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"Excellent Birds" is a song written by Laurie Anderson and Peter Gabriel. It was first included on Anderson's Mister Heartbreak album in 1984. Gabriel later reworked the song for his 1986 So album with the title "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)". This version was excluded from the original vinyl edition of So but appeared as the final track on the cassette and CD releases. For later editions of So, "In Your Eyes" was placed the last song on So instead, moving "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" earlier in the track listing.

Background

Gabriel had first encountered Anderson at her United States performance piece in spring 1983. After the performance, he discussed an idea with her of creating a thirty minute piece that included their work. In an October 1983 interview with Philip Bell of Sounds magazine, Gabriel reiterated his interest in working with Anderson on a multimedia project utilising her music, visuals, and a "comical comedian to make it a humorous piece." Bell reported that a collaboration with Gabriel, Anderson and Nile Rodgers was "imminent". A Korean video artist named Nam June Paik initiated the collaboration by asking Gabriel and Anderson to contribute a song and music video for a 1984 New Year's Day broadcast of the Good Morning, Mr. Orwell television program, which referenced George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four novel and aired on PBS in the United States.

Anderson and Gabriel were given a strict timeline to complete the song and film the music video, so the two convened at Anderson's studio where they spent "a couple of nights just working around the clock." Gabriel presented Anderson with a basic riff, which they both thought was a decent starting point. The two of them decided to write a song about birds since Anderson was working on a project related to natural history. Anderson and Gabriel wrote the lyrics in a collaborative manner where they traded lines back and forth. Rodgers also visited the recording studio to contribute some rhythm guitar.

Gabriel recalled that he and Anderson felt like "burnt out zombies" by the end of the recording session. On the second night of the recording session, Gabriel was recording his vocals while seated on a stool and fell asleep in the middle of one of his takes. When Gabriel played back the recording, he could hear some of his snores from his failed vocal attempt. The next day, Anderson and Gabriel worked on the music video. Gabriel found the filming of the music video to be a more enjoyable experience and noted that it was conducted in a far more expeditious manner than what he was accustomed to. The music video capitalised on green screen visuals to provide backdrops for Anderson and Gabriel, who spent the duration of the video gazing at projections of animated storm clouds, birds and snow. At the end of the music video, Anderson and Gabriel levitate in the air as they perform various dances.

By late 1985, Gabriel only had eight finished songs for So and wanted to add another to the track list. Gabriel contacted Anderson for permission to use "Excellent Birds" on the album, which she agreed to. He then reworked the song so that it would fit in with the rest of the album. Anderson and Gabriel had previously decided to create separate versions of the song as they had different conceptions of what constituted the song's bassline; Gabriel preferred a bassline that encompassed the lower registers. Daniel Lanois and Manu Katché overdubbed a twelve-string guitar and talking drum respectively to augment the existing tracks. However, Gabriel did not include "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" on the original vinyl version of the album due to space limitations. He instead placed it as the final track on the cassette and CD versions, which were able to accommodate the song. Later releases of the album, including the 2002 edition, feature "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" as the eighth track on the album, placed just before "In Your Eyes".

The song is built around sparse percussive elements with minimal variation in the instrumentation. Rodgers and Bill Laswell played guitar and bass respectively on both recordings. Gabriel provided further instrumentation on the LinnDrum and Synclavier; he also overdubbed a Fairlight CMI for his reworked version on So. The chorus features call and response vocals that repeat the phrase "this is the picture", with Gabriel singing in a higher register and Anderson whispering her part in response. Gabriel described Anderson's version as "more fragmented" than his recording, which he reworked to center around the groove. He also thought that Anderson's recording more closely resembled the mix found in the music video.

When Gabriel was preparing his 25th anniversary edition of So, he decided to assemble snippets of demos from the original recording sessions and compile them into full songs to demonstrate the progression of their development. Since the original recording sessions for "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" were completed in 48 hours, Gabriel had a limited amount of material available, but he nonetheless included a DNA version of the song on the 25th anniversary box set.

Critical reception

Writing about the "Excellent Birds" recording on Anderson's Mister Heartbreak album, Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone said that "an eclectic pop consciousness" was ingrained in the song. Lennox Samuels of Dallas Morning News thought that the song demonstrated Gabriel's "funk inclinations and his rather African musical sensibility". They also earmarked "Excellent Birds" as a potential hit single. Doug Anderson of The Sydney Morning Herald described the song as "accessible", in part due to the contributions of Gabriel. Eric Harvey of Pitchfork believed that "Excellent Birds" had lyrical similarities to Anderson's work on her debut album Big Science. He also said that the song's bassline and synthesised flute sound resembled some of the instrumentation found on Gabriel's 1982 self-titled album.

In their review of the 25th anniversary edition of So, AJ Ramirez of PopMatters dismissed "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" as the only dud on the album and thought that the vocalists' "excellent birds" exclamations were "goofy". Annie Zaleski of Ultimate Classic Rock wrote that the song "boast a glassy art-funk underbelly and feathery Laurie Anderson vocal contributions." Writing for Uncut, John Lewis characterised "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" as a series of "jerky abstractions in search of a song" that felt out of place on So.

