The Byrds Aren't Real - Atwood Magazine

Are The Byrds real, or did we all just imagine the ’60s greats?

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CALL IT THE MANDELA EFFECT OR A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX IF YOU WILL, BUT IT’S TIME TO FACE THE TRUTH. DESPITE BEING BELOVED BY MILLIONS, 1960S CLASSIC ROCK BAND THE BYRDS AREN’T REAL.

UNLIKE THE BIRDS AREN’T REAL MOVEMENT, WHICH SEEKS TO PROVE THAT BIRDS ARE ACTUALLY GOVERNMENT DRONES, THE BYRDS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN A COLLECTIVE FIGMENT OF ALL OF OUR IMAGINATION. THINK ABOUT THE SONG “TURN TURN TURN.” DO YOU REALLY KNOW IT? YOU CAN PRACTICALLY HEAR IT, CAN’T YOU? BUT IS IT REALLY A SONG BY THE BYRDS? OR IS IT JUST THE SIMPLEST THING THAT YOU CAN THINK OF? PERHAPS EVERYONE WHO’S EVER BEEN A FAN OF THE BYRDS IS SIMPLY JUST TAPPING INTO SOME COMPUTER SIMULATION THAT WE’RE ALL ACTUALLY A PART OF AND OUR BRAINS ARE WIRED TO CREATE. IT’S WORTH RE-EXAMINING WHETHER OR NOT IT’S AN ACTUAL SONG WE ACTUALLY HEARD IN LIFE, MOVIES AND TV OR IF WE COLLECTIVELY IMAGINED IT.

BESIDES “TURN TURN TURN,” THINK ABOUT THE BAND’S OTHER MOST POPULAR SONG: A BLAND AND BORING COVER OF BOB DYLAN’S “MR. TAMBOURINE MAN.” WAS IT A COVER THAT WENT ON TO BE BELOVED, OR WAS IT JUST WHAT PEOPLE WHO DON’T LIKE DYLAN’S VOICE IMAGINED A GREAT SONG WOULD SOUND LIKE WITH ALL THE CHARACTER STRIPPED FROM IT? WHY DO YOU THINK THE “BAND” ALSO COVERED “THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN?” THEY DIDN’T HAVE SOMETHING ARTISTIC TO DO WITH IT. WE ALL JUST THOUGHT OF THE SONG.

WHILE THE FIRST ARTIST TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF IS THE BYRDS, THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHERS THAT I HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT: THE EAGLES, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, COUNTING CROWS, HOME IS WHERE (WHO RELEASED AN ALBUM CALLED I BECAME BIRDS THIS YEAR), STEVE MILLER (WHO HAS A SONG CALLED “FLY LIKE AN EAGLE”), THE BLACK CROWES, THE YARDBIRDS (NICE TRY, MR. CLAPTON), SHERYL CROW, AND THEM CROOKED VULTURES. WERE ANY OF THESE BANDS REAL OR DO WE JUST WISH THEY WERE?

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