1. |
||||
|
It was 1988 when young Bill was jarred awake
With the question “Is the world getting hotter?”
If time flies like an arrow bearing news of what’s to come,
Bill reached up his writer’s hand and caught her.
From his cabin in the hills, Bill thought we would find the will
Now that we knew, the action would be startin’
But nobody wanted to hear, and with each passing year
We dug ourselves deeper in the carbon.
Katrina came and went, and Mr. Gore made a serious dent
The world learned that the truth was inconvenient
Bill put down his pen—too little snow at Lake Champlain
Better get the word out now and mean it.
He gathered a little crew—They laced up their hiking shoes
Marching across Vermont to wake creation
Arriving in Burlington, a thousand had grown from one
The papers said, “a record demonstration.”
2007: the cards are dealt, and the Arctic starts to melt
Scientists shake their heads in consternation
What can one person do, living in the belly stew
Of the world’s most avid oil-consuming nation?
Somehow assemble power—Step It Up hour by hour
Eggheads with their studies get no traction
Bill and a few young minds, in only three months time
Fourteen hundred rallies for climate action
Leaders in denial, CO2 mounts all the while
Hansen says 350 is our ceiling
Spread it ‘round the globe, make sure everybody knows
Sound the trumpets, let’s see who the call brings
It turns out in every place—people are on the case
15,000 march in Ethiopia
Asian and black and brown—the poor and the young are down
350’s heard from Egypt to Estonia
Asleep in some motel, Bill rests up, the truth to tell
One more TV spot or climate rally
Trudging the speakers’ trail, sometimes a night in jail
Dreaming of back home in Champlain Valley
Bill says I run this race—in the name of my place
The tang of the frost when Fall hits the Adirondacks
Breadloaf and Otter Creek, Mt. Mansfield to the east
With these in my mind I find that my heart is on track
If you want a clue of what a force of nature can do
You might check out the one called Bill McKibben
And if we save our skin, it will be because, like him
We stand up for these places that we live in
What can a person do, here in the belly stew?
Never thought he’d even be a leader
Bill and a few young minds, in only three months time
Fourteen hundred rallies for climate action
Breadloaf and Otter Creek, Mt. Mansfield to the east
With these in my mind I find that my heart is on track
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Intro: I’m pulling into the parking lot of Joe’s Celestial Pawn Shop
In my Thor Galaxie – chariot of gods
I’m just a minor deity; I’m sure you’ve never heard of me
But believe me up here they all love my shop
Come on in then – past this curtain of quasars...
Chorus 1: Somebody left this pretty planet back in 2016
Look, it still floats and turns
I guess it got a little sunburned
Little bit of work—get the ocean to come down some
You look like you know antiques
So you can see, it’s priced real cheap
Can you believe the crap that some folks bring in here?
Here’s a bucket of moons—not one with any atmosphere
But this one’s nice, I even showed it to my wife
Pretty hard to please her though—she’s like, “Does it have intelligent life?”
Refrain: ‘Round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round
Ooh, yeah (2X)
Chorus 2: But it’s a pretty planet, from 2016
It still floats and turns
I guess it got a little sunburned
Little bit of work—get the ocean to come down some
Yeah, it’s a real nice find, if you’re the fixer-up kind
I’d like to give the owner a good talking-to
Shouldna let things get so bad—shoulda used his god juju
A few well-placed angels, woulda set the people straight
Put a stop to the ecocide, and all that nasty war and hate
Refrain: ‘Round and round.....
Chorus 3: But it’s on sale, ever since 2016
It still floats and turns
I guess it got a little sunburned
Little bit of work—get the ocean to come down some
I believe with some TLC, it could work again beautifully
I’ve seen worse and you think they’re done
Just needed that special someone
Coda: Thousands of planets coming through the door
But they don’t make orbs like this no more
Four billion years beyond pristine
But it could be...somebody’s dream
It could be...somebody’s dream
|
||||
3. |
Another World
03:26
|
|||
|
The heat rose off the tarmac as the wheat fields lay down slow
Yielding an empty harvest with their fall
We saw the ice give in from our windows on the wing
Never thought our home would look so small
Chorus:
Helpless sky
As our hungers [3rd X: numbers] were unfurled
Beautiful one, in the darkness
You will become another world
90 days and 90 nights, a winter without rain
In a dream, the ocean takes the lawn
Far away an island suffers, far away they flee
Sprinklers hiss a warning in the dawn
Chorus
Bridge:
At the point where tragedy meets mystery
On the edge where hope remains in view
Human spirits on the mountainside try
To bring another world
To bring another world, before this one’s through
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
Beautiful
05:02
|
|||
|
Dawn of a working day
Crescendo of the freeway
Doesn’t seem to have a living face
Always on the run
Until the revolution—I
can barely see the human for the race, but
Chorus:
You are....like the sunrise on the plain
Like the shimmering dew on every leaf hung by the rain
Like the flash of crimson fire...on a hummingbird in light
And the secret music written by the dolphins in the night
You find a patch of green
To slip out of the dream
There’s a flock of seagulls cross the sky
And though we fly in jets
We’re still not there yet
I wanna see a change before I die, ‘cause
Chorus
Interlude
After the push and shove
At home I look for love
