Cuckoo Bird

In its American form the song is a loose string of verses rather than a single story — the cuckoo that sings as it flies, a gambler’s lines about the jack of diamonds, scraps of love and complaint — held together by tune and mood. The well-known 1929 recording by Clarence Ashley set this jumbled, haunting pattern.

Ashley’s recording, later included on the Anthology of American Folk Music, carried the song to generations of revival and bluegrass musicians. The version heard here is by Doc and Merle Watson.