Bird Words

I put over on the right column a link to NY Times' great blog Measure for Measure. It has multiple contributors, all accomplished musicians. One of them is fellow Illinoisan Andrew Bird. I have been listening to his new album Noble Beast in my car when I go to and fro between errands... Not the ideal place to listen to it because his lyrics are full of unusual words... They are, to me, irrationally atypical song words. But that makes me wonder...why are they irrational? I dig em...a lot...though I couldn't define a goodly amount of those that make me go, "eh?".

Anyway, here are some from Noble Beast....

WORDS:

arhythmatists
sociopaths
larval
alabaster
snack machine
dizzyspells
facsimile
effigy
Porto-centric Lisboans
Coprophagia
macromay
nomenclature
clockwork
pall
tendrils
plecostomus
Fecundities
Valerian
privateer
fire insurance
parsnips
Souverian

Them no Motown words! That is just to name a few, in fact 2 words picked from each non-instrumental song. I like his passion for strange and interesting words. I enjoy picking them out as I listen to it. I, however, have trouble putting these sorts of big and/or otherworldly words in anything I write because they feel contrived and a bit hubristic. I think with more practice in songcraft, contrived feelings will diminish-or I will pick out which ones are truly contrived. I am a word lover; I have a degree in linguistics and study a foreign language. I think my passion for words might start to appear more conspicuously in future attempts in songwriting. That is why I am drawn to it in the first place, right? I just want to be able to stay honest at the same time.