Ba da da, da da da da da da da  (x4)

There’s a dark bird flying overhead

And he’s got a white feather in his claw

There’s a dark bird flying overhead

With a bright red ribbon in his maw

Now sometimes a thing that’s concrete

Has an abstract thing to say

But I hate symbols so I wish that bird would fly away

There’s a banner on a mountain in a storm

With a tiger and a willow and a nail

There’s a banner on a mountain in a storm

And the sky is grim and menacing and pale

Now I’m sure it all means something

But I’ve thought about it all damn day

Yes I hate symbols so I shut my eyes and run away

Not every little thing’s a symbol

Though it makes several things connect

It may have connotations

It may indicate or reflect

Now I don’t mind associations

But it’s symbols that I reject

So take your symbols and your signifying colors

Take your hidden meanings and your themes I must discover…

There’s a fist and it’s rushing through the air

And your wonderin’ what it is and why

There’s a fist and it’s rushing through the air

And it’s my fist and it hits you in the eye

If you insist my fist’s a symbol

It’s a symbol’ve how I hit you in the eye

And now you know how symbols can make you cry

I’ve done more than imply the sky may be just the sky

Which is where you also wish that stupid dark bird would fly

Ba da da, da da da da da da da  (x4)