A-well-a everybody's heard about the bird! Writer(s): the trashmen<br>Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com
wimpy kid In their 1963 single “Surfin’ Bird,” surf-rock garage band The Trashmen sing repeatedly:
The song was inspired by two contemporary songs by the doo-wop group The Rivingtons: “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “Bird is the Word.” The bird refers to a dance craze in the 1960s. The Trashmen noticed the two songs sounded alike, so they mashed them together in a live performance. A DJ at the show brought them into the studio to record the mashup under the title “Surfin’ Bird.” While The Trashmen’s inspiration for “Surfin’ Bird” is well-documented, the exact origin and meaning of the saying bird is the word is less clear. Bird has carried many slang connotations throughout its history, from “prostitute” to “the middle finger.” In the context of the song, and in subsequent contexts, bird is the word characterizes something as good, cool, or new and revolutionary. The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” peaked at #4 on the Billboard charts, later inspiring fun or ironic covers by popular performers from The Ramones to Pee-wee Herman. The song, and phrase, rose to new prominence in 2008 when it was featured on an episode of animated TV show, Family Guy. In the “I Dream of Jesus” episode of Family Guy, the main character Peter Griffin hears “Surfin’ Bird,” his favorite song from childhood, playing from a jukebox at a 1950s-themed diner. The owners plan to throw away the vinyl record, but Peter takes it home with him instead. He becomes annoyingly obsessed, crafting conversations to end with the song as the punchline. He dances and sings to the song at every opportunity and even films a commercial based around the song. His dog Brian and baby Stewie destroy the record in hopes that it will curb Peter’s obsession, to no avail.
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