Legendary Children’s Entertainer Raffi Has Written a Song About the Wall of Moms

The “Baby Beluga” singer tweeted that the idea for the song, called “Portland Moms," hit him at 3 am.

Raffi at Aladdin Theater in 2015. IMAGE: Thomas Teal.
By Matthew Singer

The last time an artist who lives in Canada wrote a song about Portland, it referenced side pieces, Ike Turner and drug lord Griselda Blanco, and featured the line, "Out in Portland/Trying to get in her organs."

This latest one is…a bit different.

On Saturday, Raffi Cavoukian, the beloved children's singer known simply as Raffi, dropped a new track on Twitter celebrating the Black Lives Matter movement and, in particular, Portland's now-famous Wall of Moms.

The "Baby Beluga" singer and longtime activist tweeted that the idea for the song, called "Portland Moms," hit him at 3 am, and it was recorded quickly with an assist from singer Lindsay Munroe and dobro player Ivan Rosenberg. It's a short, simple folk jam, shouting out Black Lives Matter and the Wall of Vets in addition to the song's namesake, with a refrain nodding the nightly protests downtown.

Here's hoping this soon becomes an actual protest anthem, perhaps sung at federal agents as an eerie lullaby.

Related: Three Women in the Portland "Wall of Moms" Hold or Seek Elected Office.

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Portland MomsprotestsRaffiwall of moms

Matthew Singer

Matthew Singer

A native Southern Californian, former Arts & Culture Editor Matthew Singer ruined Portland by coming here in 2008. He is an advocate for the canonization of the Fishbone and Oingo Boingo discographies, believes pro-wrestling is a serious art form and roots for the Lakers. Fortunately, he left Portland for Tucson, Arizona, in 2021.

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