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Birdie in a Cage

from The Flood and the Fire by Jen Starsinic

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about

written by Jen Starsinic (Be My Spirit Animal Music BMI)

lyrics

The mine is coal and the mine is heat
Dinner on the table and color TV
The mine is blood from my daddy to me
Spilling out down the family tree

And in our tree lived a bird so blue
That we caught and kept in an iron barred coop
Took him down to the mine so his death would warn
Of dying air and danger born

Birdie in a cage, birdie in a cage
Cage will lead him to his grave
From the grave to the pearly gates
Where he’ll no more be a birdie in a cage

They shut the elevator, locked the doors
Took us down to the bottom, time to work
About noon they yelled the bird had died
With the doors all locked we were trapped inside

Birdie in a cage, birdie in a cage
Cage will lead him to his grave
From the grave to the pearly gates
Where he’ll no more be a birdie in a cage

Grown men succumb to dust
Gone like a bird on a winter's gust
The people above didn't hear a sound
As the walls caved in and came crumbling down

So if you see a bird come touching down
By an empty grave for a miner not found
Won’t you take the time to hear its song
And think of the boys still mining coal

Birdie in a cage, birdie in a cage
Cage will lead him to his grave
From the grave to the pearly gates
Where he’ll no more be a birdie in a cage

credits

from The Flood and the Fire, released May 27, 2014
Jen Starsinic - vocal, fiddle, guitars
Molly Tuttle - harmony vocals
Eric Law - bass
Brady Custis - drums

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all rights reserved

tags

about

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Jen Starsinic Nashville, Tennessee

Jen Starsinic is a music artist, multi-instrumentalist, and community organizer. Her most recent release, 2020’s dreamy, confessional indie rock EP Bad Actor, has been described by PopMatters, American Songwriter, and other outlets as “poignant, intimate, and stunning,” “a modern gem,” and “a vivacious composition that recalls the wistful songwriting gold of Regina Spektor and Cat Power.”
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