This lyric I wrote with a kind of Leonard Cohen type intent. I can’t sing so I turned it into a painting (see foot of page) . It’s about climate change. We may all one day become victims of it: this is a cautionary tale. It may come from solar flares or from our neglect of the atmosphere. Who knows?
Talented Canadian Francois Dube put some music to these words (MP3 link below).
François Dubé
Les Productions Dubémol
613-769-3975
http://www.dubemol.com
http://www.francoisdube.com
–
A sudden shard of music
A god-forsaken start
An archangel spirit moving
Through the valley of my heart
A rising tonal ending
A loss of inner faith
A gradual climate warming
A snaking smoky wraith
–
In stopping endless errors
Could have been a narrow win
But the global lords kept selling
Their thinly lauded sin
–
And so I slowly walked on
And spoke of many who had lied
But all around I saw that
All final hope had died
I walked to seek an answer
I walked to beat a drum
I walked to build a future
When I knew that there was none.
The epoch end was coming
Backs stretched across the wire
The final stand of Adam
Against solar swords of fire.
–
A hidden labyrinth
A place for us to run?
A percussive silent sound
Tracer bullets from the sun
There were some words of warning
In ancient bible verse
Our refuge, just a last hope
Prelude to something worse
–
Earth’s fortress neatly breached
Many wondered why
The masses meekly mingled
Blank faces to the sky
–
They could have heard my story
When the Earth began to burn
They could have made a difference
Now that difference lies astern
But I finally guessed the answer
On the road to Jeremiah
That the seed for new beginning
Needed stubble from the fire
–
There is now no sea, the land is black
We pray but God ain’t here
The sky blood-red and airless
All beyond repair
–
The final stand is on us
Believers and deniers
The final stand, the final stand
On this earthly ball of fire
The fiery end of mankind
As we return
And sink
….. into the mire.
–
Copyright: Rod de Lisle/Francois Dube.
ORIGINAL VERSION.
A sudden shard of music
A god-forsaken start
An archangel spirit moving
Through the valley of my heart
A rising tonal ending
A loss of inner faith
A gradual climate warming
A snaking smoky wraith
In stopping endless errors
Could be a peasant win
But the global lords kept selling
Their thinly lauded sin
And still you slowly walked on
And spoke of many who had lied
But all around you saw that
All shallow hope had died
You walked to seek an answer
You walked to beat a drum
You walked to build a future
When you knew that there was none.
The epoch end was coming
Backs stretched across the wire
The final stand of Adam
Against solar swords of fire.
A hidden labyrinth
A place for us to run
A percussive silent sound
Tracer bullets from the sun
A last kiss was an apple
A bible stated curse.
A single word of wisdom
In ancient nonsense verse
Our fortress neatly breached
No one wondered why
The masses meekly mingled
Their faces to the sky
And still you slowly walked on
And spoke of many who had lied
But all around you saw that
All shallow hope had died
You walked to seek an answer
You walked to beat a drum
You walked to build a future
When you knew that there was none.
The epoch end was coming
Our backs against the wire
The final stand of Adam
A climatic funeral pyre
They could have heard your story
When the Earth began to burn
They could have made a difference
Now that difference lies astern
But you finally guessed the answer
On the road to Jeremiah
That the seed for new beginning
Needed stubble from the fire
The epoch end was coming
Our backs against the wire
The final stand of Adam
As we return into the mire.
The epoch end was coming
Backs stretched against the wire
The final stand of Adam
Against solar swords of fire.
–
Copyright: Rod de Lisle
fifty thousand words 