes me wish I could reclaim it.
the song is called "window" by the album leaf for those who were interested. great poem. great writer.
She feels so much. She makes me feel so much.
That's part of what makes it beautiful-- each time you listen to it you pick up another line or something you didn't catch the time before. It's amazing.
"We were all born on days when too many people died in terrible ways, but you still have to call it a birthday" - best line yet.
Any words I used to attempt to describe how much I love her would feel woefully inadequate in light of the music she speaks.
12 years later and it still hits hard damn Andrea 😭💕 ❤
This poem makes me feel endless
I remember the first time I watched this exact video for the first time years ago. I replayed it at least 20 times before moving on to the next one. Now, watching it again for the first time years later, it just rings that much more clearly in my mind. This will forever be one of my favorite poems. 🙏🏽
Her words are beyond stunning. This poem reminds me to have hope, despite so much ugliness. Thank you so much for that, Ms. Gibson.
I was never one for poetry. But this woman. This woman is amazing. This poem is absolutely beautiful. I may not understand everything, but the words I do understand, hit me hard.
I love you .. I mean.. I dont know when I listen to her everything feels so meaningful it's the biggest kind of art to say what most of the people think !
UA-cam recommended this to me about 7 years ago for some reason and I haven't stopped coming back. I get chills every time. Andrea Gibson you are amazing
im not kidding when i say that i have listened to this poem 4 times on 4 very different days and ended up crying each time
BEAUTIFUL
"We all have different reasons to forget to breathe." -3
She is exceptional! I admire her so much.
shes sooo fuckin amazing she brings me to the brink of tears every time!
Sometimes I don't even listen to the words..just her voice
i dont understand. who could possibly "dislike" this. This is the most beautiful thing i have ever herd
This is the world I want to live in.
That woman is... no words. "Beautiful" just doesn't seem to cut it.
this will always be my favorite. always.
I feel so much life when I listen to her.. cried..sobad. I envy her and her talents. I wish I had half of her writing ability.
Knowing such a beautiful, intelligent and articulate woman exists just raises the bar for who I long to be and who I long to be with
Shivers. They are so beautiful....
She can bring me to tears like no one else....
i think this might be my favorite thing ever
I love this woman she is amazing! I saw her live at my school today and I have to say while she is amazing to watch on a video she is so much more amazing in person.
Such powerful imagery... jesus, I love this woman.
Shivers and tears... Left me completely breathless.
Wow.. just.. wow. Made me shed a tear, so beautiful.
I started crying and then didn't stop.
yes, her voice is like music relaxing and soothing my heart * giving me hope everytime i need it *
I tear up so often when her words breath into my ears
My goodness. that is stunning.
That gave me chills. She's amazing.
This is so moving and powerful, I feel like it's my birth-day.
completely and utterly moving. wow.
I love that The Album Leaf has become the soundtrack to spoken word. It's so appropriate. And yes, I cried too.
I cry every time.
Thank You♥️
Her best poem, hands down.
My heart burst.
she is a beautiful human being
I love her. Inspiration.
I remember watching this with my drug councilor on our last session and we cried together. Poetry saved my life along with my concealer. Now I host my own open mic event.
A true artist.
anis mojgani uses this same background music! love them both and both poems will make your soul dance!
MUCH LOVE SENDING YOUR WAY
I wholeheartedly agree.
who in the world dislikes this song, must be someone who is mad they don't have the talent
💯🙏
11/12/2009 it was my birthday,,,, wow
My every aspiration. I'll get there
i watch this a lot and i always want to comment but i scroll down and see my last comment and it makes me sad that there are only 123 comments (although ironically my birthay is 1/23)
My birthday is a bad reminder too. I picked a different day something that is meaningful to me.
its so nice, even though i dont understand a word... :)
i can't even breathe
"...i could never make dying beautiful..."
Inspired!
@softball10 thank you
She's an exceptional poet. Listened to this many times over the last couple years. Anyone have an idea as to what the background music is?
everything about this, about Andrea, makes "beautiful" look like an insult. She's bigger than words. She's a string of words. She is poetry embodied.
@enzo275 I think it's something from The Album Leaf... maybe? I had the exact same feeling.
I think this poem is my reason for forgetting to breathe.
