Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Feed the Birds
"Feed the Birds" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman) and featured in the 1964 motion picture Mary Poppins. The song speaks of an old woman (the "Bird Woman") who sits on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, selling bags of breadcrumbs to passers-by for two pence a bag (equivalent to £1.29 in 2023) so that they can feed the many pigeons which surround her. The scene is reminiscent of the real-life seed vendors of Trafalgar Square who began selling birdseed to passers-by shortly after its public opening in 1844.
In the book, Mary Poppins accompanies the children, on the way to tea with their father, to give money to the bird woman to feed the birds. In the movie, on the way to the bank, their father discourages the children from feeding the birds, while Mary Poppins, who had sung the song to the children the previous night, was on her day off. Academy Award winner Jane Darwell played the Bird Woman, her last screen appearance.
In contrast to the energetic nature of most of the film's songs, "Feed the Birds" is played in a reverent tempo. This most serious of songs is used to frame the truly important moments in a film that is mostly humorous and lighthearted. It is used in four places:
In 1988 Garth Hudson recorded "Feed the Birds" on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, produced by Hal Willner. The song is also alluded to in the Disney film Enchanted, a tribute to and parody of Disney films, in the form of an old woman named Clara who sells bird feed for "two dollars a bag"; in Chris Columbus's 1992 movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York by the character known as the Pigeon Lady (interpreted by Academy Award Winner Brenda Fricker) and John Williams's soundtrack theme; and in the 2007 satirical comedy The Nanny Diaries. Cynthia A. Morgan, award-winning author and Inspiration coach, related how the song shaped her life.
As the Sherman Brothers recall, when Richard Sherman first played and sang "Feed the Birds" to Pamela Travers (the author of the Mary Poppins books), she thought it was "nice" but inappropriate for a male voice. Robert Sherman then called in a Disney staff secretary to demonstrate the song again. Upon hearing a woman sing the song, Ms. Travers' response was that she thought "Greensleeves" (traditionally in E minor, the same key as about half of "Feed The Birds") was the only truly appropriate song for the soundtrack, as it was "quintessentially English". (Ms. Travers had originally wanted the only music in the film to be Edwardian period songs.) Eventually and reluctantly, Travers acquiesced to the American songwriters' supplying the film's soundtrack.
Robert Sherman recalled:
On Fridays, after work, [Walt Disney would] often invite us into his office and we'd talk about things that were going on at the Studio. After a while, he'd wander to the north window, look out into the distance and just say, "Play it." And Dick would wander over to the piano and play "Feed the Birds" for him. One time just as Dick was almost finished, under his breath, I heard Walt say, "Yep. That's what it's all about."
The song was regarded as one of Walt Disney's favorite songs. Sherman also comments:
Hub AI
Feed the Birds AI simulator
(@Feed the Birds_simulator)
Feed the Birds
"Feed the Birds" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman) and featured in the 1964 motion picture Mary Poppins. The song speaks of an old woman (the "Bird Woman") who sits on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, selling bags of breadcrumbs to passers-by for two pence a bag (equivalent to £1.29 in 2023) so that they can feed the many pigeons which surround her. The scene is reminiscent of the real-life seed vendors of Trafalgar Square who began selling birdseed to passers-by shortly after its public opening in 1844.
In the book, Mary Poppins accompanies the children, on the way to tea with their father, to give money to the bird woman to feed the birds. In the movie, on the way to the bank, their father discourages the children from feeding the birds, while Mary Poppins, who had sung the song to the children the previous night, was on her day off. Academy Award winner Jane Darwell played the Bird Woman, her last screen appearance.
In contrast to the energetic nature of most of the film's songs, "Feed the Birds" is played in a reverent tempo. This most serious of songs is used to frame the truly important moments in a film that is mostly humorous and lighthearted. It is used in four places:
In 1988 Garth Hudson recorded "Feed the Birds" on Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films, produced by Hal Willner. The song is also alluded to in the Disney film Enchanted, a tribute to and parody of Disney films, in the form of an old woman named Clara who sells bird feed for "two dollars a bag"; in Chris Columbus's 1992 movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York by the character known as the Pigeon Lady (interpreted by Academy Award Winner Brenda Fricker) and John Williams's soundtrack theme; and in the 2007 satirical comedy The Nanny Diaries. Cynthia A. Morgan, award-winning author and Inspiration coach, related how the song shaped her life.
As the Sherman Brothers recall, when Richard Sherman first played and sang "Feed the Birds" to Pamela Travers (the author of the Mary Poppins books), she thought it was "nice" but inappropriate for a male voice. Robert Sherman then called in a Disney staff secretary to demonstrate the song again. Upon hearing a woman sing the song, Ms. Travers' response was that she thought "Greensleeves" (traditionally in E minor, the same key as about half of "Feed The Birds") was the only truly appropriate song for the soundtrack, as it was "quintessentially English". (Ms. Travers had originally wanted the only music in the film to be Edwardian period songs.) Eventually and reluctantly, Travers acquiesced to the American songwriters' supplying the film's soundtrack.
Robert Sherman recalled:
On Fridays, after work, [Walt Disney would] often invite us into his office and we'd talk about things that were going on at the Studio. After a while, he'd wander to the north window, look out into the distance and just say, "Play it." And Dick would wander over to the piano and play "Feed the Birds" for him. One time just as Dick was almost finished, under his breath, I heard Walt say, "Yep. That's what it's all about."
The song was regarded as one of Walt Disney's favorite songs. Sherman also comments: