Hello! I’ve started promoting my new album “The Species That Knew Too Much” since I received the physical copies of the CD last week, but the online release is still some weeks away. And some folks who haven’t had a chance to hear it yet are starting to get a bit restless!
Meanwhile as Mrs. May’s Brexit deadline looms in the UK and utter chaos reigns, and the release of the Mueller report looms in the US and the staggering level and scope of Mr. Trump’s corruption is laid bare, I thought, release date be damned, now is the time to do an early release of track 5 of the album, “Abstract Nation”.
The weight of scientific evidence and overwhelming consensus of climate scientists has convinced me that we are essentially sleepwalking toward our own extinction, which seems like an incredibly stupid thing to do for such a supposedly intelligent species. Our political leaders fiddle while Rome burns; and people like the Brexiteers and Trump’s followers continue to engage in virulent, misguided nationalism, arguing about immigration, border walls and backstops.
The threats we face are ones that confront our entire species, regardless of nation, tribe or sect. If we go down (which we very well might), we all go down together. So at that point it won’t matter if you’re waving your flag, or which flag you’re waving (or how big your nuclear button is).
So this song explores those ideas as a sort of worst-case scenario – what if the fact that our leaders are fiddling while Rome burns means we let a crucial deadline pass, where our extinction becomes inevitable in large part because these idiots spent several years arguing about Brexit and border walls? Shouldn’t they be held accountable for wasting these crucial years, where their negligence may very well lead to our extinction?
Nobody wants extinction, but unless the people TRULY speak (not like these manipulated Brexit and Trump votes which were so obviously corrupted by dirty money, rigged electoral systems and propaganda), the politicians will just carry on with business as usual.
So therefore isn’t it time we band together as one human species, and put intense, unrelenting pressure on these political leaders, to put aside all this tired old nationalism, fighting, war-making and war-mongering, and work together to save our species – before it really is too late?
The kids think so. They’re doing a massive global school strike tomorrow, because they realise unless we address these issues, we’re toast. So we should do everything we can to support these kids. And support environmental movements like Greenpeace, as well as a movement to which I’m giving part of the proceeds from my album sales, and which is going to be ramping up its activism in the coming weeks: Extinction Rebellion.
Anyway. Here’s my tune. I’m trying to do my part, in some small way, to raise awareness. The lyrics and a link to the song on SoundCloud are below. Please give it a play and let me know what you think.
Abstract Nation © 2018 David Barrows
Every nation is goin’ rogue
All the cool countries are doin’ it
So the planet is goin’ to the dogs
Rabid, and racing to ruin it
Won’t bow down to the E.U. or the U.N.
Won’t kow-tow to the I.C.C.
Are we a country of mice, or men?
Are you a friend, or an enemy?
Mrs. May said, “citizens of the world
Are citizens of nowhere”
But I daresay the nation-state
Is past its “sell-by” date
Every country is a failed state
A nation’s just a strongman’s toy boat
The battleship won’t turn
We’ll let the planet burn
Before admitting the obvious
The nation-state is not serving us
We may have riches, or we may wear rags
We’re all goin’ extinct, we’ll be wavin’ our flags
What has the nation-state
Done for my species lately?
We’re all in the same damn boat
But a busted boat… ain’t never gonna float
Ask not what your country can do for you
Ask what your country is doing to the planet
There ain’t no government
That’s really benevolent
They survive by being violent
So extinction is imminent
The system of nation-states
Only divides us, and propagates
Poverty, misery, war and hate
Extinction is our destination
But we’ll go down waving the flag,
Clinging to an abstract nation
