Standing here on a highway
Turned into a lake
Born on this planet
That I didn’t make
The ice caps are melting
You can measure the rise
Of the poisoned oceans
Hear all the lies
Of the political pundits
And corporate crooks
Their accountants and scientists
Cooking the books
With hardly an inkling
Of what it’s about
Wedded to profit
In flood and in drought
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
Standing here on the bayou
Amidst mountains of soil
Washed off from the farmland
And covered in oil
One ton every acre
Lost every year
And along with the pesticides
It ends up right here
Millions of miles
Of chemical wheat
Challenging all
To try to compete
And lay waste to your country
Like we’ve done to ours
Let them eat coffee
Sugar, coca and flowers
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
And here in the city
Shrouded in smoke
Ten million people
This morning awoke
To a future of cancer
Industrial disease
So let’s build some more suburbs
And buy SUV’s
Let’s cut down the mountains
And burn all the coal
And put all the money
In a humungous bowl
They’ll call it progress
And they’ll blame it on you
To end life as we know it
To enrich the few
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
Yes I speak to you now
From an occupied place
You might call it your home
Or a terrorist base
They’ll send your sons and your daughters
To make sure that it’s theirs
While they sit in their mansions
On their plush leather chairs
And everyone’s waiting
For us to decide
From dust we were born
And in dust we reside
Will we realize the commons
Is to shepherd and share
Here in this war zone
Called land, water and air
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
Turned into a lake
Born on this planet
That I didn’t make
The ice caps are melting
You can measure the rise
Of the poisoned oceans
Hear all the lies
Of the political pundits
And corporate crooks
Their accountants and scientists
Cooking the books
With hardly an inkling
Of what it’s about
Wedded to profit
In flood and in drought
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
Standing here on the bayou
Amidst mountains of soil
Washed off from the farmland
And covered in oil
One ton every acre
Lost every year
And along with the pesticides
It ends up right here
Millions of miles
Of chemical wheat
Challenging all
To try to compete
And lay waste to your country
Like we’ve done to ours
Let them eat coffee
Sugar, coca and flowers
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
And here in the city
Shrouded in smoke
Ten million people
This morning awoke
To a future of cancer
Industrial disease
So let’s build some more suburbs
And buy SUV’s
Let’s cut down the mountains
And burn all the coal
And put all the money
In a humungous bowl
They’ll call it progress
And they’ll blame it on you
To end life as we know it
To enrich the few
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
Yes I speak to you now
From an occupied place
You might call it your home
Or a terrorist base
They’ll send your sons and your daughters
To make sure that it’s theirs
While they sit in their mansions
On their plush leather chairs
And everyone’s waiting
For us to decide
From dust we were born
And in dust we reside
Will we realize the commons
Is to shepherd and share
Here in this war zone
Called land, water and air
I’m talking to you from here at the end of the world
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Album : Songs For Mahmud
It’s really crazy being alive today, and having the knowledge that our species is on the edge of extinction, and those in power in most of the world just go on pretending it’s not happening. It’s really surreal, really depressing, really maddening, among other things.David Rovics