The song fades out before hitting the 2-minute mark, but a lot is packed into that short time. Jim Gordon played drums, Lyle Ritz was on bass, Al Vescovo rocked the banjo, and Igor Horoshevsky supplied the cello. Brian is prominently heard on the "na na, na na na na" backing vocals. One highlight of "Little Bird" are the harmonies at :47. A cappella and backing track versions of the song were released on the digital-only Wake The World: The Friends Sessions in 2018.
Brian clearly helped his brother with the production as his style is all over this track. He likely deserved a writing credit since, according to Kalinich, Brian wrote the bridge. The label of the single says "Arranged by Brian Wilson." You can also hear a bit of a reference to the Smile track "Child Is Father Of The Man" at 1:24. It's really magnificent how he worked that in. Author David Leaf pointed out "the muted trumpet emulates the tune's title character." It's a really cool track and an excellent production that makes you wish Brian and Dennis worked together more. It was nice to see Brian add it to his live shows in 2013 (sung by David Marks) and 2019 (sung by Brian).
Where's my pretty bird
He must have flown away
If I keep singing
He'll come back someday
