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Buffalo Springfield — Bluebird
Album: Buffalo Springfield Again
Avg rating:
7.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1539









Released: 1967
Length: 4:24
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Listen to my bluebird laugh.
She can't tell you why.
Deep within her heart, you see,
She knows only crying.
Just crying.

There she sits, a lofty perch.
Strangest color blue.
Flying is forgotten now.
Thinks only of you.
Just you.
Oh yeah...

So, get all those blues,
Must be a thousand hues.
And be just differently used.
You just know.

You sit there mesmerized
By the depth of her eyes
That you can't categorize.
She got soul.
She got soul.
She got soul.
She got soul!

Do you think she loves you?
Do you think at all?

Soon she's going to fly away.
Sadness is her own.
Give herself a bath of tears
And go home, and go home.
Comments (209)add comment
The same year as Sgt. Pepper, Light My Fire., Voodoo Child, Somebody to Love, and more, but this isn't.  A sound completely apart, and freaking amazing. 
If this isn't Godlike I don't know what is!
Wow, hard to believe the amount of intensity and verve they put into this, and hard to imagine it was way back then, but... DAMN, if only we could do something like this again nowadays!
Love this song, but there is that one chord where I always think they're going to bust into the beginning of Yes- Roundabout... but then the banjo kicks in. 
Golden voices never go out of style!
This song still holds up well! 
 unclehud wrote:

Absolutely!  Honest to goodness, Buffalo Springfield is playing in the "Lost Dimension" nightclub, aka Hippieland!  They play a unique break between verses, too.  (PS: Mannix meets with a very young Tom Skerritt at the club.)

Here's the YouTube video link again:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

... and here's the IMDB link that shows cast credits for Furay, Stills, and Young:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

RP is so full of cultural geniuses!  
 
pretty cool   Thanks for the link
 idiot_wind wrote:
Its just freakin amazing to hear three great guitars (two acoustic, one electric) and then a banjo, really coming together in one song. 

Why can't bands today experiment like this?
 
They do! It doesn't sound exactly the same, though. Of course.
 idiot_wind wrote:
Its just freakin amazing to hear three great guitars (two acoustic, one electric) and then a banjo, really coming together in one song. 

Why can't bands today experiment like this?
 
Well there was a whole lot of talent in that one group.
It's hard to find that in bands today.
 kcar wrote:
"Head for Hippie Land." Was that the band playing? 
 
Absolutely!  Honest to goodness, Buffalo Springfield is playing in the "Lost Dimension" nightclub, aka Hippieland!  They play a unique break between verses, too.  (PS: Mannix meets with a very young Tom Skerritt at the club.)

Here's the YouTube video link again:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

... and here's the IMDB link that shows cast credits for Furay, Stills, and Young:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0641707/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

RP is so full of cultural geniuses!  
 Ihatethissong wrote:
This is about my favorite song by these cats.
 
Yep!
 Proclivities wrote:

It's not often one sees or hears the sound of a banjo is described as "haunting", but I can hear what you mean.
 
I don't know...   That kid from Deliverance still gives me the stand up willies.

 idiot_wind wrote:
Its just freakin amazing to hear three great guitars (two acoustic, one electric) and then a banjo, really coming together in one song. 

Why can't bands today experiment like this?
 
Not sure it's the bands who shy away from experimentation.  I suspect it's the record companies and their push for profits.  Experimentation isn't a guaranteed sale. 

As Pink Floyd says so cogently:  "You've got to get an album out, you owe it to the people!  We're so happy we can hardly count!"

LOVE---LOVE---LOVE---10   
 treatment_bound wrote:
I recently saw an old clip of the late 60's TV show "Mannix", as its star Mike Connors recently passed away and somebody posted a tribute that's worth sharing.

Copy and paste this into another session to get a hilarious take on Hollywood's look of the "hippie" culture back then which includes a glimpse the Springfield!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

 
 
Thanks for sharing.!
That scene seems horribly unrealistic to me. "Hollywood's look" indeed.
Its just freakin amazing to hear three great guitars (two acoustic, one electric) and then a banjo, really coming together in one song. 

Why can't bands today experiment like this?
All 11,386 of 'em...
 kcar wrote:

"Head for Hippie Land." Was that the band playing? 

 
That was a great clip.
 kcar wrote:

"Head for Hippie Land." Was that the band playing? 
 
Yes, that's Buffalo Springfield playing in there.  I can at least recognize Young, Stills, and Furay in there.
Most excellent guitar solo!!
I thought this was a little known Guess Who song the minute I heard the start of it just now. 
Long live "psychedelic rock" and the things Stephen Stills has done with a guitar!
ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS!
 
 idiot_wind wrote:
The first true, country rock band, putting out  music that may have influenced the Beatles on the Sgt Pepper album.   

 
 
Sgt Pepper came out about 6 months before this.
The first true, country rock band, putting out  music that may have influenced the Beatles on the Sgt Pepper album.   

 
"Do you think she loves you?
Do you think at all?"



I'm wondering if this is really the time or place to display a dead jewel of Gods creation. with all the suffering in the world many of us come here to put the ugly  reality of life and death on hold  and emerge ourself in masterful music such as this song and maybe drift into a moment of zen. And then I click on comments and see this. heavy sigh. perhaps next post , a little more reflection. And do't get me started on habitat loss. North American birds are BIG trouble.  On the other hand if you look at the comment, from a sick and twisted point of view, it's really quite funny 
 treatment_bound wrote:
I recently saw an old clip of the late 60's TV show "Mannix", as its star Mike Connors recently passed away and somebody posted a tribute that's worth sharing.

Copy and paste this into another session to get a hilarious take on Hollywood's look of the "hippie" culture back then which includes a glimpse the Springfield!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

 

 
"Head for Hippie Land." Was that the band playing? 
 Proclivities wrote:

It's not often one sees or hears the sound of a banjo is described as "haunting", but I can hear what you mean.

 
Banjo music has haunted me since the movie "Deliverance"...
The music of my youth 50 years ago. Man oh man. I'm getting younger every day. Thanks RP!
 k-man wrote:
Somewhere there is an alternate ending to this tune, with blazing guitar.

 
Yeah, there's a nine minute version on this album, where it changes right before where the banjo would kick in on the standard version.

 https://www.discogs.com/Buffalo-Springfield-Buffalo-Springfield/release/1319791
In 1990 I was in the middle of a three year 'tour' in Japan and happened across this disc in one of those loud bright flashing 'only in Japan' kind of shops. Took it back to my little apartment with the tatami mats, kerosene heater, and the good stereo and proceeded to listen to it, look at the pictures, and pretend to read the Kanji liner notes about twenty times over the next two days. That was the visit home I needed at the time, I guess.
I recently saw an old clip of the late 60's TV show "Mannix", as its star Mike Connors recently passed away and somebody posted a tribute that's worth sharing.

Copy and paste this into another session to get a hilarious take on Hollywood's look of the "hippie" culture back then which includes a glimpse the Springfield!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

 
 Oxen1morale wrote:
Love that ending set with the haunting banjo

 
It's not often one sees or hears the sound of a banjo is described as "haunting", but I can hear what you mean.
Somewhere there is an alternate ending to this tune, with blazing guitar.
Love that ending set with the haunting banjo
You sit there mesmerized
By the depth of her eyes
That you can't categorize.
She got soul.

Just magic 
Wow. Freaking wow. 

The song with three different sub-songs. The guitars: electric and acoustic...and they are really tearing up. 

The banjo.   

Wow...Neil, Stephen, and Richie.
Must have inspired a Guess Who song.
Floors me every time! Surely one of the most amazing songs ever! So much going on, so much movement in a short time! Perfection!
Happy 70th Birthday Neil! 
If you put yourself back in that time of the late 60's, this is actually a quite extraordinary song.  There was little to nothing like it, anywhere.
FAR OUT!!  {#Sunny}
Now that is a Buffalo Springfield song I can live with

Wonderful 
eleven
 idiot_wind wrote:
Wow and wow and wow...from the mid 1960s. Electric guitar (Young?) and acoustic (Stills and Fury) and a banjo (??).

