Stripes in the Static — A Song Inspired by Mountain bongos reappear on trail cameras in Kenya after being thought extinct in the Maasai Mau region

[Verse 1]
The red eye blinked where the road gave out
Mud on the lens, no human sound
Everybody said the trail went cold
But something striped moved under gold

[Pre-Chorus]
Don't call the dark empty
Don't call the hush dead
Some names keep breathing
Where the maps won't tread

[Chorus]
Stripes in the static, heart in the trees
Ghost in the camera saying don't forget me
We wrote you gone, we wrote you ash
Then the forest answered back in a flash
Stripes in the static, blood still warm
A hidden bell in the breathing storm

[Verse 2]
They came for soil, they came for light
Cut little windows through the night
But under the thorn and the hanging vine
A secret body kept its time

[Pre-Chorus]
Don't call the dark empty
Don't call the hush dead
The hoofbeat is a warning
And a prayer unsaid

[Chorus]
Stripes in the static, heart in the trees
Ghost in the camera saying don't forget me
We wrote you gone, we wrote you ash
Then the forest answered back in a flash
Stripes in the static, blood still warm
A hidden bell in the breathing storm

[Bridge]
If one small moon can catch your face
If one wet leaf can hold your place
Then maybe mercy is not too late
Maybe the gate can still unbreak

[Final Chorus]
Stripes in the static, heart in the trees
Ghost in the camera saying don't forget me
We wrote you gone, we wrote you ash
Then the forest answered back in a flash
Stripes in the static, blood still warm
A hidden bell in the breathing storm

[Outro]
Don't call the dark empty
Something is looking back