{"id":49014,"date":"2025-12-08T12:55:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idea.membrane.com\/songwriter\/?p=49014"},"modified":"2025-12-08T13:00:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T13:00:52","slug":"penguin-are-you-african","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/2025\/12\/08\/penguin-are-you-african\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguin Are You African"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penguin-Are-You-African-Best-Of.mp3<\/a>
\nPenguin-Are-You-African-Best-Of.mp4<\/a>
\nPenguin-Are-You-African.mp3<\/a>
\nPenguin-Are-You-African.mp4<\/a>
\nPenguin-Are-You-African-intro.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n

[Intro]
\n(Penguin, are you African?)
\nWill you or the Emperor endure
\n(… ’cause I’m not so sure)<\/p>\n

[Verse 1]
\nPenguin…
\nAre you African
\n(Barely alive)
\nAre you starvin’
\n(Tryin’ to survive)<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nPenguin, are you African?
\n(I’m askin’ once again)
\nWill you or the Emperor endure
\n(’cause I’m not sure)<\/p>\n

[Chorus]
\nNo (know) solution
\n(For humanity)
\nTheir evolution
\n(Wrapped in vanity)<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nPenguin, are you African?
\n(I’m cryin’ once again)
\nPenguin…
\nYou’re dyin’
\n(Much to our chagrin)<\/p>\n

[Verse 2]
\nAfrican
\n(Penguin)
\nHere we hear
\n(Nature’s callin’)
\nAs we thrive… we drive
\n(No penguin’s chillin’)<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nPenguin, are you African?
\n(I’m askin’ once again)
\nWill you or the Emperor endure
\n(’cause I’m not sure)<\/p>\n

[Chorus]
\nNo (know) solution
\n(For humanity)
\nTheir evolution
\n(Wrapped in vanity)<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nPenguin, are you African?
\n(I’m cryin’ once again)
\nPenguin…
\nYou’re dyin’
\n(Much to our chagrin)<\/p>\n

[Outro]
\nPenguin…
\n(Where to begin)
\n… Well, man’s bent on hell…
\n(Hellbent is what I meant)
\nCan you understand man?
\n(’cause it makes me wanna cry)
\nKnowing you’ll die
\n(African penguin)
\nWhat’s man doin’?
\nPenguin, are you African?
\nWill you or the Emperor endure
\n(’cause I’m not sure)
\nJust think…
\n(Extinct.)<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE SONG<\/p>\n

The number one KingArthur song of 2025 is \u201cPenguin.\u201d<\/strong> I originally wrote it about the Emperor Penguin.<\/p>\n

The song grew out of grief \u2014 the same grief I feel every time I write about extinction. Its earliest spark came from the paper Antarctica, Inevitable Sea-Level Rise, and the Cascading Impacts of Climate Change.<\/em> Writing scientifically about extinction demands clinical phrasing like:<\/p>\n

\u201cWildlife Collapse: Emperor penguins and other species face extinction as their habitats vanish.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But music lets me tell the truth emotionally \u2014 without filters, without footnotes.
\u201cPenguin\u201d became the place where I could finally let the pain through, turning the cold statistics into something human.<\/p>\n

Heartbreakingly, a new report shows the crisis extends far beyond Antarctica.<\/p>\n

A newly published study has revealed that African penguins off the coast of South Africa likely starved to death en masse<\/strong> after a catastrophic collapse of their primary food sources, sardines and anchovies.<\/p>\n

The specific species of penguin that starved to death en masse off the coast of South Africa is the<\/div>\n

African penguin<\/strong> (Spheniscus demersus<\/em>)<\/mark>.<\/p>\n

This species is the only penguin native to the African continent and is now classified as “Critically Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).<\/div>\n

The findings \u2014 from the University of Exeter and South Africa\u2019s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, published in Ostrich: Journal of African Ornithology<\/em> \u2014 are devastating:<\/p>\n