What is the green finch&linnet bird song about?
The “Green Finch and Linnet Bird” song comes from the Broadway musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” written by Stephen Sondheim and made into a 2007 movie starring Johnny Depp. Johanna sings this song just before she meets her future love, Anthony.BackgroundWhen Johanna was a baby, Judge Turpin banished her father, Benjamin Barker (now Sweeney Todd) to Australia for life and drove her mother insane. He then became Johanna’s guardian and is now intent on marrying the teenage girl.CaptiveJohanna identifies with the caged birds that can never fly in the sky they see beyond the bars of the cage. She can look out her window onto the busy street but not leave the house alone.MystifiedJohanna asks the songbirds to explain to her how they can sing when they are trapped in a cage. Even though she has many luxurious rooms, she is lonely and does not feel like doing anything as joyous as singing.”More Adaptive”Johanna wishes the songbirds could teach her to sing so happily. Sh
