High Hawk Season[1][2]
Lyrics
I heard the wings beat
on the wind tonight
As the heat stole power from
the darkening light
I saw the streets fill up
with people that I knew
People who looked like you
Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake
We are young supernovas and
the heat's about to break
Drift through the streets,
walk between the cars
Newborn sons and daughters
spat forth from distant stars
The summer will reveal itself
to those whose hearts are true[3]
And to the faithless few
Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake
We are young supernovas and
the heat's about to break
Who will rise and who will sink?
Who's going to stand his ground
and who's going to blink?
Surge forward from Van Cortlandt Park[4]
like frightened sheep
Spirit throngs that hoist us high,
three thousand warriors deep
Spray our dreams on any surface
where the paint will stick
Try to time the rhythm,
listen for the click[5]
Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake
We are young supernovas and
the heat's about to break
Banter
- That song was the second one I wrote after we moved across town here in Durham, right. And our new backyard — the hawks were landing in it, which I suspect they were doing because there were two new cats in the neighborhood, right, so they're checking it out. But, if you get more than one hawk, like, two hawk sightings in your backyard, in the space of a week, for an excitable animal person like me, that means you just won at life, you know, everything else is great once I, you know — I really love to have animals in my environment, I would live in a zoo if I could. And, but, yeah — this was this hawk on the back, and my wife knows a lot about birds and she was explaining how, you know, it does this — this is not going to translate well on radio but — they do this thing with their necks where they sort of look like they're kind of checking you out and they dart their — and that's because they're getting perspective to figure out whether they, how far you are from them, right, in case they need to eat you, right. And I thought that was awesome, so I got this really sort of surrounded vibe from them and I was, you know, there's something really neat about feeling surveilled by birds of prey. (2011-04-08)
- This song is just basically, a narration to the script to 'The Warriors'. (2012-06-30)
Live Performances
2016-10-29 - Hi Dive, Denver (JD/Peter duo - recording)
Footnotes
1. A demo version of High Hawk Season was released on All Survivors Pack. Accordingly, High Hawk Season is part of the informal series of demos. It is also part of the informal series of Biblical references. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
2. Other possible points of reference [for the album] include Burnt Offerings, Go Ask Alice, and that one scene in The Warriors where they're on the train and the sun's coming up and they're safe but you know the scars are permanent now. Reversals of fortune and faces at the window and sudden unexpected screams of triumph here and there. Possible exits from the long-locked basement. These sorts of moments. (Announcement post for All Eternals Deck) John has further clarified many times that this song explicitly describes the final scenes from The Warriors: see Letters to Santa, Chicago, December 7, 2011; McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, June 30, 2012. I'm not sure whether the other films mentioned are intended to refer to High Hawk Season, other songs, or both. Burnt Offerings is a 1976 horror film (based on the novel by Robert Marasco) about a dilapidated house that rebuilds itself by killing its inhabitants. Go Ask Alice is a 1971 novel which purports to be the true diary of a 15 year old girl and explicitly discusses drugs (especially LSD), sex, rape, sex work, homelessness, and other topics considered taboo (especially at the time). It has been the center of multiple censorship efforts. The novel is now generally believed to have been written by Beatrice Sparks. The Warriors is a 1979 film in which a New York City gang is framed for the murder of another gang leader at meeting of all the New York City gangs in Van Cortlandt Park. They are then forced to escape the park on the subway with the rest of the gangs pursuing after them, attempting to reach their territory of Coney Island. They finally reach Coney Island as the sun rises, many fights behind them. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
3. Potentially an allusion to Psalms 7:10: "God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right." (New Living Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible) However, most translations use a different phrasing (such as "My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart"), so there may be no link between this line and the psalm. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
4. Van Cortlandt Park is a large public park in the Bronx, New York City. (Credit: Annotated TMG)↩
5. Refers to a metronome track ("click track") used in the recording studio to keep time. "No - “click track,” i.e., the metronome you track to if you’re putting down a part that you’re going to want other people to play on later. it’s a pretty obscure line, the click track is kind of a profound meditation, one goes through many phases of love and hate with the click track. Scott Solter made me understand that the click isn’t telling you what to do: you’re telling it what to do. this very obscure realization makes it possible to play with a click instead of sitting there going I CAN’T PLAY WITH THIS THING CLICKING IN MY EAR." (Tumblr)↩