@enzo275 The Album Leaf - Window
Don't cover your ears, Love. Don't cover your ears, Life.
Beautiful poem. But i believe the music in the background is the song that plays during anis mojgani's "milos." am i right?
:]
i really want to read this for a public speaking competition at school. is that acceptable??
Yeah just give her credit
:-)
Does anyone know what image is behind her?
@MiracleofaSong the way Basquiat slept in a cardboard box to be closer to the rain.
does anyone know the name of whats playing ?
0 Dislikes,
EXACTLY.
is this from one of her book??
she is a cutie=D
At 12 years old I started bleeding with the moon
And beating up boys who dreamed of becoming astronauts.
I fought with my knuckles white as stars,
And left bruises the shape of Salem.
There are things we know by heart,
And things we don′t.
At 13 my friend Jen tried to teach me how to blow rings of smoke.
I'd watch the nicotine rising from her lips like halos,
But I could never make dying beautiful.
The sky didn′t fill with colors the night I convinced myself
Veins are kite strings you can only cut free.
I suppose I love this life,
In spite of my clenched fist.
I open my palm and my lifelines look like branches from an Aspen tree,
And there are songbirds perched on the tips of my fingers,
And I wonder if Beethoven held his breath
The first time his fingers touched the keys
The same way a soldier holds his breath
The first time his finger clicks the trigger.
We all have different reasons for forgetting to breathe.
But my lungs remember
The day my mother took my hand and placed it on her belly
And told me the symphony beneath was my baby sister's heartbeat.
And I knew life would tremble
Like the first tear on a prison guard's hardened cheek,
Like a prayer on a dying man′s lips,
Like a vet holding a full bottle of whisky like an empty gun in a war zone
Just take me
Just take me
Sometimes the scales themselves weigh far too much,
The heaviness of forever balancing blue sky with red blood.
We were all born on days when too many people died in terrible ways,
But you still have to call it a birthday.
You still have to fall for the prettiest girl on the playground at recess
And hope she knows you can hit a baseball
Further than any boy in the whole third grade
And I′ve been running for home
Through the windpipe of a man who sings
While his hands playing washboard with a spoon
On a street corner in New Orleans
Where every boarded up window is still painted with the words
We're Coming Back
Like a promise to the ocean
That we will always keep moving towards the music,
The way Basquait slept in a cardboard box to be closer to the rain.
Beauty, catch me on your tongue.
Thunder, clap us open.
The pupils in our eyes were not born to hide beneath their desks.
Tonight lay us down to rest in the Arizona dessert,
Then wake us washing the feet of pregnant women
Who climbed across the border with their bellies aimed towards the sun.
I know a thousand things louder than a soldier′s gun.
I know the heartbeat of his mother.
Don't cover your ears, Love.
Don′t cover your ears, Life.
There is a boy writing poems in Central Park
And as he writes he moves
And his bones become the bars of Mandela's jail cell stretching apart,
And there are men playing chess in the December cold
Who can′t tell if the breath rising from the board
Is their opponents or their own,
And there's a woman on the stairwell of the subway
Swearing she can hear Niagara Falls from her rooftop in Brooklyn,
And I'm remembering how Niagara Falls is a city overrun
With strip malls and traffic and vendors
And one incredibly brave river that makes it all worth it.
Ya′ll, I know this world is far from perfect.
I am not the type to mistake a streetlight for the moon.
I know our wounds are deep as the Atlantic.
But every ocean has a shoreline
And every shoreline has a tide
That is constantly returning
To wake the songbirds in our hands,
To wake the music in our bones,
To place one fearless kiss on the mouth of that brave river
That has to run through the center of our hearts
To find its way home.
I suppose i love this life despite my clenched fists😭
i never celebrated my birthday...now i want to know what happened on my birthday..
wonder if Beethoven held his breath the first time his fingers touched the keys the same way a soldier holds his breath the first time his finger clicks the trigger. We all have different reasons for forgetting to breathe
Julien's bday
On Andrea Gibson's homosexuality: Guys: 0 Girls: 1 Well played ladies, well played.
Whoops..someone's finger must have slipped and pushed the dislike button.
waow...very passionate and clever but sister please take some breaths to allow us to receive and feel each sentence ;-)