Of Course
May 30, 2014 8:35 AM Subscribe
What song do you play when you have a crow sitting on your guitar? Blackbird, of course. (SLYT)
Curt Stager is an author and science professor at Paul Smith's College, but who cares? Birdie is the star here!
Curt Stager is an author and science professor at Paul Smith's College, but who cares? Birdie is the star here!
Well of course you would play something in the finger pecking style....
posted by Uncle Grumpy at 8:44 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Uncle Grumpy at 8:44 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Now go take a shower in kerosene!
posted by cjorgensen at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2014
posted by cjorgensen at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2014
Corvids are bright enough that at the 0:51 mark you can see the crow looking askance at the guy's fingering. "Pssst, dude -- tenth fret!"
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:46 AM on May 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
He was only waiting for this moment to arise.
posted by yoink at 8:47 AM on May 30, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by yoink at 8:47 AM on May 30, 2014 [6 favorites]
David Quammen:
Crows are bored. They suffer from being too intelligent for their station in life. Respectable evolutionary success is simply not, for these brainy and complex birds, enough. They are dissatisfied with the narrow goals and horizons of that tired old Darwinian struggle. On the lookout for a new challenge. See them there, lined up conspiratorially along a fence rail or a high wire, shoulder to shoulder, alert, self-contained, missing nothing. Feeling discreetly thwarted. Waiting, like an ambitious understudy, for their break. Dolphins and whales and chimpanzees get all the fawning publicity, great fuss made over their near-human intelligence. But don't be fooled. Crows are not stupid. Far from it. They are merely underachievers. They are bored.
posted by neroli at 8:54 AM on May 30, 2014 [28 favorites]
Crows are bored. They suffer from being too intelligent for their station in life. Respectable evolutionary success is simply not, for these brainy and complex birds, enough. They are dissatisfied with the narrow goals and horizons of that tired old Darwinian struggle. On the lookout for a new challenge. See them there, lined up conspiratorially along a fence rail or a high wire, shoulder to shoulder, alert, self-contained, missing nothing. Feeling discreetly thwarted. Waiting, like an ambitious understudy, for their break. Dolphins and whales and chimpanzees get all the fawning publicity, great fuss made over their near-human intelligence. But don't be fooled. Crows are not stupid. Far from it. They are merely underachievers. They are bored.
posted by neroli at 8:54 AM on May 30, 2014 [28 favorites]
A guitar (esp. strung that way) is a shiny, shiny thing!
posted by allthinky at 9:00 AM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by allthinky at 9:00 AM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Well, in answer to your question:
The Crow and the Butterfly by Shinedown
Black Crow Blues by Bob Dylan
Black Crow by Joni Mitchell
The Raven by Alan Parsons Project
Greet the Sacred Crow by Primus
Old Crow by The Walkabouts
Black Crow King by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Crow On The Cradle by Jackson Browne
Black Crow by Jamiroquai
Crow and a Baby by Human League
Lonesome Crow by The Scorpions
Loch Raven by Animal Collective
As The Raven Flies by Dan Fogelberg
Slow Ride by The Beastie Boys
A Crow On My Shoulder by Autumn Blaze
Crow by Dan Fogelberg
Raven Chant by Of The Wand and The Moon
Forgetten Dead Crow by Corpus Christie
Pigeon Vs Crow by Circle of Dead Children
Crow Killer by Unearth
Raven Claws by Moonspell
On The Day by The Walkabouts
Cabinessence by The Beach Boys
Mountain Men by Jethro Tull
The Return of the Mighty Raven by Ablaze My Sorrow
posted by HuronBob at 9:01 AM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
The Crow and the Butterfly by Shinedown
Black Crow Blues by Bob Dylan
Black Crow by Joni Mitchell
The Raven by Alan Parsons Project
Greet the Sacred Crow by Primus
Old Crow by The Walkabouts
Black Crow King by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Crow On The Cradle by Jackson Browne
Black Crow by Jamiroquai
Crow and a Baby by Human League
Lonesome Crow by The Scorpions
Loch Raven by Animal Collective
As The Raven Flies by Dan Fogelberg
Slow Ride by The Beastie Boys
A Crow On My Shoulder by Autumn Blaze
Crow by Dan Fogelberg
Raven Chant by Of The Wand and The Moon
Forgetten Dead Crow by Corpus Christie
Pigeon Vs Crow by Circle of Dead Children
Crow Killer by Unearth
Raven Claws by Moonspell
On The Day by The Walkabouts
Cabinessence by The Beach Boys
Mountain Men by Jethro Tull
The Return of the Mighty Raven by Ablaze My Sorrow
posted by HuronBob at 9:01 AM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
In the middle of the winter, in the middle of a wood
Standing in a clearing with a tiny leather hood
So you want to know, so you want to know
If you want to know what the future holds
The Black Crow knows
posted by davebush at 9:06 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Standing in a clearing with a tiny leather hood
So you want to know, so you want to know
If you want to know what the future holds
The Black Crow knows
posted by davebush at 9:06 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Now what song do you play while you're scraping crow shit off your guitar?
