Snowbird (song)

"Snowbird"
Single by Anne Murray
from the album This Way Is My Way
Released	June 1970
Format	7"
Recorded	1969
Genre	Country, Pop
Length	2:10
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Gene MacLellan
Producer	Brian Ahern
Certification	Gold (RIAA)
Anne Murray singles chronology
"Bidin' My Time" (1970) "Snowbird" (1970) "Put Your Hand in the Hand" (1971)

"Snowbird" is a song by the Canadian songwriter Gene MacLellan. Though it has been recorded by many performers (including Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley), it is best known through Anne Murray's 1970 version, which launched her into a long career of international exposure. It was a #2 hit on Canada's pop chart and went to #1 on both the Canadian adult contemporary and country charts. The song reached #8 on the U.S. pop singles chart, spent six weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart, and became a surprise Top 10 U.S. country hit as well. It was certified as a gold single by the RIAA, the first American Gold record ever awarded to a Canadian solo female artist. The song peaked at #23 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2003 it was an inaugural song inductee of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The theme and approach broadly resemble that of the earlier hit "Yellow Bird" in contrasting the narrator's being stuck in the place of his/her heartache to the bird's ability to just up and fly away. "Snowbird" sold well over a million copies and was recently picked as 19th on the 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version list, a partially populist approach to defining the most influential songs by Canadians.

Chart performance

Chart (1970)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	2
U.K. Singles Chart	23
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	10
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	8

Notable recordings

• Anne Murray (album This Way Is My Way - 1969)
• Lynn Anderson (album Rose Garden - 1970)
• Perry Como (album It's Impossible - 1970)
• Loretta Lynn (album Coal Miner's Daughter - 1970)
• Gene MacLellan (album Gene MacLellan - 1970)
• Liv Maessen #13 (1970)
• Andy Williams (album The Andy Williams Show - 1970)
• Slim Whitman (album Guess Who - 1970)
• Daliah Lavi (as "Wie Die Schwalben": album Daliah Lavi - 1971)
• Elvis Presley (album Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) - 1971)
• Hank Snow (album Award Winners - 1971)
• Dottie West (album Careless Hands - 1971)
• Chris Connor (album Sketches - 1972)
• Bing Crosby (album Bing N' Basie - 1972)
• Billie Jo Spears (album Just Singin' - 1972)
• Doc Watson (album Two Days in November - 1975)
• Birthe Kjaer (as "Sangfugl": album Vi Maler Byen Rød - 1989)
• Rita MacNeil (album Music of a Thousand Nights - 2001)
• Dana Winner (album Unforgettable - 2001)
• Catherine MacLellan (album "Silhouette" - 2011)
• Burl Ives
• Ann Marie Kvien (as "Gjør Din Drøm Til Virkelighet")

References

Preceded by "Wonder Could I Live There Anymore" by Charley Pride	RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Anne Murray version) August 22 - September 5, 1970	Succeeded by "Everything a Man Could Ever Need" by Glen Campbell
Preceded by "I Just Can't Help Believing" by B.J. Thomas	Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single (Anne Murray version) August 29, 1970 (6 weeks)	Succeeded by "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters