The Animals
for baritone and piano
7. Vulture
We gave you your first flute.
If you would sing of life,
let it be of life and death.
We gave you a wing bone
that bore five holes for your breath.
Oh, if you would sing of life,
let it be of life and death.
We who eat carrion,
who eat the carcasses of buffalo,
and of stork and peacock,
we who dine on raw leftovers,
we are fit to make music, too.
Oh, sing of it. Celebrate the one
who will be there when you need me.
I'll be there. I'll be there,
who will be there when you need me.
When life is over, I'll be there, I'll be there.
Written during the summer of 2009, The Animals is a cycle of nine songs written and dedicated to Stephen Swanson, who premiered them in
October of that year. Poet Marvin Bell created the texts specifically for this cycle. The work not only takes inspiration from the Ravel
and Poulenc animal songs, but is also rooted in the American tradition: Gershwin's Tin Pan Alley, and more recently the songs of
William Bolcom.