Video: Andrew Bird feat. Phoebe Bridgers “I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain”

Andrew Bird
Photo Credit: David Black

Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers reimagine an Emily Dickinson poem in ‘I Felt a Funeral, in My Brain’.   Bird appears in grainy black and white, looking tense and inquisitive in a slim-fitting suit.  Microscopic scenes of cell division fill the screen as the elegiac track rolls forward.  The ubiquitous Bridgers lends her breathy vocals, taking the lead at times and clinging in close harmony to Bird’s reedy tenor.  Bird’s violin provides poignant punctuation at key moments.

“I came across this Emily Dickinson poem and found it to be the most vivid description of an inner world I’ve ever encountered,” says Andrew Bird. “It became an inspiration for the songs on Inside Problems. Who better to sing it with than Phoebe Bridgers? I sent her a demo and so, here we are. Thanks to Ms. Dickinson’s publisher at Harvard University Press for allowing us to use this poem. As I understand, her poems weren’t published as she intended them until the 1950s – that is, without the heavy hand of her male editors.”

Bird is scheduled to perform at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, on the 19th February 2023.

About Ed Donnelly 177 Articles
Ed Donnelly is a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and record producer from Los Angeles. He has worked with Willie Nelson, Crowded House, Marc Cohn, Jools Holland, Matchbox Twenty, The Cult, BoyHaunt, Gladys Knight, Trent Summar and The West Coast Mob, Smashing Pumpkins, Del McCoury, OK Go, Exodus, Molly Leach, Tom Morello, O.A.R., Madness, The Crystal Method, DrunkHungry, Deadmau5, Zac Brown, CrysP Tyger, Bighead Todd and the Monsters, Jake Shimabukuro, Barenaked Ladies, Tsar, Killola and more. Donnelly regularly performs with Nathan Jacques as well as Little Silver Hearts and records with GhostsDream. Little known fact: He previously held Top Secret Security Clearance with the U.S. Department of State and Q Clearance from the Department of Energy. He currently runs The Barber’s Basement Recording Studio in Highland Park and is a partner in The Atmos at Lemontree Studio.
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