Very sad and very unusual but at the same time very surreal and poignant RIP David Olney

Not very familiar with his work, but have to say that that is not a bad way to go...Peaceful while doing what he loved. RIP David

One of the best and most under recognised (at least broadly) songwriters out there - so many great songs I'd forgotten and am reminding myself of but that's a great legacy

R.I.P.

I was lucky. I heard David at two house concerts and then again at a local club (Eddies Attic in Decatur GA). Above all else he was a writer who just happened to use music as his way of getting his thoughts across. A story I heard more than once was about a night when feeling bored in a hotel room he found a nearby second hand book store and purchased a book on birds. By the end of the night had written a song which would be the track of a new album entitled Migration.

David Olney - Birds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFsGRxMRYbg

But getting back to the "writing" part of this story, after one concert an audience member who was a "birder" asked David why he had made mistakes including names of birds which don't exist. I can still see David shaking his head when explaining he used words that are beautiful as lyrics without regard to being correct in ornithology. Maybe there should be a rule that songwriters must obey the strict species names applied to nature. Until that happens the song Birds will always be something I enjoy listening to.

David's death this last weekend was reported by major new outlets probably because he passed away peacefully while performing on stage. That may have been unusual but it was his ability in his songwriting craft that earned him an obit in the New York Times.

Here's one more song from David that will offer proof that he belonged being celebrated in the Times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-d5L93QHcA

David Olney Homepage
https://davidolney.com/home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLb28p4hlqw

Many thanks for that insight into the man and his music.
,👍