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The Bird (The Time song)

Field	Value
name	The Bird
cover	The_Time_Bird.jpg
alt	"The Bird" U.S. 12-inch single
caption	U.S. 12-inch single
type	Single
artist	the Time
album	Ice Cream Castle
A-side	The Bird
B-side	"My Drawers"
written	1983
published	1984
released	1985
recorded	October 4, 1983
venue	First Avenue
genre	Rock
length	7-inch edit: 3:41
album: 7:40
dance remix: 6:25
label	Warner Bros.
composer	Prince (as Jamie Starr), Morris Day, Jesse Johnson
lyricist	Prince
producer	Prince
prev_title	Jungle Love
prev_year	1984
next_title	Jerk Out
next_year	1990
artist	Purple Rain singles
type	soundtrack
prev_title	"I Would Die 4 U"
prev_year	1984
title	"The Bird"
year	1984
next_title	"Take Me With U"
next_year	1984

| A-side = The Bird | B-side = "My Drawers" album: 7:40 dance remix: 6:25

"The Bird" is a song from the Time's third album, Ice Cream Castle. The song was initially recorded in the studio in 1983 with all instruments by Prince, except guitar, which was performed by Jesse Johnson. This version was replaced by a live recording with the full band at the First Avenue on October 4, 1983. This is the first Time song to be released featuring the Time as a band, rather than primarily Prince with Morris Day on vocals.

Two more live versions have been released: one on Prince's Rave Un2 the Year 2000 DVD, and one recorded at the House of Blues in 1998 for Morris Day's 2004 album It's About Time.

Background

The song suggests that by dancing "the bird", one can overcome their troubles. "The Bird" uses both a drum machine and live drumming by Jellybean Johnson. A "Dance Remix" of the song was released as a 12" single. The B-side to the single was the rocker, "My Drawers".

Reception

John Leland of Spin said the song, "comes close enough to capturing the band's leopard-skin razzle-dazzle to give the overextended Kid a run for his considerable money. The best song from Purple Rain is the best slice of black rock on the market."

Personnel

Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl

Morris Day – lead vocals
Prince – electric guitar, synthesizers, bass guitar; music box (demo and album versions)
Jesse Johnson – electric guitar, backing vocals
St. Paul Peterson – synthesizers, backing vocals
Mark Cardenas – synthesizers, backing vocals
Jellybean Johnson – drums, Linn LM-1, backing vocals
Jerome Benton – percussion, backing vocals
Jerry Hubbard – backing vocals

Charts

Chart (1985)	Peak
position	US Billboard Hot 100	US Billboard Hot Dance/Disco	US Billboard Hot Black Singles
36
6
33

References

(March 2022). "Jesse Johnson on Facebook".
(2018). "Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984".
John Leland. (June 1985). "Singles".
Tudahl, Duane. (2018). "Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984". Rowman & Littlefield.
"The Time > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums & Singles".
Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003". Record Research.
Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004". Record Research.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

the-time-(band)-songs 1984-singles songs-written-by-prince-(musician) song-recordings-produced-by-prince-(musician) 1983-songs songs-written-by-jesse-johnson-(musician) songs-written-by-morris-day warner-records-singles

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