"Jean the Birdman" is a song recorded in 1993 by

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English musician, composer, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session mu ...

and

David Sylvian David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt; 23 February 1958) is an English musician, singer and songwriter who came to prominence in the late 1970s as frontman and principal songwriter of the band Japan (band), Japan. During his time in Japan, Sylvia ...

, and co-written by

Trey Gunn Trey Gunn (born December 13, 1960) is an American musician, known for being in the progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003. He plays Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick instruments. Biography A native Texan who now resides in New Mexi ...

.
The

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, the only one from ''The First Day'', was released as two separate CDs, each including exclusive

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

Video

The dreamlike

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by

Howard Greenhalgh Howard Douglas Greenhalgh (born 19 February 1963) is a British director of music videos and advertising. Biography Greenhalgh was born in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and studied at the Royal College of Art, setting up the firm Why No ...

a year before he became famous for his work on

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

's "

Black Hole Sun "Black Hole Sun" is a song by American rock band Soundgarden. Written by frontman Chris Cornell, the song was released in May 1994 by A&M Records as the third single from the band's fourth studio album, '' Superunknown'' (1994). Considered to b ...

Exclusive B-sides

"Earthbound (Starblind)" was co-written by Fripp and Sylvian, and was effectively in two parts, Sylvian singing a melodic verse and chorus over a simple

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, which then gave way to a 6-minute Fripp soundscape of guitar and

Frippertronics Frippertronics is a tape looping technique used by English guitarist Robert Fripp.Fricke, David"Electronic Music and Synthesizers", ''Synapse Magazine'', Vol. 3 No. 2, Summer 1979. It marked the first real-time tape looping device, evolving from a ...

. "Endgame" was a simple piece, again dominated by Sylvian's verse chorus vocal over a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment. Sylvian explained: "These pieces were written after the completion of the

Rain Tree Crow ''Rain Tree Crow'' is the sole album released by English band Rain Tree Crow, a reunion project by the members of the new wave band Japan. Recorded in 1989 and 1990 and released in April 1991, it was the first time that members David Sylvian, M ...

project. Lyrically, there is still this connection with that early material. I guess I hadn't worked the themes out of system entirely with Rain Tree Crow." On "Tallow Moon" Sylvian spoke the lyrics of a poem. The lyrics are taken from

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

's "Lettre au directeur des Messageries maritimes", released on

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

's album ''

Sahara Blue ''Sahara Blue'' is a 1992 concept album produced by Hector Zazou. The album commemorated the 100th year of the death of French poet Arthur Rimbaud and included collaborative musical works by John Cale, Khaled, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tim Simenon, and ...

''. "Dark Water" is an

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term, originally coined by Michael Southworth, was popularized by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, ...

by Fripp.

Track listing

Part 1

# "Jean the Birdman" (Fripp,

, Sylvian) - 4:12 # "Earthbound (Starblind)" (Fripp, Sylvian) - 10:14 # "Endgame" (Sylvian) - 2:22

Part 2

# "Jean the Birdman" (Fripp, Gunn, Sylvian) - 4:12 # "Gone to Earth" (Fripp, Sylvian) - 3:04 # "Tallow Moon" (Sylvian) - 5:44 # "Dark Water" (Fripp) - 6:45

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jean the Birdman 1993 songs 1993 singles David Sylvian songs Songs written by Robert Fripp Songs written by David Sylvian Songs written by Trey Gunn Music videos directed by Howard Greenhalgh