Steve Earle: Down Here Below
This is my entry for Kevin’s No Theme Thursday.
There was once a red-tailed hawk who ruled the skies above New York City’s Central Park. His name was Pale Male and he soared above the trees of the park from 1991 to 2023. After originally attempting to roost in a tree, he was driven off by crows. This led him to build a nest on a building on Fifth Avenue, making him one of the first hawks to successfully do so. Over his years, he had several mates and produced about 20 offspring. There are currently about a dozen active red-tailed hawks nesting around New York City every year. They feed on squirrels and pigeons and do all they can to survive the poisons, regulations, and other man-made issues that put their lives in constant danger.
Lyrics from “Down Here Below” by Steve Earle
Pale Male the famous red-tail hawk performs wingstands
High above midtown Manhattan
Circles around for one last pass over the Park
Got his eye on a fat squirrel down there and a couple of pigeons
They got no place to run, no place to hide
But Pale Male he’s cool, see ’cause his breakfast ain’t goin’ nowhere
So he does a loop to loop for the tourists and the six o’clock news
Got him a penthouse view from the tip-top of the food chain, boys
He looks up and down Fifth Avenue and says “God I love this town”
But life goes on, down here below
And all us mortals struggle so
We laugh and cry
And live and die
That’s how it goes
For all we know
Down here below
Pale Male swimmin’ in the air
Looks like he’s in heaven up there
People sufferin’ everywhere
But he don’t care
But life goes on, down here below
And all us mortals struggle so
We laugh and cry
And live and die
That’s how it goes
For all we know
Down here below
To learn more about Pale Male, check out the Wikipedia article.
To listen to more songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.
The Radio Faux Show 
This is very cool. I had no idea of the history of Pale Male, so I learned something new today! Also, I only have a passing familiarity with Steve Earle. Copperhead Road being the prime example, so thank you for sharing that as well! 🤘😎🤘
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure! Copperhead Road is a classic. If you are curious for more, one of my all time favorite albums by anyone is El Corazon by Steve Earle.
LikeLike
Very cool about Pale Male. I thought I read where Peregrines nested on high rises, but red tails were something new. All I could think of as I started reading was the beginning of “Get Off of my Cloud.” 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
Imagining the world has stopped. Nice imagery.
LikeLiked by 1 person