Birds give songwriters an easy shorthand for freedom, hope and the urge to fly off. This list holds blackbirds and bluebirds, doves and robins, plus a couple of birds that are really about the people singing.
Updated 2026
Blackbird by The Beatles 1968
A broken-winged bird learning to fly, written with the civil rights struggle in mind.
Read the meaning behind the songFree Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd 1973
The ultimate I-can't-be-tied-down song, with a guitar coda to match.
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley & The Wailers 1977
Every little thing is gonna be all right, on the authority of three songbirds.
Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day 1958
A bright doo-wop hit about a bird who can really sing.
When Doves Cry by Prince 1984
Heartbreak so sharp even the doves are weeping over it.
Fly Like an Eagle by Steve Miller Band 1976
Time keeps slipping while the singer dreams of flight.
I'm Like a Bird by Nelly Furtado 2000
She loves you but warns she'll fly away, and she means it.
Bird on the Wire by Leonard Cohen 1969
A man clinging to freedom the way a bird grips a swaying wire.
Mockingbird by Carly Simon & James Taylor 1974
A playful back-and-forth duet built on the old lullaby.
Snowbird by Anne Murray 1970
A small bird carries off a heartbreak the singer can't shake.
Surfin' Bird by The Trashmen 1963
Pure nonsense garage rock, and proudly so.
Bluebird by Miranda Lambert 2019
Keeping a bird in your heart for the days that go dark.