Considering Kris Kristofferson was an esteemed and successful songwriter himself, the fact that he chose lyrics from a Leonard Cohen song to be engraved on his gravestone says quite a lot about the latter’s prodigious talent.
The song in question, “Bird on the Wire,” was originally released on Cohen’s 1969 album Songs from a Room, then again in 1975 on The Best of Leonard Cohen. In the liner notes of that compilation record, Cohen wrote about the song’s origin and Kristofferson’s epitaph request.
“I always begin my concert with this song,” Cohen explained, adding, “It seems to return me to my duties. It was begun in Greece and finished in a motel in Hollywood around 1969 along with everything else. Some lines were changed in Oregon. I can’t seem to get it perfect. Kris Kristofferson informed me that I had stolen part of the melody from another Nashville writer. He also said that he’s putting the first couple of lines on his tombstone, and I’ll be hurt if he doesn’t.”
It’s not hard to understand why Kristofferson felt the opening lines of “Bird on the Wire” would be a fitting tribute:
Like a bird on the wireLike a drunk in a midnight choirI have tried in my way to be free
As poetic a metaphor as the song’s title might be, it was inspired by actual birds on wires, as Cohen said in a 1993 interview with SongTalk, per Songfacts.
“It was begun in Greece because there were no wires on the island where I was living to a certain moment,” he recalled. “There were no telephone wires. There were no telephones. There was no electricity. So at a certain point they put in these telephone poles, and you wouldn’t notice them now, but when they first went up, it was about all I did — stare out the window at these telephone wires and think how civilization had caught up with me and I wasn’t going to be able to escape after all.”
“I wasn’t going to be able to live this 11th-century life that I thought I had found for myself,” he continued. “So that was the beginning. Then, of course, I noticed that birds came to the wires and that was how that song began. ‘Like a drunk in a midnight choir,’ that’s also set on the island. Where drinkers, me included, would come up the stairs. There was great tolerance among the people for that because it could be in the middle of the night. You’d see three guys with their arms around each other, stumbling up the stairs and singing these impeccable thirds. So that image came from the island: ‘Like a drunk in a midnight choir.'”
Related: 1971 Soft Rock Hit, Rumored to Be About an Affair With James Taylor, Was Actually Inspired by a 24-Year-Old Cook
Joni Mitchell, who was romantically involved with Cohen for a time, claimed the image of birds on a wire came from a painting she did representing how alienated she felt from her family.
“I was such a misfit in that family, and I did a painting, which I showed to Leonard,” Mitchell said, per Far Out. “In this painting, there are these sparrows sitting on a wire. It’s got a hot-pink background, and there are sparrows with peacock tails. There are all these fictitious birds. And there was one for each Mitchell, and one of them was hanging upside down. Guess who? I think that had some input on ‘Bird on the Wire.'”
Yet another account of the inspiration behind “Bird on the Wire” was offered by Judy Scott, author of Leonard, Marianne and Me: Magical Summers on Hydra. In an interview with Songfacts, Scott said the song was about Marianne Ihlen (also the subject of Cohen’s song “So Long Marianne”).
“One time when Marianne and I were in his studio, we were looking out the window at that wire, and Marianne told me that when they first lived on Hydra, there was no electricity on the island and everyone used kerosene lamps or candles,” Scott said. “When they strung a wire across his studio window, Leonard said to Marianne, ‘We have to leave now, we have to find another island to live on.'”
“She said he hated encroaching modernity,” Scott continued. “But as they were speaking, a bird came and perched on the wire. Marianne told me she said to him, ‘If a bird can get used to the wire, Leonard, you can get used to the wire.’ She told me that’s why it was her favorite of all his songs, because she felt she had helped to create it.”
Sadly, as Cohen died in 2016 at the age of 82, the truth about “Bird on the Wire” will have to remain a music mystery.
Related: 1968 Classic, Written About Another Man’s Wife, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time’
Hence then, the article about 1969 hit song written in greece was chosen by kris kristofferson for his gravestone was published today ( ) and is available on Parade ( Saudi Arabia ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 1969 Hit Song, Written in Greece, Was Chosen by Kris Kristofferson for His Gravestone )
Also on site :
- Meta May Try to Repair Its Poor Privacy Reputation at 'Connect 2026'
- ‘Forgotten Island’ Review: H.E.R. And Dave Franco Give Life To Gorgeously Animated And Frenetic ‘Toon
- Princess Diana’s Brother Reveals What Bombshell Claims About King Charles Won’t ‘Be a Surprise’ to William & Harry