Birdy (Peter Gabriel album)

Birdy is the first soundtrack and sixth album overall by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel for the movie of the same name, released in 1985. The album marked Gabriel's first work with producer Daniel Lanois. It was remastered with most of Gabriel's catalogue in 2002.

Background

In addition to composing new pieces for the soundtrack, Gabriel also used instrumental themes and sections from earlier works to form the basis of some tracks. Of the album's twelve tracks, two adapt music from Gabriel's third album and three adapt music from Gabriel's fourth album. There are, however, no songs with lyrics on the album. Gabriel recorded the album over the course of six weeks.

In an interview with Spin in 1986, Gabriel said, “Birdy was about the struggle of the spirit... It was about the interplay between the traumatized Birdy, the wounded victim, and his best friend, who’s ostensibly the tough one. But in the end, it’s Birdy who’s strong and his friend who’s cracking. When I saw the rough cut of the film, I knew I had to do it. It haunted me.”

Recalling his experience of working with Gabriel, Birdy director Alan Parker told Prog magazine in 2010, "We got on so well, he’s such a sweet man. It was such a refreshing change from working with megalomaniacs like Roger Waters. Peter’s record company were very difficult to begin with, and so I phoned them to ask if they’d mind if Peter took a little time to do this, and they said as long as it didn’t take more than a couple of months because Peter was already a year late or something. He had strong views and I would never be able to persuade him to do something he didn’t feel comfortable with, but we didn’t have any confrontation as such."

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The Great Rock Discography	6/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

Released 18 March 1985, Birdy reached number 51 on the UK Albums Chart and number 162 on the US Billboard 200. The commercial performance exemplified Gabriel's strong cult following, according to biographer Daryl Easlea (2018), adding that the chart peaks are "still pretty impressive for what is essentially an album of sound collages." In their review, Rolling Stone noted the album's prioritisation of "mood over melodic content".

In a retrospective review, Tom Demalon of AllMusic felt the album was a "successful companion piece" to Parker's film, providing a "moody and evocative" backdrop. He noted many of the tracks incorporate threads from Peter Gabriel's fourth album (1982) and warned that the album would disappoint listeners expecting Gabriel's more pop-leaning material, but said "its meditative nature makes it fine, reflective listening for the more adventurous." Steven Grant and Ira Robbins, writing for Trouser Press, also drew attention to the mix of new material and adaptations of earlier recordings, and felt that "lthough it's uncommon to hear sustained instrumental work from someone so known for vocal music, the score is audibly identifiable, and provides a fascinating glimpse into his adaptational thinking." They described it as " strongly affecting work, a major challenge met admirably with style and character."

Colin Larkin described it as a "haunting soundtrack" in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, whilst in The Great Rock Discography, Martin C. Strong wrote how Gabriel transformed earlier material into "atmospheric mood pieces" with "impressive effect". Birdy was reissued on vinyl in 2017; reviewing the release for Uncut, John Lewis described Birdy as "interesting but fragmentary" but highlighted "Birdy's Flight" for being a heavy, drum-laden instrumental based on "Not One of Us". He also noted the album's significance, saying: "Many of the techniques explored on Birdy – particularly the experiments with ambient sound on 'Dressing the Wound' and 'Sketchpad with Trumpet and Voice' – would lay the groundwork for So, and both projects certainly shared many of the same personnel."

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Gabriel.

Side One
No.	Title	Length
1.	"At Night"	2:38
2.	"Floating Dogs"	2:55
3.	"Quiet and Alone"	2:30
4.	"Close Up" (from "Family Snapshot")	0:55
5.	"Slow Water"	2:51
6.	"Dressing the Wound"	4:06

Side Two
No.	Title	Length
7.	"Birdy's Flight" (from "Not One of Us")	2:58
8.	"Slow Marimbas"	3:21
9.	"The Heat" (from "The Rhythm of the Heat")	4:41
10.	"Sketch Pad with Trumpet and Voice"	3:05
11.	"Under Lock and Key" (from "Wallflower")	2:28
12.	"Powerhouse at the Foot of the Mountain" (from "San Jacinto")	2:19

