Songfacts®:

• "I'm Like A Bird" was Nelly Furtado's first single. She was an unusual pop star, emerging from Canada after making a name in the Toronto trip-hop scene. She didn't dance like Britney or J-Lo, but she did write her own songs. In this one, she sings about how she values her freedom, which keeps her from commitment. She's warning a guy that she could fly away at any time, so he should proceed with caution.
  
  The song was a hit, charting in many territories and putting her on the musical map.
• The song can have various interpretations. In an interview with MTV, Furtado said: "On first look it seems like a love song. But then someone was saying the other day, 'You should've had homeless people in your video.' And it would make sense, too, in a way. Just the idea of being a nomad and liking to wander a lot is a big part of who I am. I have a restlessness about me."
• Nelly Furtado had another hit with her next single, "Turn Off The Light," but she really spread her wings when she teamed with the producer Timbaland for her 2006 album Loose, which produced two #1 hits: "Promiscuous" and "Say It Right."
  
  "I'm Like A Bird" stayed in her setlist throughout her career. It was one of the songs she played at the "Concert for Diana" on July 1, 2007, held in Wembley Stadium in honor of Princess Diana, who died August 31, 1997.
• In an interview with The Metro newspaper November 26, 2006, Nelly was asked to name her favorite bird. Her reply was crows, because: "They like shiny things and I'm the same when I'm at the shopping mall. I'm attracted to things that glitter and shine."
• Nelly Furtado won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for this song in 2002, beating out Janet Jackson ("Someone To Call My Lover"), Faith Hill ("There You'll Be"), Sade ("By Your Side") and Lucinda Williams ("Essence"). It ended up being the only Grammy win of her career.
• Furtado wanted a different song, "On The Radio (Remember The Days)," to be her first single because she thought it better represented her as an artist - it's a lot closer to her trip-hop roots. Mo Ostin, a renowned executive at her label, DreamWorks, squashed that idea, knowing the pop-leaning "I'm Like A Bird" was a much better choice. Looking back on it, Furtado admits Ostin was right. And it figures he would be - he had decades of experience and Nelly was just 21.
• Furtado was all in on her music career, moving from Victoria to Toronto when she was 17 to pursue it. She knew she was going to make it when her clock radio alarm in her apartment woke her up one morning and "I'm Like A Bird" was playing.