I happened to be reading a blog post by Aziz Ansari for his writer friend, Harris Wittels, who died young recently when I stuck on ‘The Bird’ by Kathryn Joseph to listen to for the first time.
It’s a piano song by a clearly very talented composer who almost certainly didn’t have the death of a little-known comedy writer in mind when she wrote it, but it shyly sidles up to the bitter side of Ansari’s sweet eulogy in quite a sad and fitting way.
My point is, like that blog post, ‘The Bird’ is completely honest in its emotion.
Not just lyrically but instrumentally (instrumentally in particular even), with trudging drums accompanying Joseph’s raspy, sometimes-indistinguishable vocals and her arresting, deep piano playing underpinning it all.
‘The Worm’ is the second part of the single and it seems to run with the concept of two halves.
Much the same but much the different, we hear the same instruments build another emotive song, which successfully connects itself to and separates itself from ‘The Bird’ in all the most perfect and subtly-un-pinpoint-able ways.
‘The Bird/The Worm’ seems to be an exercise in sincere moment capturing, and I guarantee most music-lovers would gain something positive from a couple of listens.
They both seem to end dead in their tracks, which I really hope is symbolic of something.
the bird the worm (double a-side single) by kathryn joseph
Words: Greg Murray
Rave Child 