Live performances

Anderson began performing "Excellent Birds" live in 1984, during which blurred images were projected on a screen behind Anderson and her backing band. The television screen projected an image of a distorted woman looking out into the audience as digital snow and various text commands appeared on the screen, including "picture this", "look out", and "you pick up the pieces".

Gabriel performed "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" on his This Way Up Tour, which began on 7 November 1986 to promote his So album. During live performances from this tour, Gabriel would preface the song by providing introductions of the band, starting with David Rhodes and ending with Tony Levin. In this extended introduction, Gabriel would announce himself as "the man who paid off all the judges before the show began." A recording from this tour was included on Gabriel's Live in Athens 1987 album. Anderson joined Gabriel onstage during his performance in New York City.

Gabriel revived the song for his 2012–2014 Back to Front Tour, which saw Gabriel play the entirety of his So album from start to finish. The song was later included on Back to Front: Live in London, which was recorded at The O2 Arena in October 2013.

Personnel

"Excellent Birds"

• Laurie Anderson – vocals, Synclavier
• Peter Gabriel – vocals, Synclavier, LinnDrum
• Bill Laswell – bass guitar
• Nile Rodgers – guitar

"This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)"

• Laurie Anderson – vocals
• Peter Gabriel – vocals, Synclavier, LinnDrum, Fairlight CMI
• Bill Laswell – bass guitar
• Nile Rodgers – guitar
• Daniel Lanois – twelve-string guitar
• Manu Katché – talking drum

Sources

• Bright, Spencer (1988). Peter Gabriel: An Authorized Biography. London, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283-99498-3.
• Classic Albums: So. Classic Albums. United Kingdom: Eagle Rock Entertainment and Peter Gabriel Records Ltd. 22 October 2012.
• Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-44225-199-1.
• Easlea, Daryl (2013). Without Frontiers: The Life & Music of Peter Gabriel. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1780383156.
• Gallo, Armando (1986). Peter Gabriel. United Kingdom: SonicBond. ISBN 0-7119-0783-8.
• Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.

References

1. ^ Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. pp. 53, 109. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
2. Google; Gabriel, Peter (22 October 2012). Peter Gabriel: "Back to Front", Talks at Google (Interview). Event occurs at 2:37. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
3. ^ Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 143–144. ISBN 978-1-44225-199-1.
4. ^ Bright, Spencer (1988). Peter Gabriel: An Authorized Biography. London, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson. p. 199. ISBN 0-283-99498-3.
5. Bell, Phillip (1 October 1983). "Tales of the Gold Monkey". Sounds. p. 15 – via The Genesis Archives.
6. ^ So (CD liner notes). Peter Gabriel. United Kingdom: Real World. 2012. PGCD 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
7. Gabriel 2012, 45:35.
8. ^ Easlea, Daryl (2013). Without Frontiers: The Life & Music of Peter Gabriel. London: Omnibus Press. pp. 253–255, 270–271. ISBN 978-1780383156.
9. Gabriel 2012, 46:00.
10. "So". PeterGabriel.com. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
11. ^ Harvey, Eric. "Peter Gabriel: So". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
12. Gabriel 2012, 47:01.
13. "Laurie Anderson on Sculpting Sounds with Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and More". Archived from the original on 24 December 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
14. Gabriel 2012, 48:05.
15. So (CD liner notes). Peter Gabriel. United States: Real World. 2002. PGLP07.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
16. Gallo, Armando (1986). Peter Gabriel. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 86. ISBN 0-7119-0783-8.
17. ^ Mister Heartbreak Liner Notes (Liner Notes). Laurie Anderson. United States: Warner Bros. Records. 1984.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
18. Hutchinson, John (20 December 1986). "The Peter Gabriel Interview: My Brilliant Career". Sounds. p. 23 – via The Genesis Archives.
19. Loder, Kurt (April 12, 1984). "Laurie Anderson Mister Heartbreak > Album Review". Rolling Stone. No. 419. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
20. Samuels, Lennox (19 April 1984). "Laurie Anderson: Much More Than Rock". Montreal Gazette. p. G1. Retrieved 2 December 2024 – via Google Books.
21. Anderson, Doug (13 June 1984). "Radio Choice". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2024 – via Google Books.
22. Ramirez, AJ (25 October 2012). "Peter Gabriel: So (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
23. Zaleski, Annie (8 November 2012). "Peter Gabriel, 'So' 25th Anniversary Edition – Album Review". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
24. Lewis, John (October 2012). "Peter Gabriel – So 25th anniversary box set". Uncut. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
25. Mirolla, Michael (25 April 1984). "Anderson Turns Avant-Garde Event Into Near Hysteria". The Gazette. p. H4. Retrieved 2 December 2024 – via Google Books.
26. Polito, Robert (8 May 1984). "Words, Mere Words: Laurie Anderson Mouths Off". Boston Phoenix. p. 7. Retrieved 2 December 2024 – via Google Books.
27. "Peter Gabriel - So live: This Way Up Tour (1986-1987)". Genesis News Com. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
28. "Peter Gabriel - Back To Front 2012 - North America Tour Report". Genesis News Com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
29. "Back to Front - Live in London". PeterGabriel.com. Retrieved 5 December 2024.

• Peter Gabriel songs
• Songs written by Peter Gabriel
• Songs written by Laurie Anderson
• Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois
• 1984 songs
• 1986 songs