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Laurie Anderson — Excellent Birds (w/ Peter Gabriel)
Album: Mister Heartbreak
Avg rating:
7.1

Your rating:
Total ratings: 186







Released: 0
Length: 3:08
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Flying birds. Excellent birds. Watch them fly. There they go.
Falling snow. Excellent snow. Here it comes. Watch it fall.
Long words. Excellent words. I can hear them now.
This is the picture.
I'm sitting by the window. Watching the snow fall. I'm looking out.
And I'm moving. Turning in time. Jump up!
And I can land on my feet. Look out! This is the picture.
This is the picture. This is the picture. This is the picture.

Looking out. I'm watching out. But when I see the future,
I close my eyes. I can see it now.
I see pictures of people rising up. I see pictures of people falling down.
I see pictures of people, they're standing on their heads. They're ready!
I see pictures of people rising up. I see pictures of people falling down.
I see pictures of people, they're standing on their heads. They're ready!

They're looking out. Look out! They're watching out. Watch out!
They're looking out. Look out!
They're watching out. Watching watching out.

I see pictures of people. I see pictures of people.
They're watching. They're watching out. Watch out.
I see pictures of people. They're watching out. They're watching out.
I see pictures of people. Watching. Watch out. They're watching.
I see pictures of people. Watching out. Watch out.
Comments (43)add comment
Love this version. RIP Lou Reed....Sorry for your loss Laurie Anderson


 loungelizard48 wrote:
First time I heard/saw PG was the lead in for David Bowie in Vancouver wayyyyyyyyyy back. He nearly upstaged the main event! Blew us all away. Nice sound here.
 
I was at that show, too. Serious Moonlight tour at BC Place, and the Tubes played first. I also recall that Peter Gabriel nearly drown in English Bay earlier in the day, and invited the Coast Guard members who fished him out of the water to attend the show as his guest.



Interview With Laurie Anderson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpDTL0kUVRw



