Chemical Switches

Album: Are You Serious (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • The lyrics for this song are based on a formative experience Bird had at the age of six. He told DIY magazine: "My friend and I got swept up in a blood frenzy involving a slingshot and the destruction of my neighbor's camping tent. I was so ashamed I wouldn't leave my house for a week. It freaked me out how I lost my head, and I've been scared of mobs ever since."
  • Andrew Bird told NPR the story of the song: "This started off as an instrumental, what I thought was a really strong melody. And I think when I really want to just sing that melody, the words really have to serve the shape of the melody, which is the way I would write a lot in the past. So it's definitely more impressionistic."

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