A Sweet, Soaring Goodbye to Unfulfilled Dreams
For many of us who came of age in the 1960s and 70s, the voice of Mark Lindsay is inextricably linked to the rebellious, garage-rock energy of Paul Revere & The Raiders. But as the decade turned, Lindsay embarked on a solo career that revealed a different, more reflective side to his musical persona. It’s in this new chapter that we find the lovely and evocative “Silver Bird,” a song that traded the raucous energy of his former band for a gentle, yet no less profound, exploration of love and longing.
Released in 1970 as a single from the album of the same name, “Silver Bird” became a respectable success for Lindsay as a solo artist. The song soared to Number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieved an even more impressive feat, reaching Number 7 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. This chart performance speaks volumes, marking it as a track that resonated not with the hard-rocking youth, but with an older, more thoughtful audience. The story behind the song, written by the talented Kenny Young and Artie Butler, isn’t a complex narrative but a relatable, emotional tableau. It’s a man’s tender, slightly melancholic farewell to a lover who is leaving, perhaps on a metaphorical “silver bird” of a plane, to chase her own dreams.
At its heart, “Silver Bird” is a wistful ode to a love that is being set free. The lyrics paint a picture of a man who, though heartbroken, understands and even encourages his “lady” to “go see what’s on the other side.” It’s a beautifully mature expression of love—one that prioritizes the other person’s happiness and journey over one’s own immediate desire for them to stay. For us, hearing this song again can stir old memories of our own departures and those we said goodbye to. It reminds us of a time when we, too, watched a loved one leave, filled with both sorrow and a genuine hope for their new beginning. The soft, swelling orchestration and Lindsay‘s smooth vocals turn this farewell into something almost beautiful, a quiet moment of grace in the face of inevitable change.