Roots and Wings by The Wallflowers Song Info
"Roots and Wings" is the first single from the 2021 album "Exit Wounds", from American rock band The Wallflowers. The band premiered the song with a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and it was officially released as a single on April 9th. The track starts with a sunny 70s-inspired guitar riff, which is in contrast to the “less-sunny” lyrics, where the singer is quite hard on the “bird” – the “bird” is used as a metaphor for a person in Jakob’s (or the character's) life. The singer makes it clear to the bird that, without his help; it would have no purpose, and wouldn’t ever be able to fly or get anywhere on its own. Jakob told the Washington Post: "It’s not a nice song.” Without divulging details, he said it’s about people in his life who he’s helped and who haven’t shown gratitude. “I’m the one who got you in flight,” he explained, “and you’re not acting like that now.”” The song is widely speculated to be directed, at least in part, towards former band member and keyboard/organist Rami Jaffee. In 2005, Rami began playing with the Foo Fighters; setting the course for a long and gradual transition from the former band into the latter – he officially became a member of that group in 2017.