A song for the ride back into the Olduvai Gorge

[Dogmudgeon]

There has been a noticeable lack of song lyrics posted in this forum. Well, that can be remedied easily, so here's a song that will describe the course of the next 20-40 years absent a concerted effort to solve our energy and climate problems.

--p!


NO EASY WAY DOWN
by Gerry Goffin & Carole King

Your toy balloon has sailed in the sky
But now it must fall to the ground
Now your sad eyes reveal
Just how badly you feel
‘Cause there is no easy way down

The view from the cliffs must have been exciting
And up to the peaks you were bound
Now you’re stranded alone
And the path is unknown
And there is no easy way down

No, it isn’t very easy
When you’re left on your own
No, it isn’t very easy
When each road you take
Is one more mistake
And there’s no one to break your fall
And lead you back home

We all like to climb to the heights, I know
Where our fantasy worlds can be found
But you must know in the end
When it’s time to descend
There is no easy way down
You know you’re gonna find
There is no easy way down

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Ok... here's another

The road to hell (part 2) - Chris Rea

Well I’m standing by a river
But the water doesn’t flow
It boils with every poison you can think of
And I’m underneath the streetlight
But the light of joy I know
Scared beyond belief way down in the shadows
And the perverted fear of violence
Chokes the smile on every face
And common sense is ringing out the bellc
This ain’t no technological breakdown
Oh no, this is the road to hell

And all the roads jam up with credit
And there’s nothing you can do
It’s all just bits of paper flying away from you
Oh look out world, take a good look
What comes down here
You must learn this lesson fast and learn it well
This ain’t no upwardly mobile freeway
Oh no, this is the road
Said this is the road
This is the road to hell

[phantom power]

2. One of my favorites, from Dar Williams

I'm pretty sure that Dar intended this as an anti-nuclear song, but I've come to read it more as a song about being in a place where there are no easy choices left.

From the wistful tone of the song, I wonder if she also understands that. She might want to try, but there is no putting the atom back together. We do have to take god into our own hands, or we'll perish.

Or, maybe she's just anti-nuke. Whatever it means, I'm pro-nuke, but I also like the song... :crazy:

"The Great Unknown", Dar Williams

Once upon a time there was a nuclear family,
And we lived in a family time, we'd unite in a family way.
And off the ancient mountain, they were splitting every nucleus. They said "don't be alarmed, just don't try this at home." And they were the mystery that made the world run
And we had the power, 'cause they were the sun
And we called them our heroes, and the future had come.
They said,"look at the light we're giving you,
And the darkness we're saving you from."
Soon they were bringing it into our showroom,
And they'd unveil it with it's title,
Bring your family, bring your family,
It's the Great Unknown.
You can look, but you can't fathom,
It's the Great Unknown.

I'm no ordinary princess, I was born in the cold war,
And my team is the Rockets. Go team, it's a dangerous time.
And I dream of the moon and building lunar clone colonies.
And I build my peace with strength, that's the best weapon you've got.
Oh, I am the brainchild, I am the mortar,
With a plastic trophy and an eating disorder,
And vision as big as a great big wall,
And they tell me that I'll move forward for the good of us all,
And the good of nuclear families all.
And they think I think I am important.
I know I never was, I wasn't.
No I never, and how could I be?
It's the Great Unknown.
Now we've built it, now it's ticking,
It's the Great Unknown.

And I am your children, I am millions.
And I wanted to sell out, I wanted to try,
But you know the sky got too low, and the ocean got too high, and, I had to take God into my own hands.
Am I too late? Is it over?
Have I sacrificed my family to the Great Unknown?
There's a war between my conscience and
The Great Unknown.

So I walked out into the Gamma fields
Out in Mercury, Nevada.
Where I stood in circle and that circle started to pray.
And the wind at the nuclear test sights floats the data of the radiation, from the underground testing,
Cross the line, you'll get arrested.
And we came from all over in a silent appeal
As the drill comes down like a presidential seal.
And we stand for the living, and we stand for the dead,
And we looked out to see your enemies,
And we see that you're looking all at us instead.
You think I am being disruptive?
But no I'm running home, I'm running,
'Cause I'm trying to put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.
I'm just trying to put the atom back together.
It's the Great Unknown.

[hunter]

3. Then there is always this...

"The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"

Written by Pat MacDonald

I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher
He wears dark glasses
Things are goin' great
And they're only gettin' better
I'm doin' alright
Gettin' good grades
The future's so bright
I gotta wear shades

I got a job waitin'
For my graduation
Fifty thou' a year
Will buy a lotta beer
Things are goin' great
And they're only gettin' better
I'm doin' alright
Gettin' good grades
The future's so bright
I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades

I'm heavenly blessed
And worldly wise
I'm a peeping tom techie
With X-ray eyes
Things are goin' great
And they're only gettin' better
I'm doin' alright
Gettin' good grades
The future's so bright
I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades...

[hatrack]

4. For your pleasure - "The Three Great Stimulants"

EDIT

Last night I dreamed I saw the planet flicker
Great forests fell like buffalo
Everything got sicker
And to the bitter end
Big business bickered
And they call for the three great stimulants
Of the exhausted ones
Artifice, brutality and innocence
Artifice and innocence

Joni Mitchell