Ken rewrote this song — one of our favorites in the “music for the apocalypse” category — as a rallying cry for the Day of Climate Action this Saturday, October 24, everywhere. He had to smoke a whole pack of cigarettes beforehand to get his voice that gritty. We’ll be at the Boston Under Water Festival in downtown Boston. Please join us in the spirit of 350, wherever you are. (Find an action near you at 350.org.)
Eve of Destruction (New Millennium)
music, Barry McGuire
new lyrics, Ken Ward
The Arctic ice, it is a’meltin’
The polar bears, they are sweltering
You’ve heard about this, till your brain’s explodin’
Your lightbulbs are changed, but what’s that car you’re drivin’
And do you really think, we’ll save the world by recyclin’?
And you tell me
Over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Necessary conditions, for civilization
Three hundred fifty, there is no debating
Three ninety now and, acceleratin’
Scientists say, we don’t need more explanation
Look around you now, there’s chaos in the making
But you tell me…
I feel so sad, just contemplatin’
what the world will be like, for the children we are raisin’
How do we prepare them for a world disintegrating
What good for them, is a liberal education?
And what do we say when they ask for explanation?
And you tell me…
Big Green Groups, they are hesitating
To tell the urgent truth, it’s so frustrating
Lobby hard they say, and pass legislation
Cap and trade alone, will be our salvation
And BP, they tell us, is cooperating?
And you tell me…
But look around you now, it’s so energizin’
October twenty four, we are organizin’
A planet-wide Day, of Climate campaignin’
To heed McKibben’s call for, global action
for Three Five O, the only path to salvation
The most important number, in the whole damn nation
Let’s not reverse course, of Almighty’s creation!
So don’t tell me
Over and over and over again my friends
You don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
Open up your eyes and and move your feet into action.