I can feel a star behind your eye
Halfway out of sight
Maybe lost in the night
But I’ve more than half a mind to try, ‘cause
Chorus
Beautiful
|
||||
5. |
The Green Billionaire
04:55
|
|||
|
The green billionaire is speaking with passion
From his pulpit at the head of the room
See how he shines like a Virgin messiah
Ain’t gonna save us anytime soon
Been to the mountaintop and seen the light
And here he come with tablets of gold
But now that all we had is looted and melted
That magic trick seems a little bit old
Chorus:
It’s us
Just us
It’s up to us
Only us
And now he’s buddies with the boards of directors
Of Big Green this and Eco that
They’re clinking drinks over sustainable lunches
That kind of food can really make you fat
Chorus
Bridge: Letting go of hope ain’t easy
When there seems no other choice
But when you find your guru’s sleazy
Sorta helps you find your voice
Been to the mountaintop and seen the light
And here he come with tablets of steel
But now that every kiss is measured for market
It doesn’t matter how inspired you feel
Chorus
|
||||
6. |
Three Exits
03:59
|
|||
|
I can’t stop I have to keep on rolling ‘cause there’s danger’s up ahead and it’s coming towards me
The closer I get to it, the more it approaches and that’s why I am attempting to flee
Looking up I see my own reflection there in every other driver likewise checking their mirror
I know we’re headed for disaster with this going ever faster and we gotta get outta here!
Chorus: Barreling down the road
What the signs say I don’t wanna know
70 miles an hour is much too slow
When there’s only three exits left to go.
Turn up the radio, tell me something I don’t know, the weather is so hot that it fries
In the back seat, a glow, they’re watching next year’s video, the dark one where the Earth almost dies
I remember being small and speed was not a thing at all I just wanted a little control
Got on this road one day, a free way I guess you’d say, I never knew the size of the toll
Chorus: Barreling down the road
What the signs say I don’t wanna know
75 miles an hour is much too slow
When there’s only two exits left to go.
Everything’s accelerating so, the information flow, the things I have to do to even survive
As the roadway rises to a silicon staccato I’m so lively that I’m barely alive
Buckled into liberty, indentured to velocity, I guess I am the free world’s champ
There’s no stopping, no U-turn and no Da Capo, now I’m praying that there’s still one more exit ramp
Chorus: Barreling down the road
What the signs say, I think that I know
79 miles an hour is much too slow
When there’s only one exit left...........to go
|
||||
7. |
Australopithecus
04:14
|
|||
|
Verse 1:
We lived down by the river pool, where the water’s still and clear
She was nursing the youngest one; I was sharpening my spear
Meat was getting hard to find; something changing in our world
She said to me one icy morning, “Might not be enough for both our girls”
Chorus:
Australopithecus....Homo habilis....Homo erectus....and heidelbergensis
Cousin Neanderthal and Homo sapiens, the wise one
Verse 2:
Band of strangers come upstream; someone said they’re not our kind
They’re eating all the roots and berries—if not for that I wouldn’t mind
Every day another fight, with another ape in skins
No one knows quite what to do, these days when patience is so thin
Chorus
Bridge:
I know that I am just an animal, though I dream in steel and oil flows through my veins
Like an animal I need you near me—Will anything I trusted still remain?
Shadows lay heavy on the city now, as this long summer day becomes twilight
Don't slip away from me....
Instrumental/Solo
Verse 3:
Went down to the grocery, looking for our daily bread
Meat is getting hard to buy; got something in a can instead
She asked me just the other day, why the rain won’t seem to come
River flood of scientists, they say it’s something that we’ve done
Final chorus:
Australopithecus....Homo habilis....Homo erectus....and heidelbergensis
All have fallen, but not Homo sapiens, the wise one.
|
||||
8. |
Blockadia
06:22
|
|||
|
Too much comfort—means not outraged enough
That wasn’t a problem—in the Niger Delta
An Exxon Valdez—spilled every year
Yet not enough fuel for those—living in the poisoned land
Thousands marched—without a gun or a bomb among them
Flowed onto the platforms—like liquid life
In the end Shell pulled out—out of Ogoni land
Though tanks and warships—beat the people down
In the end the land heals—around those left standing
On the burgeoning road—to Blockadia.
` And they sing:
Chorus: Love will save this place
“Look at the treaties,” said Grandmother’s voice
In a mysterious dream—deep in the American night
“But who will stand with us?” Spotted Eagle wondered
As a snake of black tar took shape in the corporate mind
The elders gathered—with some invited guests
A few nervous ranchers—in their ceremonial hats
Dusty boots and moccasins rode together into Washington
They raised a line of tipis—on the National Mall
Disaster divides—or heals and unifies, it seems
In the light on the injured hills—of Blockadia
And somebody says:
Chorus: Love will save this place
They’re taking all of the above—to get to all of the below
Some of us don’t see it—till it runs over our toes
From liquidated forests—to eviscerated hills
Oil bomb trains—leaky fracking wells
One day we refuse—one day our love says “no”
That’s what profit can’t get—can’t understand how it goes
I may never see your face—in Skouries or Romania
But we’re all shoulder to shoulder—in the heart of Blockadia
Wherever people say:
Chorus: Love will save this place
|
||||
9. |
Emunah's Eyes
05:08
|
|||
|
They say power concedes nothing without a fight
But for someone in your dreams do you think you might?
