Our obsession with Dead Feather seems to grow with every listen. We previously featured the visionary artist for sharing a poignant and important message with a high emotional quotient on the captivating single, American Dreams, and weaving cosmic mythology into sound with Corn Woman (Mother Woman), so naturally, we also wanted to spotlight another single from his album, Cate Heleswv (Red Medicine).
On Red Poem, we experience crowd noise with a spoken word introduction “Somebody tell me a Red Poem, somebody tell me the one about the hidden race of Indians and Riverside reservations and junk yard jungles…”
The opus expands with a jazz-funk-adjacent warm up as Dead Feather continues his monologue, reminding us raw reality of what it is like to exist as a Native American. The history of his people, their legends, and the persecutions that they have been met with.
The production evolves with sublime instrumentation as Dead Feather finds his flow, showcasing his culture with poetic prowess and depth. In essence, Red Poem is a deeply personal and socially conscious piece by Dead Feather. As a reminder, the artist is a deaf Native American from Edmond, Oklahoma. We learn that the prose was originally written in the mid-2000s, designed to capture his journey of spiritual and cultural awakening as a young Mvskoke-Creek man searching for meaning and identity amid the lingering effects of assimilation and colonization.
The lyrics explore the historical and ongoing tensions between the United States and Native American communities. The blend raw honesty, poetic reflection and political awareness. Influenced by revolutionary and activist figures like Malcolm X, Bob Marley, Leonard Peltier, and Vine Deloria Jr., the song channels a sense of awakening and resistance.
Musically, Red Poem combines the spoken word with a jazz-funk-rock hybrid sound, creating what Dead Feather calls an “audio sculpture” – a fusion of modern Native American narratives and vintage nostalgia. With the help of collaborators Adam Stanley and Isaac Nelson of the band Stanley Hotel, the piece comes alive through layered instrumentation and emotive delivery.
We have added Red Poem to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and our TIMELESS and TRIPPY playlists, whilst we continue to stream the entirety of Cate Heleswv (Red Medicine), and anticipate future releases from Dead Feather!