The Howling Song (Coyote)
A cowboy in the desert night awaits his fate as he hears the howls draw closer.
The Howling Song (Coyote)
By Tyler Morrison
AUDIO:
LYRICS:
In the middle of the desert Where the air is dry, You can burn in the daylight. You can freeze at night. I have lived in the city, I have lived on the prairie, But I’ll die in the desert And become a coyote. Ooo-oo-oooooo, ooowoo-ooo! I hear them calling from the darkness, Howling at the moon. I add my voice to the darkness. I know I’m going soon. Awoo-ooo-ooooo, ooo-wooo-ooooo!
Background:
There isn’t much to say for this one. It must have come to me in a flash, as I don’t remember writing it, to be honest. It’s certainly the simplest song I’ve written. I only play two chords on the guitar for the whole thing (G Major and E Minor). But I think that simplicity adds to the stark nature of the lyrics, and it allows for the howling vocals in the song to be the focus.
I am certain, however, that I was inspired by the music of The Theater Fire, one of my favorite bands and one I consider woefully underrated. To understand The Theater Fire, imagine the Decemberists had come out of Fort Worth, Texas, and they mostly wrote Western songs with Southern Gothic lyrics about cowboys, gunslingers, ghosts, and the Wild West. I was definitely drawing from that tradition of creepy campfire tales with a Western theme in mind.