Why Birds Fly South
Do birds leave because they are cured, or because leaving is the only way to endure?
About the song
“Why Birds Fly South” is an acoustic indie rock song by Dusan Velickovic, shot in a dark underground car park with an acoustic guitar and a leather jacket. It asks a simple question and lets the answer stay open: why do birds go south, and do they have a cure?
The verses watch the birds from the ground. They leave without warning, no notes and no sound, just wings on cold mornings over hollow ground. Trees learn to bend, leaves learn goodbye, and the narrator stays in the quiet, too tired to fly.
The chorus turns the question on himself: is leaving the only way to endure, or is he the one without a cure? The bridge opens a small door of hope. If we do not have each other now, maybe we meet when we are old, by the Sun Voyager, the steel boat sculpture on the Reykjavík waterfront. He will board it first, because he cannot afford to lose that person all over again.
It is a song about migration as a metaphor, about staying when everything says leave, and about hoping for a later meeting. The sound is gentle and a little cold, like the season it describes.
Listen for the repeated chorus question and for the image of trees that learned how to bend. The bridge is the emotional centre of the song.
Official video
Lyrics
Why Birds Fly South
Why birds go south, do they have a cure?
What is wrong with north, is it that cold?
Do they feel the frost coming
Before it arrives?
Do they hear the quiet
Breaking their skies?
They leave without warning
No notes. No sound
Just wings in cold mornings
Over hollow ground
Trees learned how to bend
Leaves learned goodbye
I stayed in the quiet
Too tired to fly
Chorus
Why birds go south — do they have a cure?
Or is leaving the only way to endure?
Why birds go south — do they have a cure?
Or am I the one without a cure?
Bridge
If we don’t have each other now
Maybe we meet when we’re old
By the Sun Voyager
I’ll board it before you do
Coz I can’t afford to lose you all over again
Final Chorus
Why birds go south — do they have a cure?
Or is leaving the only way to endure?
Why birds go south — do they have a cure?
Or am I the one without a cure?
Words and music by Dusan Velickovic.
Questions about Why Birds Fly South
What does “Why Birds Fly South” mean?
The birds are a metaphor for leaving a place, or a person, when staying hurts. The song asks whether leaving is a cure or just a way to endure.
What is the Sun Voyager in the lyrics?
The Sun Voyager (Sólfar) is a steel sculpture of a boat on the waterfront in Reykjavík. In the song it is the place where two people might meet again when they are old.
How long is the song?
3 minutes 17 seconds.
Where can I listen?
On Spotify, and the official video is on YouTube.
