Bird Gehrl by Antony and the Johnsons
“25 Years of Jam continues: My #1 album of 2005 was the second album and breakthrough recording of Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now. Antony Hegarty named his group after late transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, and constructed a sparse, piano-based sound featuring his theatrical, almost operatic singing voice. I Am a Bird Now is a stark, soulful set of songs addressing gender identity, dysphoria, and psychic ascension from traditional concepts of sexual classification. Death is a theme on the album, though it is often followed by a second birth—that of the soul and sexual spirit. This is most pronounced in the song I've chosen here, album closer Bird Gehrl (its odd spelling is sometimes shown around the Web as Guhl or plain old Girl). Hegarty’s compositions on I Am a Bird Now speak to the ecstatic truths of individual identity, with a command seen in few other singers of the time. See my full review at http://www.noyoucmon.com/2010/07/59-i-am-bird-now.html.”
2 more comments / 5 lovesThis jam was posted by 7 people
but eldarkera was first
25 Years of Jam continues: My #1 album of 2005 was the second album and breakthrough recording of Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now. Antony Hegarty named his group after late transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, and constructed a sparse, piano-based sound featuring his theatrical, almost operatic singing voice. I Am a Bird Now is a stark, soulful set of songs addressing gender identity, dysphoria, and psychic ascension from traditional concepts of sexual classification. Death is a theme on the album, though it is often followed by a second birth—that of the soul and sexual spirit. This is most pronounced in the song I've chosen here, album closer Bird Gehrl (its odd spelling is sometimes shown around the Web as Guhl or plain old Girl). Hegarty’s compositions on I Am a Bird Now speak to the ecstatic truths of individual identity, with a command seen in few other singers of the time. See my full review at http://www.noyoucmon.com/2010/07/59-i-am-bird-now.html.
2
"I am a bird girl now / I've got my heart / Here in my hands now / I've been searching / For my wings some time." "I'm gonna be born / Into soon the sky / 'Cause I'm a bird girl / And the bird girls go to heaven" "I'm a bird girl / And the bird girls can fly / Bird girls can fly."
I'd forgotten how beautiful this album is, and this is one of the most moving tracks.
5
