ANNOTATED LYRICS Based on a speech by environmental activist Greta Thunberg, Quincy Coleman’s new song debuted on Earth Day (hear it at quincycoleman.net). Below, she breaks down the lyrics for us.
I’d written down Greta’s speech, and I plucked out the lines that felt like they could be poetic or lyrical. Then I weaved in a few of my own moments just to keep a rhyme and a flow, but “I want you to panic” is straight from her. I found that to be a very powerful message because obviously we never want anyone to panic about anything, but when your house is on fire, it’s a good time to start gathering your survival instincts and do something to save yourself and the planet, in this case.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ARI STURM
Voting is a huge way to take action, locally as well as nationally. Recycling, turning your faucet off. Turn your lights off, keep the doors closed, open the windows, you know, move with the weather, get on your bike more, compost at home, create a home garden, grow your food. Go meatless one day a week.
“Noble” is me, just a poetic, lyrical way to rhyme the message. When she says, “I don’t want you to be hopeful,” what I understand that to be is, those are just words. You know, don’t tell me that you’re hopeful—take action and make a change.
[In the music video], we image the house on fire, just textbook: the pipeline. The power of that, the glacier melting, the Amazon on fire…they describe it as the lungs of the earth.
That’s me. Greta is very, very intense and sort of slapping us on the wrist, which I love…but when I was done with the song, for me, the way that I like to message things is to always bring in hope or the light…a solution or mantra of some sort. “We can do this” felt like a very important, anthemic cheer for everybody to get on board and know that we can.
SPRING 2021!BULLETIN 51