I've always preferred this version over the one on "So", this one has much more energy and spunk.
I don't understand the favourable reviews from my fellow RP listeners. Perhaps because I don't know Laurie's work, but, with this song in particular, I think the original version is so much better than this one.
More Laurie please...more, more, more
I'm surprised this is the first I've heard Laurie Anderson on RP. Play more please, and not just the song with Peter Gabriel on it. Lots to choose from.
This one goes to 11.
Laurie Anderson Bravo! Oh, was Peter Gabriel on this, too? Who knew?
winter wrote:
Excellent birds ...
This is too funny.
Laurie Anderson was a jaw-dropping show (89 or 90 I think?) Anyone know what she's up to these days? I remember being so dissappointed in the 80's when I read an interview where Laurie said she was taking voice lessons, and wanted to sing more. We could do a whole thread of favorite song quotes from Laurie... "Hey... gimme that pen"
MinMan wrote:
More Laurie Anderson songs please. Her work is conspicuously missing from Rp's play list Try Strange Angels; Hiawatha; Kokoku; Big Science, Let X=X, Etc. Wonderful stuff that stands the test of time
Here! Here ! I agree! More please.......
First time I heard/saw PG was the lead in for David Bowie in Vancouver wayyyyyyyyyy back. He nearly upstaged the main event! Blew us all away. Nice sound here.
More Laurie Anderson songs please. Her work is conspicuously missing from Rp's play list Try Strange Angels; Hiawatha; Kokoku; Big Science, Let X=X, Etc. Wonderful stuff that stands the test of time
Excellent birds ...
There are two versions of this song, I think: Anderson's and Gabriel's. I like them both, but give the edge to this version.
EXCELLENT!
Yes!!!
This is different than the one on So, right? The only thing someone standing on their head is ready for is a kick in the face.
warderblu wrote:
Enough is enough already!!!! For now on I am voting everything with Peter Gabriel as a 1...... He is good - but NOT THIS GOOD!!!
In order to counterbalance your "I'm not going to take it anymore" votes, I am going to vote "19" on each Peter Gabriel song. The average will then be "10" (I think. Please check the math). Isn't that nice? Yes. Delightful.
ScopArch wrote:
Does Peter Gabriel donate alot of $$$ to RP?
Yes. ScopArch wrote:
I give this song a 10 only because of Laurie! Good Stuff!
Ok.
First time I've heard her here. Could the uploader upload "Mr. Heartbreak"? This is 80s stuff that you never heard often enough to get tired of it.
gdignard wrote:
Perfect timing! I'm actually going to see her in concert tonight here in Toronto. She's doing a one-woman show called "The End of the Moon", presumably based on her experience as artist-in-residence at NASA.
I saw "End of the Moon" a few months ago in New York. What did you think? I loved it, although it felt rather abbreviated.
Lucky duck - she's been to Sweden all of once that I know of. *dreamy look* /Stefan
Perfect timing! I'm actually going to see her in concert tonight here in Toronto. She's doing a one-woman show called "The End of the Moon", presumably based on her experience as artist-in-residence at NASA.
I wonder what ever happened to my CD of this... Excellant!! Thanx...
ScopArch wrote:
Does Peter Gabriel donate alot of $$$ to RP? I give this song a 10 only because of Laurie! Good Stuff!
Does PG donate to RP? No. Does he donate to hundreds of talented and deserving artists around the globe of whom we might never have heard if Peter hadn't stuck his neck out to record and promote them? Is he creating a sphere of influence that is impacting musical trends not just in parts of the world from which people like you would never buy a CD but also on the slightly-less-inane-than-20-years-ago nu-metal bands you hear on mainstream radio, pushing them away from the groundbreak-in-their-day but ready-to-be-replaced conventions of the British invasion with rhythms and tempos and lyrical structures from the hidden recesses of human existence? Is he, perhaps, the reason Radio Paradise exists? I dunno.
8)
This was a great album. I agree with the posts below. Let's hear Sharky's Night with Mr. Burrows. Check out "Home of the Brave", the movie for the complete picture.
PG's collaborative work rocks my world. Si me gusta.
Does Peter Gabriel donate alot of $$$ to RP? I give this song a 10 only because of Laurie! Good Stuff!
Thank you for playing Laurie Anderson. Looks like you have at least 3 thumbs up right here for "Sharkey's Day." How about that too?
It's been literally years since I've heard Laurie Anderson as part of any broadcast. But that lovely combination of intelligence and humor hasn't faded. Gods, but it was so long ago when I was first exposed to her through the old Night Flight series on the USA channel in the early eighties.
Enough is enough already!!!! For now on I am voting everything with Peter Gabriel as a 1...... He is good - but NOT THIS GOOD!!!
Buzzardcheater wrote:
Ah yeah. Laurie! I loved her stuff in the 80s. Play Sharkey's Day/Night with the great voice of William S. Burroughs. "Sun's going down.....like a big bald head....."
Paging Mr. Sharkey. White courtesy telephone please. Yeah, let's hear some of that.
FINALLY RP is playing some L.A. Now how about adding Skarky's Night that I uploaded months ago?
Can do without the electronic hand clap or whatever that is
Well, I think she's divine. Not everyone's cup of hemlock, granted. As for me, I could listen to Laurie's stylings 24/7.
"watching... watching" just plain goofy. cracks me up too. i can just picture her sitting there shining a flashlight in her own face or something. whatever.
cracks me up every time i hear it! LESLIE i hope you like this one! ;)
Buzzardcheater wrote:
Ah yeah. Laurie! I loved her stuff in the 80s. Play Sharkey's Day/Night with the great voice of William S. Burroughs. "Sun's going down.....like a big bald head....."
Me too. This whole album is a great changeup. I like Blue Lagoon off of this record.
Ah yeah. Laurie! I loved her stuff in the 80s. Play Sharkey's Day/Night with the great voice of William S. Burroughs. "Sun's going down.....like a big bald head....."