Last month, Andrew Bird and Fiona Apple released a collaborative single entitled "Left Hand Kisses." Now, stopping by the Ellen Show, the duo performed their song for live TV with a backing band. In it, Bird plays a violin while Ms. Apple sings with a visible and believable rage.
Hitting the talk show circuit, Mr. Bird and Ms. Apple sing a duet that's both haunting and beautiful. It's perhaps Fiona's voice that makes the song so heartbreakingly believable that these are two skeptical lovers quarreling. Bird recounted in a statement posted earlier this year:
"My inclination was to write a song about why I can't write a simple love song. The song began as an internal dialogue. At first it was just my voice. Then another voice came creeping in and I thought 'this should be a duet if I can find the right person.' I needed to find someone really indicting. She was totally committed"
And as we previously reported, the song is a witty and self-aware concept that turns the lens inward, revealing that it is conscious that it is a song. Of course, the narrative resembles that of a love song but this speaker calls into question the motives of the other.
A wonderful folk song with the added quality of post-modernism, the performance was a resounding tribute to the idea of the love song and what we expect it to accomplish.
Nonetheless, check out last week's performance of "Left Handed Kisses" on Ellen DeGeneres below.
