.andrewbird has released an intimate take on Emily Dickinson's poem 'I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,' featuring none other than phoebe_bridgers:
Andrew Bird returns with a shivering interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s poem “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” sung in somber and lovely harmony with none other than Phoebe Bridgers.
The string arrangements Bird has built his nest on emphasize the gravity of the poem, with Bridgers’ husky voice seeming almost to admit the words. The changing between bows drawn grandiosely across strings and pizzicato moments contrasts the lushness of the funeral with the starkness of what it commemorates. The difficulty of turning poem to song is that so often the meanings are pulled apart by changes of rhythm.
Bird comments, “I came across this Emily Dickinson poem and found it to be the most vivid description of an inner world I’ve ever encountered. It became an inspiration for the songs on[his latest album]. Who better to sing it with than Phoebe Bridgers?” Typical of Bird’s output, he is careful never to overdo it, and so the arrangements remain spare and human.