about
This song is an imagined conversation with world leaders, corporations, and anyone who is apathetic about the climate crisis. It asks and pleads with them to consider the impending doom that awaits us if climate change continues as is.
It asks them to use their imaginations and think about the extreme forest fires, heat waves, and floods that await. It invites the listener to not just think about what will happen to the earth in general, but to think about how climate change will deeply affect everyone very personally.
“When’s it all going to collapse? The walls fall in and everyone’s trapped. The neighbours go by in a little life raft. Everything’s gone, nobody can go back.”
There is a sense of unfairness that pervades the song. Because it is hard to figure out an easy solution to climate change, a prevailing feeling, especially among young people, is a deep sense of injustice. It feels like our futures are so uncertain, and cannot be planned for or dreamed about. There is a general understanding, even if just in a jokey way, that “the world is going to end” before we reach middle or old age.
It feels like there is no one who knows what to do and no one who is willing to do what it takes to care for our earth. It feels like we’re in unknown territory and no one will help. “And you say life’s just like that, but nobody gave us a road map, and it’s night time, there’s no signs, and no one to ask. There’s no way to go back, there’s no way to go back.”
The song ends with a reminder of the earth’s beauty, and one of the reasons we want to preserve and care for the earth. It is a little thank you note to one of my favourite eco-systems: the salt marshes. “The sun in the morning, the song the birds singing, the mud coating my skin, the salt air on my lip, save me my favourite.”
lyrics
What if we lose everything
What if there’s no way we can win
Someone’s gotta change something
It’s not really fair that this happened
I don’t know what my job is here
Do you want me to clean up
While you sit back and cheer
Me on my knees
Can’t stand up or I can’t breathe
There’s smoke in the leaves
I just lay down, try to give myself some type of release
But I feel no relief
It’s the weight of the heat
Pressing onto me
And I know I’m not free
And I can’t dream
I can’t dream
I can’t dream
What if we lose everything
What if there’s no way we can win
Someone’s gotta change something
It’s not really fair that this happened
When’s it all gonna collapse
The walls fall in and everyone’s trapped
The neighbours go by on a little life raft
Everything’s gone, nobody can go back
And you say life’s just like that
But nobody gave us a road map
And it’s night time, there’s no signs, and no one to ask
There’s no way to go back
What if we lose everything
What if there’s no way we can win
Someone’s gotta change something
It’s not really fair that this happened
You tell me it’s perfectly normal
It’s business as usual
It’s perfectly normal
You’re fine, your belly’s full
If you don't fear the water
Take my hand and I'll pull
What if we lose everything
What if we lose everything
The sun in the morning
The song the bird's singing
The mud coating my skin
The salt air on my lip
Save me my favourite
credits
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