Where have all the bluebirds gone...?

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Leszek L. - 27 Dec 2006 10:45 GMT

Hi all,

A very popular Christmas song says:

Gone away is the bluebird
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song as we go along
Walking in the winter wonderland.

And I am perplexed: why is the bluebird gone away?
Is it a migratory species that leaves the UK (or
the US) in winter, to seek warmer climates? Even so,
why would it matter for a song that just tries
to draw an image of the winter wonderland?

Also, what can the new bird be? A titmouse?

Thanks in advance for any enlightment,
Leszek.

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mike morgan - 27 Dec 2006 19:24 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> Thanks in advance for any enlightment,
> Leszek.

The bluebird is gone since "there's no place for the two of us" said Mr.
Stork - the new bird. Mr. Stork has just appeared clad in warm leggings, a
scarf and a woolen cap. As we all know storks bring babies and this time our
stork is really pissed off because someone figured out that the little baby
boy whose birth people celebrate allegedly came in winter - not the right
season for Mr. Stork. The bluebird seeing the stork in a bad mood would
rather avoid a direct confrontation as he was a chicken and besides he was
all blue with cold - hence his name. And so he's gone. Hope it helped with
your Christmas perplexity.

Mike (for you Micha³)

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Einde O'Callaghan - 27 Dec 2006 20:52 GMT

Leszek L. schrieb:

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> Thanks in advance for any enlightment,
> Leszek.

The full chorus of the song is:

Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin’
In the lane, snow is glistenin’
A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight
Walkin’ in a winter wonderland
Gone away is the bluebird
Here to stay is a new bird
He sings a love song, as we go along
Walkin’ in a winter wonderland

I would therefore tend to think that the word should be "blue bird"
where "blue" means "sad" - "we're happy tonight", sadness is gone
because "we're in love" (the new bird "sings a love song").

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Leszek L. - 28 Dec 2006 09:43 GMT

Howdy, and thanks for writing.

> Sleigh bells ring, are you listeninâ
> In the lane, snow is glisteninâ
> A beautiful sight, weâre happy tonight

It is reassuring to know that we Poles are not the only
people whose diacriticals get garbled on the net :)

> I would therefore tend to think that the word should be "blue bird" where
> "blue" means "sad" - "we're happy tonight", sadness is gone because "we're
> in love" (the new bird "sings a love song").

Makes a lot of sense, thank you. Another interpretation
a friend has offered refers to the adage "the bluebird
of happiness lives right in your own back yard but you never
think of looking for it there until it's too late". That one
makes a lot of sense too, but it's much more complicated
and thus harder to absorb by novice learners of English.
Which is my intended use of the text, once it has been
disenperplexified.

> Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Cheers,
Leszek.

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John Ramsay - 30 Dec 2006 01:20 GMT

> Hi all,
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> Thanks in advance for any enlightment,
> Leszek.

Since a textbook is involved you may want to be more precise.

Literally : A blue bird is any bird mainly blue in colour.

A bluebird is an actual species with subspecies, still
mainly blue in colour.

Poetically or in song: A bluebird is a symbol of happiness.

A blue bird is a sad bird because one meaning
of blue is sad.

In the area of Canada in which I live the local
subspecies - Eastern Bluebird - is in decline and
there are bluebird bird houses scattered
around parks to help them survive and avoid
us having to ask : ' Where have all the bluebirds gone?'

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / December 2006

Where have all the bluebirds gone...?