Originally this was a lyrical poem, “Choucoune”, written by Oswald Durand in Haitian Creole in praise of a beautiful woman with whom he was fascinated. He says he is chained by love to her. In 1893, Michel Monton, a Haitian-American, set it to music, and the song became widely known throughout the Caribbean. In 1957 it was released as “Yellow Bird” with English lyrics and became a hit For the Mills Brothers. It has been covered by many others since including The Kingston Trio. There is also a post for the original song, “Choucoune”, on this site.