THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS [Verse 1] I left my car where the road gave in, To a mountain breathing under my skin, Morning wind played the leaves like strings, And the trees leaned close to hear them sing. Little feet moved under the stone, Bright-winged strangers called me on, I knew no word, I knew no name, Still somehow I understood the same. [Pre-Chorus] No map in the river, No flag in the sky, No border ever stopped A cloud from passing by. [Chorus] I know the language of birds, Though I never learned the words, I hear what the wild wind means When it whispers through the trees. But give me a room full of human words, Every sentence clearly heard— And somehow I understand much less Than the language of birds. [Verse 2] I followed the music, forgot the miles, Past ancient rocks and nameless trails, Till uniforms rose where the forest thinned: “Where did you come from? Why did you come in?” I turned around—the mountain stayed Exactly as the mountain had always been. No scar in the earth, no warning sign That said, your world ends here, not mine. [Pre-Chorus] The deer crossed freely, The hawk crossed high, Only I was guilty Of following the sky. [Chorus] I know the language of birds, Though I never learned the words, I hear what the wild wind means When it whispers through the trees. But give me a room full of human words, Every sentence clearly heard— And somehow I understand much less Than the language of birds. [Verse 3] They questioned me in a tongue I knew, Every noun was clear, every verb was true, I understood the questions, line by line, Yet couldn't understand what made them mine. Then someone stamped my name in black, Slid a page across and sent me back. I read it once, I read it twice— Every word was mine, but none made sense of life. [Bridge — stripped down] Maybe birds are wiser For never naming land. Maybe trees know something We refuse to understand. We drew a line across the earth, Then taught our children what it's worth, While every spring the swallows fly Across our borders in the sky. [Final Chorus — bigger] I know the language of birds, Though I never learned the words, I know what the rainfall says When it falls on both sides of a fence. But give me laws and careful words, Give me everything I've learned— And somehow truth sounds clearer In the language of birds. [Outro — quiet] That night I still could hear them sing Beyond the fences we had built. No passports underneath their wings, No innocence, no guilt. And after all these years, One mystery still returns: I understood the birds whose language I had never learned... But not the men who spoke in words I knew.
