Feb 18: 'The Clock Winds Down'

This is a track by the Irish musician Christy Moore. 

It has an important message on the theme of climate breakdown.

The lyrics were written by Jim Page.

An extract from the lyrics:

Warning signs years ago

We did not want to know

All consuming selfish ways

Now there’s a price to pay

As the Clock Winds Down

The ice caps melt The Amazon burns

To the point of no return

The grid goes down Screens go blank

We’ll be walking down the plank

As the Clock Winds Down

See the children take to the streets

When they hear Greta Thunberg speak

Watch the young warriors climb down from the trees

Chain themselves to machinery

Can you suggest some songs with the theme of Climate Change / the Climate Breakdown.

Please add your suggestions to the Google Form below and I will share some of your suggestions in a later update post.

Update

A suggestion came in via the Google Form.

Oh Larsen B - (British) Sea Power: Easily the best song ever recorded about #Antarctic ice shelf loss e.g. 'You had 12000 years and now it's all over 500 billion tonnes of the purest pack ice and snow... Oh Larsen B desalinate the barren sea'

Sing along!

Jan 24: Protest Songs #2 - some extra suggestions

Back on January the 18th, I introduced the idea of protest songs, with a few examples and asked readers to suggest others that meant something to them.

Two other songs have been suggested by blog readers, who have used the Google Form that was added to that original post. It's not too late for you to add your own suggestions.

John Medd suggested 'Does this train stop on Merseyside' by Ian Prowse (which has also been recorded by Christy Moore). He says:

"It's a song for the downtrodden the world over; not least the Hillsborough victims."

It had an impact on John Peel.

The song's lyrics reference a number of observations on the city of Liverpool. 

Listen to it here:

The BBC article explains the significance of the lyrics:

For Elvis Costello, some of the song's charm lies in Prowse's "acute sense of the history of the city".

There are references in Does This Train Stop On Merseyside? to the Atlantic slave trade, of which Liverpool was the home; the influx of Irish immigrants fleeing the potato famine of the 1840s and 1850s, and the events of 15 April 1989, reflected in the lyrics "Yorkshire policemen fold their arms while people try and save their fellow fans".

Prowse adds: "For people of my generation. Hillsborough was the central event. I had so many friends who were survivors, I could not write a song that's talking about Liverpool without including that.

"For the city it was a double tragedy: there was the horror of 97 people losing their lives, then there was the city being smeared in the media.

"There's still righteous fury about that in the city, and although the truth has come out, there's never been any justice really."

It is well worth checking out John's own blog, where he shares his own music, and musical thoughts.

Matt Podbury suggest a song by Randy Newman called 'Political Science'.

Matt says:

"Cold War and America's relationship with the rest of the world. I use this to introduce superpowers. They never recognise the name, but recognise the sound of his voice from Toy Story!!"

The first verse:

No one likes us, I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
And all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

Got an idea for a protest song? Fill in the form on the original post please, or add a comment, or use the contact form on the right hand side.

These songs take the Spotify Playlist - which can also be accessed on the right hand side to over 6 hours of excellent tunes, and we aren't even at the end of January yet.