This group never ever got the recognition it should have. They did albums that were as trippy as Sgt. Pepper and predates it (1966,67)?
   

Electric guitar - Young
Acoustic guitar lead - Stills
Banjo - Charlie Chin
I'm repeating myself....but WOW!

This was 1967? These guys were so far ahead of the curve for trippy music with a country rock sound.

Makes you wonder what bands (Beatles? Hendrix? Byrds? Grateful Dead?)  listened to them?   
An absolute symphonic masterpiece of strings and harmonies and style and SWEET GENIUS ETERNAL JAM BRILLIANCE SUBLIME
I just love the way it comes in so hard and fast from the beginning, and builds, and only gets more and more intense.  Utterly UNIQUE!
My favorite song by Buffalo Springfield.  Love it!  :D
 ronniegirl wrote:

Yup. 17, laying in the grass, watching the clouds, free as a bird and listening to this. Ahhhh.
 
substitute "smoking some" for "laying in the" and everything is the same fro me.
Wow and wow and wow...from the mid 1960s. Electric guitar (Young?) and acoustic (Stills and Fury) and a banjo (??).

This group never ever got the recognition it should have. They did albums that were as trippy as Sgt. Pepper and predates it (1966,67)?

 
very nice!
8 > 9 

Classic '60s. Classic '00s. Some things never get stale with age. 

Freedom Rock? Turn it up!
wore the grooves out of my fist one, had to buy another. Our music is so precious, and where else could you hear this? A 10 every time.
Thanks Bill, maybe you could play a little Loggins and Messina too. as I believe Messina produced the Buffalos
An absolute classic, timeless-10
 paisleydancer66 wrote:
 Is that a Kenwood?  We had one. {#Dance}DaveInVA wrote:


 

Its a 1970's Sony STR-6055 receiver and a Marantz SLT12u turntable.

 

Who beats Buffalo Springfield?  
 Is that a Kenwood?  We had one. {#Dance}DaveInVA wrote:


 


Charlie Chan's banjo on this cut was, at the time, considered quaint and a bit daring. These days, seems like everyone's gotta have one. Witness tonight's following song, "Old Mountain Line" by Po' Girl. Me, I love it. Can't play a lick tho'. Harder than you'd think.
still cant understand why bill rejected "kind woman" off this album.......

{#Stupid} 
 greg4067 wrote:

Agree on the13 but Goleta? Wow!  I lived on Modoc Road back in 1969... same year as this album... refugee from the bay area. 
Hey, Have a good one... 

 

I lived on Modoc Street in Berkeley, between Marin and Solano, in the early 60's.

My Dad used to refer to us kids as the Modoc Indians back in that time.

And a 13 would not be out of order for this track.
Never realized how talented a guitarist Stephen Stills is.  Wow.
 Dave_Mack wrote:
Phew.  Was feeling awfully down after Polly.  This bird is much happier.

 
Ha! I know exactly what you mean. I agree 100%.

And Buffalo Springfield -- great to hear them on Radio Paradise. One of the first albums (vinyl) I owned that wasn't a Beatles production. Became a fan of Neil Young from then on. 
 ezzyme wrote:
Ok, this is a 13......
 
Agree on the13 but Goleta? Wow!  I lived on Modoc Road back in 1969... same year as this album... refugee from the bay area. 
Hey, Have a good one... 
1969 was definitely a landmark year for rock and roll. This is another perfect example of the diversity of great music released that year
Ok, this is a 13......
This has been a favorite of mine since highschool. I'm amazed that it still sounds good after all these years.
TRULY OUTSTANDING!!! A ride on the waaaayback machine!  {#Bananapiano}

Still an eleven
 merkin_muffley wrote:
I prefer the version by The Jame's Gang can't go wrong with a bit of Joe Walsh. But this is still good. 
 
Are you stupid, tasteless or nuts?
RP does it again:  introduces me to a song I never heard and just love.  I remember Buffalo Springfield, but revisited them on Wikipedia today when I heard this song.  Amazing list of members!  Thank you RP!
 