Personnel

Peter Gabriel – keyboards, production
Jon Hassell – trumpet
Ekome Dance Company – drums
Larry Fast – keyboards
Tony Levin – bass guitar, double bass, backing vocals
Jerry Marotta – drums, percussion
David Rhodes – guitar, backing vocals
Manny Elias – drums
Morris Pert – drums, percussion
John Giblin – double bass, bass guitar

Technical personnel

David Stallbaumer – additional engineering

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)	91
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	30
UK Albums (OCC)	51
US Billboard 200	162

In popular culture

The piece "Birdy's Flight" was later used by Hong Kong film director John Woo as part of the score to his A Better Tomorrow films. Other parts of the score were used in Tsui Hark's 1986 movie Peking Opera Blues. The track "The Heat" was used in 1994 Movie Natural Born Killers and in the theatrical trailer of the 1993 movie Tombstone.

References

^ Easlea, Daryl (2018). "Watch the Birdy". Without Frontiers: The Life & Music of Peter Gabriel. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781787590823. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
Birdy (booklet). Peter Gabriel. Charisma Records. 1985.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
Hammond, Ray (January 1987). "Peter Gabriel - Behind The Mask (SOS Jan 1987)". Sound on Sound (Jan 1987): 40–44.
"Peter Gabriel: Our 1986 Interview". Spin. September 1986.
Smith, Sid (4 June 2022). "The stories of Peter Gabriel's solo albums, told by his collaborators". Prog.
Demalon, Tom. Peter Gabriel: Birdy at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
^ Larkin, Colin (1997). Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. London: Virgin Books. pp. 501–502. ISBN 1-85227 745 9.
^ Strong, Martin C. (2006). The Great Rock Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate Books. pp. 423–424. ISBN 1-84195-827-1.
"Peter Gabriel: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
Demalon, Tom. "Birdy Review by Tom Demalon". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
Grant, Steven; Robbins, Ira. "Peter Gabriel". Trouser Press. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
Lewis, John (25 July 2017). "Peter Gabriel – The Soundtracks: Birdy/The Passion/The Long Walk Home". Uncut. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
"Top RPM Albums: Issue 0523". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
"Swedishcharts.com – Soundtrack / Peter Gabriel – Birdy". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
"Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
"Peter Gabriel Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2024.

External links

Birdy at MusicBrainz (list of releases)

v t e Peter Gabriel
Studio albums	Peter Gabriel (Car) Peter Gabriel (Scratch) Peter Gabriel (Melt) Peter Gabriel (Security) So Us Up Scratch My Back New Blood I/O
Live albums	Plays Live Plays Live Highlights Secret World Live Live Blood Back to Front: Live in London Growing Up Live
Singles	"Solsbury Hill" "Modern Love" "D.I.Y." "Games Without Frontiers" "No Self Control" "Biko" "I Don't Remember" "Shock the Monkey" "I Have the Touch" "Wallflower" "Sledgehammer" "In Your Eyes" "Don't Give Up" "Big Time" "Red Rain" "Shaking the Tree" "Digging in the Dirt" "Steam" "Blood of Eden" "Kiss That Frog" "While the Earth Sleeps" "When You're Falling" "The Barry Williams Show" "More Than This" "Growing Up "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" "Darkness" "Down to Earth" "Panopticom" "The Court" "Playing for Time" "I/O" "Four Kinds of Horses" "Road to Joy" "So Much" "Olive Tree" "Love Can Heal" "This Is Home" "And Still" "Live and Let Live"
Songs	"Here Comes the Flood" "On the Air" "Intruder" "Family Snapshot" "The Rhythm of the Heat" "San Jacinto" "That Voice Again" "Mercy Street" "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" "Come Talk to Me" "Secret World" "Sky Blue"
Soundtracks	Birdy Passion OVO Long Walk Home
Compilations	Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats Revisited Hit Rated PG Flotsam and Jetsam
Concert tours	Secret World Tour Back to Front Tour i/o The Tour
Films	Secret World Live Growing Up: Live Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped
Video games	Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World Eve Myst IV: Revelation
Other	Discography Genesis WOMAD Passion – Sources The Story of OVO Millennium Dome Show Play: The Videos Big Blue Ball And I'll Scratch Yours Real World Records Real World Studios Solid State Logic (SSL)
Peter Gabriel discography

Categories: