There have been various explanations offered as to the meaning of “Two Birds”. And perhaps the reason why there isn’t a consensus is because the lyrics are, to some degree, highly symbolic. For instance, it’s safe to assume that the vocalist isn’t actually singing about “two birds” but rather two people.
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NOTE: Despite the above being said, we still can’t confidently rule out a romantic relationship. It is important to take note of that.
And once you overcome the temptation of overanalyzing the lyrics, the featured narrative is actually quite simple. The two birds are likely besties, i.e. possessing the type of association in which one is not compelled to make a power move without the other.
And in this scenario, said power move can be ascertained as being akin to relocating. Or viewed alternatively, in the eyes of one of these characters, their current setting is less than ideal, thus inspiring him to bounce.
And the other also expresses a similar desire. However, the vocalist notes that the latter is not being truthful in that regard. So it’s as if the one who is content is holding back the other who wants to explore new territories. And that actually appears to be the thesis sentiment of the song, if you will, that the free-minded bird is so attached to the lethargic one, that the former is compelled to stay put like the latter.
In Conclusion
As far as actually deriving a moral from the story, doing so requires a bit more imagination. That’s why earlier we alluded that this sounds a lot like a romantic gripe, as the concept of being held back by a partner is one you most commonly hear in unhappy romances.
However, it’s not like either one of the birds are being judged by the vocalist. But if anything, since the complacent one is identified as “a liar”, we can conclude that he’s the bad guy of the story.
And therefore the further implication is that he is in fact preventing the other from fulfilling his destiny, so to speak. So if a listener decides to, they can perhaps extract a message like ‘don’t let others hold you back from exploring the world’ from this narrative.
Regina Spektor and “Two Birds”
Regina Spektor was born in Moscow. In this city, she spent the first decade of her life. However, she possesses American citizenship. And by the looks of things, spent all of her latter years, being 41 as of the writing of this post, stateside.
And between 2001 and 2016 she dropped seven studio albums. “Two Birds” is a track from the fifth of her aforementioned efforts, 2009’s Far. And as far as Regina’s discography goes, said LP represents one of her better received projects. It ended up reaching a peak position of number 3 on the Billboard 200,
Spektor wrote “Two Birds” herself. And its producer is Jacknife Lee, a behind-the-scenes’ musician who worked all over the music industry.