I prefer the version by The Jame's Gang can't go wrong with a bit of Joe Walsh. But this is still good. 
Reminds me of the spring of '73—newlyweds, the war was over—we had a new TEAC player and bought a tape which, if I'm remembering correctly, Bluebird comprised one entire side. I used to dance and twirl around the room as the song played on and on. Yes, the perfect hippie memory.
Buffalo Springfield were sooo good.  Soundtrack of my youth.  Must play my old album again tonight! {#Notworthy}
Buffalo Springfield always give me a PERFECT  idea and feeling of the best of HIPPIE TIMES!
Thank God I got off my a** and went to see them last year in Oakland. It was a surreal experience seeing this played live. 10+ from here. {#Cheers}
 Antigone wrote:

Posted on July 5, 2002. Still true.

This is another song that I'd like to be able to rate "10" more than once.

{#Notworthy}
 
Hello old timer. . . I am with you on that.
 Antigone wrote:
MAN! I love the rocking guitar AND the vocals on this song. They sure take me back. Thanks, AGAIN, RP!
 
Posted on July 5, 2002. Still true.

This is another song that I'd like to be able to rate "10" more than once.

{#Notworthy}
I have a moose named Jaw.

 
jpfueler wrote:
Neil Young has a Buffalo named Springfield, he was a star in Dances with Wolves.

he loves oreos so they would hold one up just behind the camera to get those "Gonna get run over by the bison" scenes
 

One of those old fart hippie songs that still withstands the test of time.
The backwoods banjo-picking immediately makes me think of the Arkansas Chuggabug from Wacky Races (ask your parents, kids):

Wacky Races Arkansas Chuggabug
 Rockyinmyradio wrote:
What I would give to find the long version of this song!! One of the greatest jam pieces in rock n' roll history. I can't believe they haven't reissued it yet. Perhaps being they did a brief reunion tour this year, they will reconsider releasing it on CD?
 
I used to have the double album (vinyl) of this.  Why is it not on CD?  Maybe the complete long version is on the box set that came out a while back?


Love this! Haven't heard for years but still makes me feel the same as when I first heard it.
Likely my fave BS tune...okay next to R & R Woman...
Maybe i'm swearing by saying this, but at first i thought i was listening to the Beatles. Very similar sounding if you ask me (especially the singer(s)). Anyway, sounds good!

7
 romeotuma wrote:


Very groovy...  love it...

 
 
Love the banjo...anyone dancing to that? 
 Rockyinmyradio wrote:
What I would give to find the long version of this song!! One of the greatest jam pieces in rock n' roll history. I can't believe they haven't reissued it yet. Perhaps being they did a brief reunion tour this year, they will reconsider releasing it on CD?
 
Have it on vinyl.  Pretty beat up from playing it so much.

Its so neat when at the break, the guitar comes back instead of the banjo.

9 to 10

Have no idea why I never gave it a 10 to begin with.
It grabbed my ears with its flashes of brilliance oh so long ago, and wow, I find I'm still crazy about the way it sounds today!  Thanks RP!
I always like the James Gang's version more.  A bit more spirited, I guess.
 michaelc wrote:
Love the riff at the end
 
Indeed, Steven Stills is underrated as a guitarist. His adaptation of flatpicking techniques to rock was radical for the time. Only Clarence White could give him a run for the money.
What I would give to find the long version of this song!! One of the greatest jam pieces in rock n' roll history. I can't believe they haven't reissued it yet. Perhaps being they did a brief reunion tour this year, they will reconsider releasing it on CD?
As sweet, moving and exhilarating now as it was then, and then some.  The final bars still send chills down my spine.
Buffalo Springfield, Manassas = classic american music = Very nice!

Love the riff at the end
Phew.  Was feeling awfully down after Polly.  This bird is much happier.
 ydjb wrote:


Include Richie Furay? How could you not? Between POCO and SHF (Souther, J.D., Hillman, Chris, and Furay) there was a lot of great work. I loved POCO but the two albums SHF put out (self-titled and Trouble in Paradise) were both excellent pieces of work. Actually, I believe most of the rhythm section of SHF was very similar to Manassas (Paul Harris, Joe Lala, Fuzzy and the like)

Check it out!