"While my guitar gently weeps"?
posted by yoink at 9:08 AM on May 30, 2014 [27 favorites]
"While my guitar gently weeps"?
posted by yoink at 9:08 AM on May 30, 2014 [27 favorites]
Well, in answer to your question:
"Ice Cream for Crow" by Captain Beefheart
"Love Theme from MST3K" by Joel and the Joels
That's one "o"!
posted by Herodios at 9:12 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
"Ice Cream for Crow" by Captain Beefheart
"Love Theme from MST3K" by Joel and the Joels
That's one "o"!
posted by Herodios at 9:12 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Put a bird on it.
posted by loquacious at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by loquacious at 9:23 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Guitar strings must be an amazing quest-for-the-Holy-Grail level of artifact in the Corvid mythos. Not only are they shiny, but they're perfect for weaving around twigs to build fully functional babe nest. I can just picture a crow lucking into a Pete Townsend show aftermath, and every crow since eagerly following guitarists & bands like avian groupies
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:32 AM on May 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:32 AM on May 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
Something by Cheryl Crow? Counting Crows?
The theme from Game of Thrones?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:06 AM on May 30, 2014
The theme from Game of Thrones?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:06 AM on May 30, 2014
Along with several neighbors who live in the same small town that I do, I share a show on our local public radio station -- we take turns doing it, so I do the 2-hour show every couple of weeks.
By strange coincidence I played a corvid-themed block during the middle of my show last night. Apart from a cover version of Blackbird (and yes, I know that actual blackbirds are not corvids..) I also had:
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:19 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
By strange coincidence I played a corvid-themed block during the middle of my show last night. Apart from a cover version of Blackbird (and yes, I know that actual blackbirds are not corvids..) I also had:
- Silver Raven (Gene Clark)
- Crows (The Gothic Archies)
- Magpie to the Morning (Neko Case)
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:19 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's pretty tough to pull off Crow by Schellac on acoustic.
..so not that.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:33 AM on May 30, 2014
..so not that.
posted by lumpenprole at 10:33 AM on May 30, 2014
That crow looks like it's saying, "You're a little out of tune, just let me..wait! Let me adjust...geez, just let me...augh!"
posted by xingcat at 10:33 AM on May 30, 2014
posted by xingcat at 10:33 AM on May 30, 2014
I'm not sure that the noble Crow appreciates being lumped in with the common blackbird just because they share the same color.
posted by fairmettle at 10:36 AM on May 30, 2014
posted by fairmettle at 10:36 AM on May 30, 2014
Somewhere there is a (Folkways?) recording of Elizabeth Cotten jamming with a bird who flew in her open window while she was playing, but sadly I am in too much of a rush to find it now.
posted by trip and a half at 10:43 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by trip and a half at 10:43 AM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
You might want to confirm the bird's gender, but how about
Raven Girl by Mimi & Richard Farina
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:52 AM on May 30, 2014
Raven Girl by Mimi & Richard Farina
posted by Kirth Gerson at 10:52 AM on May 30, 2014
Somewhere there is a (Folkways?) recording of Elizabeth Cotten jamming with a bird who flew in her open window while she was playing
Which reminds me that I missed the 90th anniversary of the first ever outside nature broadcast in the wooorld, 19th may 1924, when cellist Beatrice Harrison played a duet with a nightingale in her garden playing Dvorak and Rimsky-Korsakov.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:08 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Which reminds me that I missed the 90th anniversary of the first ever outside nature broadcast in the wooorld, 19th may 1924, when cellist Beatrice Harrison played a duet with a nightingale in her garden playing Dvorak and Rimsky-Korsakov.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:08 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
OK then, how about "Eye of the Needle" by Ten Wheel Drive?
posted by Herodios at 12:20 PM on May 30, 2014
posted by Herodios at 12:20 PM on May 30, 2014
There's another video (which was at the top of the 'videos you might like' stack for me) showing that they had trained the crow by placing bits of food around the guitar-- which I'd guessed at from the way it was half-heartedly pecking at things anyway, and I still really enjoyed this.
posted by jamjam at 12:58 PM on May 30, 2014
posted by jamjam at 12:58 PM on May 30, 2014
Pretty good for just winging it
posted by stenseng at 1:31 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by stenseng at 1:31 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dude, nice tunes. Hey, how do you do that anyway? I see, you using the long stick end to make your song. Look at these shiny strings! These pegs are kinda cool. Oh I see, your sliding your soft claws along the string just there. Wait, wait, wait, what's that on your claw up there? That shiny thing that's making the music... let me have it!
Fine, screw you, I'm gonna go sit on this chair. Hope you like the tip I left for you.
posted by flyingfox at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Fine, screw you, I'm gonna go sit on this chair. Hope you like the tip I left for you.
posted by flyingfox at 1:41 PM on May 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
Now do "Godzilla" with Godzilla.
posted by lagomorphius at 2:10 PM on May 30, 2014
posted by lagomorphius at 2:10 PM on May 30, 2014
It looked to me like the bird was most interested in that noise that acoustic guitarists make when they slide their fingers up and down the frets. Is there a name for that noise?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:19 PM on May 30, 2014
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:19 PM on May 30, 2014
"Fret noise."
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:27 PM on May 30, 2014
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:27 PM on May 30, 2014
That's no crow you fool, it's Randall Flagg. Can't you smell the sulfur? Run!
posted by Ber at 3:06 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Ber at 3:06 PM on May 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
To that person who mentioned "Freebird", I am laughing and I hate you. :>
Dammit, crows only have so many facial expressions
posted by quiet earth at 3:48 PM on May 30, 2014
Dammit, crows only have so many facial expressions
posted by quiet earth at 3:48 PM on May 30, 2014
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Now do Apeman, by The Kinks!
posted by bondcliff at 8:44 AM on May 30, 2014 [2 favorites]