
PLAY AUDIO
STREAMING
A high-fidelity (24-bit/48kHz) mastered version is also
available for streaming or download. Link:
Track on Bavdcamp
https://hrartsfactory.bandcamp.com/track/return-of-the-thylacine
Video on Vimeo
Lyrics
Intro 8 bar count
Verse 1
Hiding in the wilderness forests
Stalking at night
Evading bounty-hunters
Who hanged 'em upside-down
At the Mole Creek Tiger bar they say they've seen 'em
And white-coats breed 'em in colossal test-tubes
hop'in to resurrect 'em
Chorus
I am the Thylacine
Returning from antiquity
Oh-I am a-live
You know that - I'm not an apparition
Here to claim victory
Verse 2
A lab jar with a sleeping joey
A key to new life
Doc Frankenberg makes a new cell
Try'in to revive them
In the Tiger bar they gather to tell stories
about the one that strolled into the kitchen
shown'n 'em it had survived extinction
Chorus
I am the Thylacine
Returning from antiquity
Oh-I am a-live
You know that - I'm not an apparition
Here to claim victory
Bridge
Chorus
I am the Thylacine
Returning from antiquity
Oh-I am a-live
You know that - I'm not an apparition
I am the Thylacine
Returning from antiquity
Outro
Vic-tor-y
Notation
The sheet music for piano, vocals guitar - has been rendered in the keys of A, Bb and C. Further keys available upon request.
Song Composition
sources & themes of story-telling
Quintessential local humour
The verses tell the story, whilst the is chorus is sung from the fictional tiger's point-of-view. Additionally, the AI image of a baby thylacine bred in a jar is done with comedic intent. Here we celebrate the tiger's transformation to a sentient life over the alternative of continued extinction. Thus a satirical 'anthem-styled' track is revealed.
The test-tube joey-pup
During the first stages of the TIGRR program, DNA samples (containing genetic code data) was able to be extracted from a 9 week old joey taken from a pouch (around the turn of the 20th century) and preserved in an ethanol solution. Hence the reference in verse 2 to the joey.
Colossal Inc. - Texas
The pioneer team at Colossal Inc. in the US, maintain a major role in developing genome and conservation technologies, that may ultimately see a thylacine, the mammoth and other species returned. In its Mammal and Thylacine lab, Sara Ord and team work on iPSC / stem cell creation - used to engineer an embryo of the thylacine (and other species). On 17 October 2024 a breakthrough is publicly announced. (Ref: Colossal Video - The Mercury 3 July 24.
TIGRR Lab - Melbourne
The University of Melbourne team is led by Prof. Andrew Pask. They continue the frontier-research, with the practical aim of proving whether or not, a thylacine might be able to be returned - using the science of conservation genetics and de-extinction techniques.
Colossal and TIGRR share a partnership in these developments. (Image: David Caird/News Corp)
Tim Noonan - Cinematographer
In 2024, Tim Noonan's documentary, 'Hunt for Truth: Tasmanian Tiger' (Wildman Films) aired on SBS. The documentary was ground-breaking as it opened the window on sightings across Australia and Papua New Guinea. It poignantly introduced us to the multitude of academics and characters that have invested (and sacrificed) their time and skills in the wild, in the elusive search for truth on this subject. (Photo: The Mercury)
Tiger Man
Enigmatic and stoic conservationist, 'Tiger Man' has been on an often isolated and singular-focused journey of the hunt for several decades. He featured in Noonan's documentary above. His insights into the potential conflicts of interest involved in finding and conserving a living thylacine are saluatory.
The Beyond Extinction Research Project
In 2020, Dr. Hannah Stark and Assoc. Prof Katrina Sablunke embarked on, "Beyond Extinction: Reconstructing the Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) Archive". It set about reconstructing individual biographies of a selection of thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) specimens. It also aimed to encourage engagement with the cultural history of extinction - and set a platform for a sustainable response that might help prevent further extinctions in the future.
The Thylacine Research Unit
Tasmanian digital producers, 'Roar Film' release of its 2-part documentary, chronicled the quest of Chris Coupland, Warren Darragh and Bill Flowers to find a living tiger in the Tasmanian wilderness. It provided insight on the research methods, disciplines and technology techniques - used in attempting to capture a living thylacine in the wilderness.
The Bounty-hunters ('tiger-men')
By 1830 the Van Diemen Land Co. introduced bounties on hunted thylacines. In 1888 a bounty of one pound was offered by the Tasmanian parliament. This image, from the National Museum of Australia's digital classroom collection ('Extinction of Thylacine') has the caption, 'Hunter poses with dead thylacine 1869'. Hence in verse one, the reference to, 'they hanged 'em upside down'.
The Tiger bar
The Mole Creek Hotel has a bistro/bar called, 'the Tassie Tiger Bar'. Visitors from afar travel to this venue located on the edge of the Great Western Tiers, the King Solomon's and Marakoops caves, near where thylacines may have been able to survive. In this small Tasmanian village - the mysteries and belief that the 'tiger' may still be alive is fostered.
Intentionally or not, the hotel and patrons- have made their own unique contribution to the preservation of knowledge and tiger story-telling, as it is passed on to the next generation.
Hence the bar features as the place where stories of actual sightings and the future visioning of an actual finding isy welcomed, without fear or favour.
And so the community gathered around the hotel, represents an epicentre of thylacine-tiger culture and story-telling in the modern era.




Image: Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery




Professor Barry Brook
At the centre of scholastic and practical study, is the figure of Barry Brook - Head of Discipline for Biological Sciences/Professor of Environmental Sustainability. He featured in the Hunt for Truth documentary. He and his colleagues have deployed multiple analytic disciplines in tracing the complex reasons for extinction and related biodynamics required for the thylacine and other wildlife to remain sentient in the wild.
Dr. Stephen Sleightholme
Academic, author and expert. Director, International Thylacine Specimen Database, Stephen's research works cover the full spectrum of inquiry from when thylacines roamed in the wild through to extinction; pre and post modern specimen preservation. ref: researachgate.net/scientific-contributions