 
Guess I've been told. LOL! I've got all of Richie's Poco stuff and SHF, and, no, I wasn't diminishing his post-Springfield work or impact. He's gone to the light side, and IMHO his music has suffered...but at least he's happy. Fair enough?


 ydjb wrote:


Include Richie Furay? How could you not? Between POCO and SHF (Souther, J.D., Hillman, Chris, and Furay) there was a lot of great work. I loved POCO but the two albums SHF put out (self-titled and Trouble in Paradise) were both excellent pieces of work. Actually, I believe most of the rhythm section of SHF was very similar to Manassas (Paul Harris, Joe Lala, Fuzzy and the like)

Check it out!

  I haven't thought of Richie Furay or poco for YEARS.  Would be great to hear them.  There are 3 songs here, I hope they come on when I am listening.  

Buffalo Springfield was so wonderful.  Still sounds that way to me.


 abracadabra007 wrote:
anybody know where to get the long version of bluebird, like 10 minutes long.
 
That's the version where Stephen Stills gets off noisily in the middle, not your everyday listen, unless you're into that stuff.  The only place I've ever heard it is from my LP.

 ronniegirl wrote:

Yup. 17, laying in the grass, watching the clouds, free as a bird and listening to this. Ahhhh.
 

Right now?


 Pyro wrote:
I got to hear CSN in concert last year and was reminded of what an awesome guitarist Stills is. 
 
Yes indeed, he's generally underrated as a guitarist. 

I can never hear Buffalo Springfield without thinking of my best friend from my youth, now sadly dead of AIDS. We'd sit on his porch for hours, figuring out these songs and then playing them into the night. RIP, brother. 
 ronniegirl wrote:

Yup. 17, laying in the grass, watching the clouds, free as a bird and listening to this. Ahhhh.
 
You are saying my words!!

 abracadabra007 wrote:
anybody know where to get the long version of bluebird, like 10 minutes long.
 
Yes, your comment may be 2 years old, but I have it on vinyl.  A two LP greatest hits album.  Might get around to ripping it if it isn't too worn.  Played it an awful lot back in the day.

I have this on LP and CD !{#Snooty}
another: are you kidding?!


And their bird could sing !
 WonderLizard wrote:


Hmm. I guess you could argue that honor went to Cream, since their members all came from major (at least British anyway) acts. Now, in terms of what came out of the Springfield, hard to argue the impact of a seminal group on the ensuing decades. And, yes, I include Richie Furay in there. Well, at least he's happy...
 

Include Richie Furay? How could you not? Between POCO and SHF (Souther, J.D., Hillman, Chris, and Furay) there was a lot of great work. I loved POCO but the two albums SHF put out (self-titled and Trouble in Paradise) were both excellent pieces of work. Actually, I believe most of the rhythm section of SHF was very similar to Manassas (Paul Harris, Joe Lala, Fuzzy and the like)

Check it out!

I got to hear CSN in concert last year and was reminded of what an awesome guitarist Stills is.  Graham Nash found an old tape of Stills jamming with HENDRIX and is planning to release it on CD sometime in the future.  I look forward to that!
Terrific song from a great group.  Spawned others: Poco, Loggins and Messina, CSN&Y.  A sometimes underrated group.


{#Notworthy}  All hail Stephen Stills ! ! ! {#Pray}

quesarah wrote:
Fun! And I'm 17 again.. bonus.
Yup. 17, laying in the grass, watching the clouds, free as a bird and listening to this. Ahhhh.
meower wrote:
soon she is going to fly away, sadness is her own give herself a bath of tears and go home and go home
Sounded to me like "my" and "myself"
Fun! And I'm 17 again.. bonus.
One of the great great records of the late 60's. The great fade out..courtesy of Mr. Jack Nietze (sic?). Just heavenly. Thanks for this one.
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!
billbangert wrote:
Tired tired tired worn out...let's move on shall we?
sounds like someone needs some sleep...get a good 8 and open your mind to one of the best bands ever.
Tired tired tired worn out...let's move on shall we?