Giraffes for Wings - Caribou Crosses the Maskwa

from SpinTunes 17 Round 2 by Spintunes

	/

Streaming + Download

Purchasable with gift card

about

Hello! Here is a song inspired by Peter Heller's novel The River. In the book, two college-aged men go on a kayaking trip which becomes complicated in a number of ways. Most relevant to this song is a forest fire. As the boys are traveling downriver, they encounter a frantic caribou calf who is crossing the river in order to flee the fire. In their desperation, one of the young men kills the calf for food. This song is written from the perspective of the calf.

lyrics

Smoke like a new canopy looking on
Where has my mother gone?

Make for the bank, rip through the spruce
In the fists of the future, try to wriggle loose

But there are two ways to die today, okay

Heat of the whole summer on my back
When I see the kayak

Two boys, arms long as life
Feel the panic and then the cool of the knife

credits

from SpinTunes 17 Round 2, released March 29, 2021
Music and lyrics by Giraffes for Wings
Bass and backing vocals by SunLite
Produced by SunLite

license

some rights reserved

about

Spintunes Union, South Carolina

Spintunes is a semi-annual songwriting contest. Every other week, the competitors receive a challenge and a week to meet it.

Each album on this site contains the responses to a single challenge.