The counterculture of the sixties inspired a lot of great music, even as it divided society at the generation gap. People like The Beatles and Bob Dylan wouldn’t have had nearly the same influence if they couldn’t be centred at the movement’s forefront. And it turns out it’s still inspiring music to this day. Grammy-nominated artist Andrew Bird has released his first single of 2022, called “Atomized“, and it takes inspiration from one of the movement’s critics – Joan Didion.
Didion (who recently passed away last December at the ripe old age of 87) spoke about how the counterculture was dividing society, arguing that, to some extent, the world was changing and falling apart as we knew it.
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a series of essays Didion had published back in 1968, were especially inspiring to Bird, where Didion noted the first time she “dealt directly and flatly with the evidence of atomization, the proof that things fall apart …. the world as I had understood it no longer existed …. It was a country of bankruptcy notices and public-auction announcements and commonplace reports of casual killings …. It was a country in which families routinely disappeared, trailing bad checks and repossession papers.“
And what better material for a pop song, eh? It certainly seems so to Bird. Attempting to move what Didion had to say “to the pixelated present“, “Atomized“ shows that “it’s not just society that is getting atomized but the self that is being broken apart and scattered.“ Lyrics referencing the “[demagnetization of] your poles“ and “you know they’re gonna try to delete you, so now you’re atomized unwhole“ try to get to the root of what Didion was trying to say, putting it under a light more relevant to today.
The accompanying music video was directed by Matthew Daniel Siskin, and shows in stylistic black and white Bird being chased by a version of himself, searching for meaning and teetering “on the edge of sanity“. Bird is accompanied by musicians Alan Hampton (bass), Abe Rounds (drums) and Mike Viola (guitar).
And that’s not all. Bird’s going on tour later this year, his first full-band tour for almost three years. He’ll be making his way through the US and Europe from June until August. He’s touring alongside the artist Iron & Wine, and support acts include Allison Russell and Meshell Ndegeocello.
He’s got one UK tour date lined up, appearing in London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on July 19th. If you’re interested in getting tickets, you can look here.
