On “Birdie” Father John Misty sings about the prospects of the future of mankind, through a metaphor of a bird. He’s trying to convince the bird to rise above the struggles of an earthly existence by taking off to the sky. This can be seen as a metaphor for mankind striving for a life without suffering by transcending our mundane struggle for survival on Earth. This transcendence seems to be achieved through virtual reality, of which he is critical.

The song might not express Father John Misty’s own stance though, but rather a critique of the public’s mindless acceptance of new technology. The future the song paints isn’t just positive, there are undertones of some sort of dystopia, where everyone is identical and only one culture exists. Furthermore the society he describes doesn’t appear very inclusive, as a form of inequality is mentioned in the end of verse 2.