Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: emo
Song Meaning of “My Mind Is A Birdcage” by Suis La Lune
My Mind Is A Birdcage, the titular track off of Swedish emo/post-rock act Suis La Lune’s debut album Riala, is a song about feeling trapped; feeling like emotions and thoughts are caged inside. With gentle acoustics, soft piano, and delicate vocals, the track paints a vivid image of a person feeling betrayed and manipulated, picking up razor blades to feel something and dying a little each day.
The song starts by drawing similarities between the protagonist’s mind and a birdcage – “Loneliness birds and lies / Living feathers float around the skies / This mind of mine, it’s like a birdcage”. The metaphor of the birdcage serves to emphasize the feeling of being trapped – all the birds within cannot escape and are confined by four walls. It’s as if all the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings, emotions and ideas are caged in this small space.
The song goes on to describe the protagonist’s internal struggle – ”My days lay still, my nights fill the sky / I want escape, I want to take a dive / Try to break the cage apart”. The second half of these lyrics depict an internal desperation; almost a cry for help amidst a sea of emotions. There’s a strong sense of wanting to escape, of wanting to find a way out of the emotional pit they’ve been dropped into.
The pre-chorus also highlights this struggle, amplifying the feeling of being immobilized – ”Swaying feathers in the night / Tie me up so tight / I’m stuck here all alone”. By emphasizing the feeling of imprisonment, the track draws empathy from its listeners as it paints a vivid picture of mental anguish and desperation.
The chorus is what drives the message of the song home. ”My mind is a birdcage / You can come in but you won’t escape”. Here, the song focuses on the idea of manipulation and despair; the manipulation of someone breaking into their thoughts and the despair one feels when they realize they can’t get out.
My Mind Is A Birdcage is a beautifully detailed track which emphasizes the heavy feeling of being helpless and trapped in a world of your own emotions.