"The Birds of St. Marks" is a song by

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

. It was originally written in 1967 when he was 18 and returning home to California after a brief stint living in New York where he was recording with Nico. The song was recorded as a demo for Criterion in 1970. Browne re-discovered it in an interview from the 1994 concert video "Going Home" where he recalled it at the piano. It was again captured on his ''

Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1 ''Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1'' is a live album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 2005 (see 2005 in music). It reached number 4 on the Top Independent Albums chart and number 8 on the Top Internet Albums chart. History ''Solo A ...

'' album when at a concert a fan called out and requested it. Browne properly recorded it for the first time in 2014 and it appears on his 14th studio album ''

Standing in the Breach ''Standing in the Breach'' is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne. It was released on October 7, 2014, by Inside Recordings and was his first album of new material in six years. Track listing All tracks com ...

''. "This is a song I always heard as a Byrds song, and that was even part of the writing of the song," he told Rolling Stone in an August, 2014 interview. The finished version of the song features Greg Leisz playing a "McGuinn-esque 12-string," described Rolling Stone. Leisz and Jackson were joined by Val McCallum (electric guitar), Bob Glaub (bass) Don Heffington (drums), while as described in MOJO "McCallum and Kipp Lennon stir dessence of Crosby into the vocal harmonies." The song is also featured in the 2007 movie '' Reign Over Me'' starring

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...

and Don Cheadle.

References

1967 songs Jackson Browne songs Songs written by Jackson Browne {{1970s-song-stub