PowerSwitch

Music has always been a great medium for social bonding, and has great power to motivate people. Most people like music, and maybe it would be good to have a section for Peak Oil-related music!

My suggestion to start off with is the track "Heavy Horses" by Jethro Tull. The lyrics refer to the time "when the oil barons have all dripped dry, and the nights are seeming to grow colder". The song laments the passing of the use of heavy horses for agriculture, and calls for their return.

It echoes the "Lark Rise to Candleford" trilogy of books by Flora Thompson, which documents the traumas brought about by the end of traditional agriculture, and the new dominance of mechanised farming, with all the social upheaval that accompanied it.

I don't think you can get a song that is more about oil than Tower of Power's song, from their 1975 Urban Renewal album, 'There's Only So Much Oil In The Ground'. Those of advancing years might recall that the music of Tower of Power was used by DLT, when he was on Radio One, for his quizzes. Very funky.

Lyrics:

There's only so much oil in the ground
Sooner or later there won't be much around
Tell that to your kids while you driving downtown
That there's only so much oil in the ground

Can't cut loose without that juice
Can't cut loose without that juice
If we keep on like we doing things for sure
Will not be cool - It's a fact
We just ain't got sufficient fuel

There's only so much oil in the ground
Sooner or later there won't be none around
Alternate sources of power must be found
Cause there's only so much oil in the ground

There's only so much oil in the earth
It's a fact of life - for what it's worth
Something every little boy and girl should know since birth
That there's only so much oil in the ground

There's no excuse for our abuse
No excuse for our abuse
We just assume that we will not
Exceed the oil supply
But soon enough the world will watch the wells run dry.

Marvin Gaye: Mercy Mercy Me

Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord

Oh what a can of worms ye have opened.

Jethro Tull, Stormwatch

"North Sea Oil"

Black and viscous --- bound to cure blue lethargy
Sugar-plum petroleum for energy
Tightrope-balanced payments need a small reprieve
Oh, please believe we want to be
In north sea oil
New-found wealth sits on the shelf of yesterday
Hot-air balloon --- inflation soon will make you pay
Riggers rig and diggers dig their shallow grave
But we'll be saved and what we crave
Is north sea oil
Prices boom in aberdeen and london town
Ten more years to lay the fears, erase the frown
Before we are all nuclear --- the better way!
Oh, let us pray: we want to stay
In north sea oil

And of course the lovely verse from Tull's "Heavy Horses":

And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
And the nights are seen to draw colder
They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power
Your noble grace and your bearing
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
In the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Oh! Tull fans here! Hurrah!

Dark Ages - on the Stormwatch album again - tells of the descent to a new dark age.

I've loved Tull's stuff for decades, and yes, these lyrics in particular have informed and been the soundtrack to my growing green and self-sufficient tendencies.

Nice one, Andy!

T

Billy Bragg, 2002

'The Price of Oil'

Voices on the radio
tell us that we?re going to war
those brave men and women in uniform
they want to know what they?re fighting for.

The generals want to hear the end game
the allies won?t approve the plan
but the oil men in the white house
they just don?t give a damn.

It?s all about the price of oil
it?s all about the price of oil
don?t give me no shit
about blood, sweat, tears and toil
it?s all about the price of oil

Now I ain?t no fan of Saddam Hussein
oh, please don?t get me wrong
if it?s freeing the Iraqi people you?re after
then why have we waited so long.

Why didn?t we sort this out last time
was he less evil than he is now
the stock market holds the answer
to why him, why here, why now.

Saddam killed his own people
just like general Pinochet
and once upon a time both these evil men
were supported by the U.S.A.

And whisper it, even Bin Laden
once drank from America?s cup
just like that election down in Florida
this shit doesn?t all add up.

It?s all about the price of oil
?cause it?s all about the price of oil
don?t give me no shit
about blood, sweat, tears and toil
it?s all about the price of oil.

the performer's name eludes me on that one ...

"burn! motherfucker! burn"

I guess it refers to the oil ...

Personally I think last barrel of oil standing by a little known artist called isenhand is probably about the best bit of PO music around

I?m sort of working on making a little collection of sort of PO related tracks.

thorgal wrote:the performer's name eludes me on that one ...

"burn! motherfucker! burn"

I guess it refers to the oil ...

Wasn't it the Bloodhound Gang?

By the way - all this talk of Tull has opened a can of nostalgia worms indeed... All the JT I have is on tape and I now have a powerful urge to buy myself some Xmas CDs


...bring me my broadsword...and a clear understanding....

thorgal wrote:the performer's name eludes me on that one ...

"burn! motherfucker! burn"

I guess it refers to the oil ...

Rage Against The Machine... if I remember correctly?

genoxy wrote:thorgal wrote:
the performer's name eludes me on that one ...

"burn! motherfucker! burn"

I guess it refers to the oil ...


Rage Against The Machine... if I remember correctly?

Or was it Bloodhoundgang

Wasn't the line in RATM's 'Bullet in the Head'....... Die, Motherfucker, Die (or some other equally sensitive sentiment)

Mama Cass Elliot, thogh arguablly I'm taking it 'slightly' out of context here...

New World Coming

There's a new world coming,
And it's just around the bend.
There's a new world coming,
This one's coming to an end.
There's a new voice calling,
You can hear it if you try,
And it's growing stronger,
With each day that passes by.

Sorry my dear Mama Cass, I know you meant for something quite different and far more beautiful than PO...

Bozzio wrote:

genoxy wrote:thorgal wrote:
the performer's name eludes me on that one ...

"burn! motherfucker! burn"

I guess it refers to the oil ...


Rage Against The Machine... if I remember correctly?

Or was it Bloodhoundgang

Wasn't the line in RATM's 'Bullet in the Head'....... Die, Motherfucker, Die (or some other equally sensitive sentiment)

Oh yeah, that was it - you're right... Thanks

Whenever I hear "Grace - It's not over yet" I can't help but think of Richard Heinberg's book!

The best song to finish with would be:

The Doors-"The End"
Lyrics

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need...of some...stranger's hand
In a...desperate land

Lost in a Roman...wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain, yeah

There's danger on the edge of town
Ride the King's highway, baby
Weird scenes inside the gold mine
Ride the highway west, baby

Ride the snake, ride the snake
To the lake, the ancient lake, baby
The snake is long, seven miles
Ride the snake...he's old, and his skin is cold

The west is the best
The west is the best
Get here, and we'll do the rest

The blue bus is callin' us
The blue bus is callin' us
Driver, where you taken' us

The killer awoke before dawn, he put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the hall
He went into the room where his sister lived, and...then he
Paid a visit to his brother, and then he
He walked on down the hall, and
And he came to a door...and he looked inside
Father, yes son, I want to kill you
Mother...I want to...F--k you

C'mon baby, take a chance with us
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
C'mon baby, take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
On a blue bus
Doin' a blue rock
C'mon, yeah

Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end



Did Jim Morrison understand Peak Oil so many years ago?