Ladybird

"Ladybird" is a weird little song. It's about fire (specifically the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria, the Great Seattle Fire, and the climate crisis) and my mother. The Great Library and Serapeum of Alexandria were destroyed by imperialists and religious zealots (according to legend/conjecture, yes I know: leave me alone history buffs!). The Great Seattle Fire happened due to human stupidity/poor planning. The climate crisis is the product of greed. My mother's nickname growing up was Ladybird. This is a song about the evils of the world (imperialism, zealotism, stupidity, greed, etc) and how my mother, try as she might, can't stop them. She's a person who has saved my life so many times but even she can't protect me from the world. She can't put out all the fires. The song is full of inside jokes and references that only my mom will get. It’s the seventh track off my debut album, Songs to the Monster Under My Bed.

“Vivid, haunting lyricism stands out on Mirabai Kukathas’s ‘Ladybird.’ Her words paint grim, apocalyptic imagery that she uses to contemplate her relationship with fear and self-soothing. The doom-laden vocals hang as heavy as smoke over a sparse, yet moving, piano composition.”

— Dan Ray commenting on Ladybird for Dan’s Tunes Seattle’s Twitter Highlist Series