Cicadas And Gulls

Album: Metals (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • After an exhausting year touring the world and plugging her successful The Reminder album, Feist arrived home in November 2008 ready to flake out. That winter she penned at home the beginnings of this track in which she compares nature to existential questioning. It proved to be a watershed moment for her follow up record, Metals. "I had just come off the road. I remember being in my bedroom, where I have a fireplace, and it was one of those freezing cold winter nights so I started a fire," she recalled to Spin magazine. "All the lights were off and I was alone. I thought, 'Maybe I'll never tour again. But maybe I'll try to play guitar, because I used to like doing it.' I remember thinking, 'I'm going to try and write something I've never written before.' That's a good mindset to get into. A little stretching assignment to help think about music differently."
  • The song's music video features Feist performing the song, accompanied by some interpretive dancing from the Oakland dance crew Turf Feinz.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Dean Pitchford

Dean PitchfordSongwriter Interviews

Dean wrote the screenplay and lyrics to all the songs in Footloose. His other hits include "Fame" and "All The Man That I Need."

Mick Jones of Foreigner

Mick Jones of ForeignerSongwriter Interviews

Foreigner's songwriter/guitarist tells the stories behind the songs "Juke Box Hero," "I Want To Know What Love Is," and many more.

In The Cards

In The CardsSong Writing

Songwriters have used cards and card games to make sense of heartache, togetherness, and even Gonorrhea.

Bob Dylan Lyric Quiz

Bob Dylan Lyric QuizMusic Quiz

Think you know your Bob Dylan lyrics? Take this quiz to find out.

Butch Vig

Butch VigSongwriter Interviews

The Garbage drummer/songwriter produced the Nirvana album Nevermind, and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream.

David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears

David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & TearsSongwriter Interviews

The longtime BS&T frontman tells the "Spinning Wheel" story, including the line he got from Joni Mitchell.