![]() Bird seems to focus on an individual’s relationship with a collective group. ![]() These comments give insight into Bird’s meaning behind the lyrics. Harmony and happiness instead of tortured godliness. Interviewer: Who’s at risk of being crushed by the rock?īird: In that lyric, “to fail like a mortal” is to give up on immortality in favor of friends and family, community. Sometimes I stop and say, “What’s the collateral damage of this inclination? And the moral consequences of abandoning this eternal task? Maybe the rock’s going to roll down and hurt somebody.” The same interview with Bird reveals that he relates on a personal level to Sisyphus but that happiness can also be found in relationships with friends and family.īird: I’m happiest when I’m struggling up a literal or figurative hill. As Camus famously said “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Despite unchanging environments Camus shows there is a choice to be happy or to imagine others as such. – Camusīird’s clear nod to Camus reverberates the idea that one is responsible for one’s own life. While the ancient depiction of the myth seems to see Sisyphus’ punishment as a fate declared by the gods, Bird and Camus harmonize in their assertion that Sisyphus has his free will and agency.Īll Sisyphus’ silent joy is contained therein. In the context of Camus’ essay, this eternal struggle is what allows Sisyphus to be the absurdist hero. Bird remarked in an interview that the Sisyphus myth “is about being addicted to your own suffering, I guess.” Following Camus, Bird seems to declare that the rock continues rolling today. Sisyphus1.0023_Camus.htmīird shows that Sisyphus is consciously choosing to let go of the rock so that he can start his labors once again. Like Camus, Bird also uses present tense to note that the myth is still happening. That pause was also noted, very overtly, by Camus. This emphasizes the word “pause” by inserting a temporary, intentional, and literal fermata. In Bird’s song, he sings the lyric “paused”, fading the song’s rhythm slightly as no music plays in the interlude until Bird starts to sing again. It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. While Andrew Bird does appear to reference Camus’ interpretation of the myth, Bird deviates toward the end and perhaps alludes to a conclusion against Camus, where one instead finds happiness in community.īird seems to refer to Camus when he makes Sisyphus pause.Ī stone’s throw from the precipice, paused – Bird Camus’ reconstruction of the myth posits that Sisyphus willingly and daily chooses to continue a pointless task and that he should be imaged as happy while doing it. In 1940, Albert Camus championed Sisyphus as the absurdist hero in his landmark essay The Myth of Sisyphus. Since antiquity, authors have normally cast Sisyphus’ activity as an eternal punishment. ![]() Bird focuses his retelling on the moment Sisyphus faces the critical choice whether to keep going or to let the boulder sweep down the mountain as it has for every day since he was condemned by the gods. The folk indie song “Sisyphus”, by whistler extraordinaire Andrew Bird, depicts the endless labor of the previously named Greek hero/mischief-maker. He also dabbles in exploring classical myths. ![]() Andrew Bird’s music is often filled with philosophical themes, historical events, current issues, and scientific reference.
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