This 26 minute extended release may sound repetitive to some, but for those of us who don’t need jazz mansplained to us by Ryan Gosling, it’s easy to see why this 20th century composition by Moondog became a timeless classic.
Bird’s Lament is one of those tunes that sounds like you’ve known it forever - and maybe you have.
Moondog grew up in Kansas & Wyoming around the time of The Great Depression. He grew a love for playing drums that may have stemmed from the time he sat on the lap of Chief Yellow Calf of the Arapho tribe, who gave him a buffalo skin tom-tom to play.
Moondog wasn’t always Moondog, despite how befitting the name became later in his life. Louis Thomas Hardin was fully blinded by a dynamite cap at 16 years old. “Moondog” came in 1947. He says the name is to honor a dog "who used to howl at the moon more than any dog I knew of."
The next logical step for musical prodigies with fantastical abilities: go to New York City. Manhattan, specifically, where Moondog met the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Charlie Parker, and Benny Goodman. As he had trained his ear for composition, he was a popular street performer with many fans and connections in the industry. He was a street musician for more than 30 years.
His music was a combination of his love for the Native American music of his childhood combined with his environment. City sounds, gritty ambience, and jazz all come together to create... Moondog. You can hear the rhythmic thumping at the heard of Bird’s Lament, as well as Moondog’s other compositions. A soft but powerful percussion that definitely conjures up a stretched-skin drum and a blunt, powerful pulse.
A radio DJ tried to use the name Moondog and the name of Moondog’s first album as his calling card. When Moondog took it to court, he was pleased to have Benny Goodman and other incredible jazz musicians vouch for his seriousness as a composer.
Moondog went on to become an extremely respected musician and teacher, despite his fame as “New York’s Homeless Composer.” He actually kept up a Manhattan apartment, but his penchant for oddities and Norse mythology kept him on the street in a cape and a Viking helmet.
Put this on during your shower or while you put on your makeup. There’s an element of Bird’s Lament that is so smooth, it exudes a quiet confidence that I associate with powerful women - so I’m gonna try to absorb all the Moondog I can get my hands on.
Listen to more Moondog on Spotify.
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