Anne Murray recorded this after watching its composer, Gene MacLellan, perform it on Canadian TV. It was the second song MacLellan had ever written and he penned it in just 25 minutes. He also recorded it for his own 1970 album, Street Corner Preacher, and included an additional verse:
This was Murray’s first hit. She started recording when the producer of a show that turned her down as a singer gave her a shot two years later. She became a very popular pop-country crossover artist. It’s hard to believe that before her success in the music business, Anne was a high school P.E. teacher.
(source)
Lyrics to Anne Murray’s “Snowbird”
The unborn grass lies waiting
For its coat to turn to green
The snowbird sings the song he always sings
And speaks to me of flowers
That will bloom again in spring
When I was young my heart was young then too
Anything that it would tell me
That’s the thing that I would do
But now I feel such emptiness within
For the thing that I want most in life’s
The thing thing that I can’t win
Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you
Where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would
Fly away with you
The breeze along the river seems to say
That he’ll only break me heart again
Should I decide to stay
So little snowbird take me with you
When you go
To that land of gentle breezes
Where the peaceful waters flow
Spread your tiny wings and fly away
And take the snow back with you
Where it came from on that day
The one I love forever is untrue
And if I could you know that I would
Fly away with you
Anne performs the song again in 2003…
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