Hurray For The Riff Raff – “Hawkmoon”
In a couple of days, Alynda Segarra’s project Hurray For The Riff Raff will follow up 2022’s Life On Earth with the new album The Past Is Still Alive. we’ve posted the early singles “Alibi,” “Colossus Of Roads,” and “Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive).” Now, with the record about to come out, we’re getting one more track.
“Hawkmoon” is a tough, tender roots-rocker that Alynda Segarra delivers with effortless ease. In the song’s video, Segarra flips a classic cinematic narrative, as they and co-star Denny, on the run after a bank robbery, hide out in a remote motel and sleep on a pile of cash. Here’s what Segarra says about it:
“Hawkmoon” is a song about running away — a trans song, and memories of the first trans woman I ever met. Miss Jonathan was a German rapper, poet, and train-riding crusty homeless kid who loved to wear the skimpiest outfits she could get away with and was a surprisingly great shoplifter. We became best friends for a winter, before I learned to play music in New Orleans, and I would ride shotgun in her beat-up car and search for abandoned houses to sleep in. Meeting her changed my life and opened doors in my mind about gender, though it would take me many, many years to feel free enough to expand within myself. I have always wanted to honor her, since I have not seen her in decades and wonder if she is even alive. She suffered a lot of violence the last time we saw each other, and I think about her often.
Watch the video below.
The Past Is Still Alive is out 2/23 on Nonesuch.