Album: It's A Beautiful Day (1969)

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Songfacts®:

• This song never cracked Billboard's Hot 100, but it was popular with FM disc jockeys who gave it most of its airplay. The song was written by David LaFlamme and his wife Linda, who were members of It's A Beautiful Day. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Rob - Hutchinson, KS
• David and Linda wrote the song in Seattle, where they were living. Said David: "The song describes the picture Linda and I saw as we looked out this little window in this attic. We had a little Wurlitzer portable piano sitting right in the well of this window, and I'd sit and work on songs. When you hear lines like, 'the leaves blow across the long black road to the darkened sky and its rage,' it's describing what I was seeing out the window. Where the 'white bird' thing came from: We were like caged birds in that attic. We had no money, no transportation, the weather was miserable. We were just barely getting by on a very small food allowance provided to us. It was quite an experience, but it was very creative in a way." >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Garry - Anchorage, AK

Comments: 19

• Jon from NyI have the promo 45 issued in 1969 - it was a few seconds over three minutes, but it had both stereo AND mono mixes on it. The mono mix takes nothing away fron the stereo mix, except for three minutes of the song. But in NY in 1969 I never heard the song on AM. I was only 10 at the time, but I did hear it somewhere, and it immediately haunted me. I didn't find out what the song was or who it was by until over 10 years later - because a two minute snippet of the song was included on, of all places, a K-tel album put out by Columbia Special Markets called "20 Power Hits" Volume One. It included only Columbia Records artists, from Santana and Janis to Blood Sweat & Tears and Gary Puckett, and because it had 20 songs on it, most were severely truncated.
• P. A. from CaliforniaI agree with Hambone. This song has nothing to do heroin. What a stupid remark or does it have any references to that drug! I see it as a transition song, from the old mentality of take anything and deal with the consequences later.
• Hambone from ColoradoArno is right. The song is not about smack. That's pure bull crap and insulting to the artists. It's about peace and freedom.
• Arno from Germany@Carl Afghanistan H was never white, it was and is beige/brown, nowadays dirty and dangerous, the afghanian thugs are greedy and give a damn about the health of addicts.
  I doubt that the two ever used H at all.
• Elkhorn Slim from Planet Earthgreat song , great album i have it / cd on right now,,,would like to see David play again .come on back to Santa Cruz, when its safe
• Stephen Bjorndal from Sherwood, OrHi David! How are you! Sure like to hear from you. Be well.
• Bill from Reno,nevadaAM radio in Reno played a shortened version, w/o the violin interlude, of "White Bird" often in fall 1969. Easily made KCBN's weekly top 30. A beautiful piece from an aptly named group. Has lost none of its appeal in 48 years.
• Orion from Corn CountryWhat a great song this is. My son born in the 80s was raised listening to it on my CD player. He still loves it and listens to it to this day. It has a serenity that abounds. I listen to it many nights as I close my eyes for sleep.
• Kira from Va@Carl - as the daughter of both song writers, I can tell you that (as mundane as it is) White Bird is about billowing clouds and the oppressive Seattle rain. It is NOT about heroin. Linda never dabbled in that particular drug.
• Carl from Los Angeles, CaSorry to bust the illusion, guys, but the "white bird" in the song is China white heroin: top grade, pure, straight-from-Afghanistan heroin. It's a beautiful song, but it's not about billowing clouds and dreamy glazes out of windows. Back in the day, they were famous for their chemical recreation. And they not only didn't try to hide it, but they bragged about it a little. I saw the band perform in Kansas City's Freedom Palace a thousand years ago and chatted with them in the bathroom while we were all taking a pee. Gifted musicians, they wore their drug use on their sleeve back in 1968, 1969. And we all loved them all the more for it. Too bad they didn't do more stuff.
• Tom Twardowski from Mission Viejo, CaThe song is used to great effect in the 1999 movie A Walk On The Moon starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber, Anna Paquin.
• Robert from Urbandale, IaI have to agree with Linny - this is a hauntingly beautiful song - I first heard it on the '80s TV series "Knight Rider" - first in an episode called "White Bird," and then in the final season episode "The Scent of Roses". Beautiful!!
• Bart from New Milford, NjOne reported reason for its popularity among DJ's is its length; when the DJ had to put on the records and the carts, it gave him or her sufficient time to take a bathroom break and be back before they had to switch to the next piece.
• Jim from Union, IlI first heard it when I was in Viet Nam,it was so peacful and soothing to listen to. I bought the reel to reel tape at the px and still got it today,although I got the cd album"its a beautiful day. I listen to it and go back 39 years like it was yesterday.
• John from San Francisco, CaPattie Santos, the lead singer for It's A Beautiful Day, died December 14, 1989 in an automobile accident on Hwy. 128 in Mendocino County, California
• Reed from New Ulm, MnOne of my favorites from that era.
• Rick from Seattle, WaThe song was way too long for AM radio play, so it never cracked the Top 40 slots. Of course, AM didn't play in stereo, which would have taken away from the song considerably.
  
  FM radio was in it's infancy, but severely restricted in range. At the turn of the decade (1960's/1970's) most cities only had one FM station, which played classical music to "audiophiles" who had stereo equipment. But that was changing fast, by the early 1970's there were a number of FM radio stations playing rock music, even though their range (in distance) was severly limited. Those FM stations didn't have the advertising revenue of the top-40 stations, but this also gave the disc jockeys a lot of independence, especially those playing late at night. Where I grew up, in a mid-size city in the south, there was only one such station, and teenagers would drive from around the city to get within range of it to listen for the night. That station introduced me to a lot of groups which didn't hit the top-40's until quite a few years later, including Its a Beautiful Day and The Allman Bros. Band.
  
  I fell in love with this song (White Bird) in the Early 1970's while listening to it on the FM radio while I fell asleep at night as a teenager.
• Linny from Harrisburg, PaThis is one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs of all time. The vocals, the instrumentation, and the words are just perfect.
• Garry from Anchorage, Ak?White Bird? was the biggest hit from the group?s first album, It?s A Beautiful Day, released in 1969. The album cover became famous. It depicted a bonneted girl in a long dress standing on a hill top and gazing into the blue sky with white clouds all around.

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