Artists Respond to Wildfire and Storm Disasters Seed Video
Background
The scale of the climate disasters the planet has experienced in 2023 has been astonishing. Even those of us who knew that these events would be increasingly common have been surprised at the speed of the intensification. We had record temperatures, fires, flooding, and storms. I could spend hours collecting depressing climate-related headlines to include in this preamble, but those of you who are reading this will already have heard about most of them. Instead, I will share the inspiration for this song.
There is an open call for submissions of creative responses to the flood and fire disasters of 2023. Pieces can be in the form of images, video, 3D objects, text, or audio, but must be provided in a digital format. Submissions will be shared during a special session at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2023. The goal of the open call is to use art to address the impact of climate disasters on human emotional and mental well-being:
Confronted by increasing natural disasters arising from our planetary crises, we need methods to process and cope with grief and loss. But we also need horizons to look towards that can give us hope, energy and a shared sense of perseverance. With this call, we invite you to become part of a community finding new pathways for engaging with natural hazards and disasters in our changing world.
The four disasters highlighted in the seed video were:
Canada: 2023 wildfires
Libya: September 2023 Cyclone Daniel
Maui: August 2023 wildfires
Madagascar, Mozambique, and Malawi: February/March Cyclone Freddy
This song doesn't specifically touch any of those four disasters; instead, I wrote about flooding and fires generally.
For those who find themselves here because of the AGU meeting, I've written 43 other songs (all of which you can find here), and many of them touch on climate change and environmental issues. I'd love to get some of them recorded, so if you are musically inclined and see a song that speaks to you, reach out to me on Twitter to join this Vowel Movement.
Song Notes
The source material for this parody is Pete Townshend's "Give Blood" from his 1985 album White City: A Novel. Townshend is more well-known as the guitarist for The Who, but did have modest success as a solo artist in the 80s. I was reminded of this song during my search for something with prominent lyrics that rhymed with "fire", "flood", or "rain". I liked the song for the rhyme with "flood", but also for the contrasting emotions in the song; while the sections containing "Give blood" are angry and demanding, the sections containing "Give love and keep blood between brothers" are positive and uplifting. I thought this combination of harshness and hopefulness would be a good fit for the project.
If I had been more true to the original lyrics, I would've stuck with "Flash floods" throughout the entire song, but I wanted to include lyrics that touched on fires as well. I decided that floods and fires would each get one verse and share the third. "Wildfires" doesn't rhyme with "Flash floods" or the original "Give blood", but can be sung similarly enough to make it work.
In the original song, after the second verse, there's a 13-second sound clip that ends with the word "fire". I thought it would be a good place to stick some audio clips of reporters talking about the floods and fires of 2023. There's also a 40-second intro and a 30-second guitar solo that could be replaced with more news clips as well. When I write these parodies, I like to think about those kinds of production elements to include if I ever get the chance.
Lyrics
Flash floods What we are doing is just not enough Flash floods The rising waters make our lives so tough Flash floods You can't just build a boat then climb aboard Flash floods It's climate change and it is at your door Wildfires Look around at all the burning trees Wildfires All this smoke that makes it hard to breathe Wildfires The rising heat will start to make you sweat Wildfires You think that's bad, but you ain't seen nothing yet [News clips about flooding and fires] Make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others [Guitar solo] Flash floods The Earth is mad and this is not a bluff Flash floods Don't ignore this for economic fluff Wildfires All these disasters we can ill-afford Wildfires Toothless agreements and climate accords So make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others Make change and do good things for others Make some change and do good things for others Make some change and do good things for others Make change, make change, make change and do good things for others Make change, your change, and do good things for others