Sonny Rae Tempest’s Camel Tail is a remediation of Nick Montfort’s Taroko Gorge. It operates as a code poem, using JavaScript within an HTML framework to remix the heavy metal band Metallica’s lyrics into a continuous textual experience. Camel Tail disassembles the band’s iconic words and rearranges them into new quatrains, creating an evolving text that is never quite the same upon multiple readings.

When opening the page, readers are met with a white screen with four lines of Metallica lyrics on the left side, and a prologue written by "SRT," or Sonny Rae Tempest, on the right. As they wait, more stanzas of four lines continue to generate from the bottom, eventually pushing the old ones up through the top of the screen and out of sight. There is nothing for the user to interact with or click on; rather, the goal seems to be to sit and observe the lyrics as they pass by.

Camel Tail stands at the intersection of poetry, remix culture, and electronic literature. Its structure relies on the programmed JavaScript system rather than Metallica’s original fixed set of verses. Unlike traditional lyric poetry, Camel Tail is fluid and ever-changing, resisting the static nature of print. It shares similarities with other works of generative literature and drew inspiration and the source code from Taroko Gorge by Nick Montfort. However, Camel Tail distinguishes itself by remixing pop culture rather than taking inspiration from nature.

Tempest’s goal of Camel Tail, stated on the page, was to “find an overall narrative within Metallica’s work” and for readers to do the same.

Taroko Gorge: https://directory.eliterature.org/individual-work/4878

Meredith Hohnbaum wrote this entry for ENGL 693: Digital Literature, Professor Melinda White, University of New Hampshire, Spring 2025.