Could it be there is a need out past comfort and greed?
Like a grain of sun buried deep in the night?
Chorus 1
Would you give up your screen life? Would you give up your cloud?
Would you give up the room in your heart where no one’s ever allowed?
Would you be a volunteer to carry these seeds through one more year
Though you’ll never see them grow tall on the hill
But Emunah’s eyes will
It’s a very long reach for those of us who are doing fine
To lay our bodies on the gears and levers of history’s greatest crime
It’s not for praise or fame, or for shelter from somebody’s blame
It’s to come alive in the present time
Chorus 2
Would you give up Hawaii? If I give up my car?
Would we give up our little spot where we watch the world from afar?
Would you be a volunteer.....(etc.)
Bridge:
Emunah’s eyes light up with the new day, it’s the only one there is
She’s making tea with weeds from the garden, and now she wants to kiss
Like a cyclone rising up she’s laughing, like a hurricane she cries
The impossible is possible in Emunah’s eyes
The impossible is possible in Emunah’s eyes
Maybe love was never made for a place like this
Where the future’s hidden in the palm of a tightened fist
Maybe it’s by sleight of heart—maybe like a child we start
I think she’s up there somewhere dancing beyond the mist
Chorus 3
Did we give up our armies? Did we release our guns?
Did we give up the ancient stories that kept us all on the run
Could we be the volunteers that carried these seeds to a distant year
Though we’d never see them grow tall on the hill
But Emunah’s eyes will.
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
Chorus: Gonna stand up (stand up people)
Passion bring a light where there once was none
Yeah, stand up (stand up people)
Action lift the night when we rise as one
Verse 1: Bent from sitting down too long
Tired of singing a sorry song
Arm in arm at the top of our lungs
That’s how a song of joy is sung
Prechorus:
Someone lift their head
and they make a sound
There’s a holy noise
coming from the ground
Chorus
Verse 2: We come with our little candles
Though we were raised to burn alone
Limping in from distant places
Slowly we light our way home
Prechorus
Chorus
Ferguson...Immokalee...Standing Rock...Montgomery
Chorus + tag
|
||||
11. |
Will You Walk With Me
06:33
|
|||
|
If the summer sun seems to beat my skin, will you raise some shade with me?
If I don’t recognize the place I’m in, will you be a home to me?
If the tide won’t cease its coming in, will you build a raft with me?
In these times, will you walk with me?
When the balance tips and the center’s lost, will you look for it with me?
When no one can stop, no matter the cost, will you sit down with me?
When the river’s too wide but it must be crossed, will you swim anyway with me?
In these times, will you walk with me?
Bridge:
Will you walk with me, though the path’s uncertain and the destination recedes?
Though the map is torn and tattered, and the landscape fades and bleeds?
Walk with me and I’ll walk with you, ‘cause I can’t climb this hill alone
Oh-----walk with me.
When Goliath seems to rule it all, will you disbelieve with me?
When I can’t remember the young one’s call, will you echo it for me?
When I doubt in life after the fall, will you write a song with me?
In these times, will you walk with me?
Bridge:
Will you walk with me, though the path’s uncertain and the destination recedes?
Though the map is torn and tattered, and the landscape fades and bleeds?
Walk with me and I’ll walk with you, ‘cause I can’t climb this hill alone
Oh, walk with me
Oh, walk with me
In these times, will you walk with me?
Coda:
All of us....together........rising.....faster than the sea
All of us....together........raising the new path with our feet
|
||||
Michael Levy Santa Cruz, California
These are songs of empowerment in the face of global crisis. Contact me for gigs in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area. And learn more about us on FB at MichaelLevyBand. Cheers!
If you like Michael Levy, you may also like:
Remember That I Love You
by Kimya Dawson
For the next week, proceeds from Kimya Dawson’s albums on Bandcamp will go to the family of Charleena Lyles.
go to album
The Toronto-based sextet make moody, cinematic sounding music that blends psych-folk and post-rock.
go to album
Ship To Shore
by Richard Thompson
The legendary Richard Thompson's new solo album exemplifies his many musical paths, from pop and cabaret to jazz to traditional folk.
go to album
Sparkling and knotty indie rock from this Australian group with interlocking guitars and shifting rhythms.
go to album
Darkness begins to creep into the corners on the latest from Itasca.
go to album
Little Green
by Cara Beth Satalino
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom.
go to album
Nippon Acid Folk 1970-1980
by Time Capsule
The experimental spirit permeating this collection of Japanese acid folk foreshadowed the arrivals of city pop, the psych revival, and folktronica.
go to album
