Earl Gray Politics: Ruins

As Kellyanne Conway teaches us about "alternative facts" (WTF?) we peer over the edge of the abyss and see:

"Ruins" - by Cat Stevens

Lyrics:

It's so quiet in the ruins walking though the old town
Stones crumbling under my feet I see smoke for miles around
Oh it's enough to make you weep, all that remains of the main street
Up in the park on Sunday, dogs chasing and the children played
Old man with his head down, can't see nothing more around, no
But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It's nice to see a friendly face come peeping through having tea
In the afternoon, so nice to see you coming back in this town again
Ah but it's all changed winter turned on a man
Came down on day when no-one was looking and it
Stole away the land, people running scared, losing hands
Dodging shadows of falling sand, buildings standing like empty shells
And nobody...helping no-one else
Young child with his hands high, ain't able to see no reason why, no
But he remembers how it used to be, back in the old days,
So nice to see you coming back in this town again
It's nice to see a friendly face come peeping through
You'd better know what you're going through now
You came back here to find your home is a black horizon
That you don't recognize, evil destruction has taken everything
You'd better walk on the side while you're still walking
Just keep on walking on down the street keep your distance
From the people you meet.
Oh Lord and you'd better watch your eyes
'Cause if smoke gets in them, baby you won't rise again.
Where's it leading to freedom at what cost
People needing more and more and it's all getting lost
I want back, I want back
Back to the time when the earth was green
And there was no high walls and the sea was clean
Don't stop that sun to shine, it's not yours or mine, no.

The songwriter as a child.

Video Quotes:

"If the radiance of a thousand suns
were to burst at once into the sky
they would be like the splendor of The Mighty One:
'I am become Death,
The Destroyer of Worlds.'" - Bhagavad-Gita

Christmas Tsunami 2004
"Starfish
on treetops." - E.G.

"Our technology has exceeded our humanity." - Albert Einstein

"I don't know what weapons
World War III will be fought with
bbut World War IV
will be fought
with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

"Those aren't clouds on the horizon,
they're the shadows of the angel's wings." - John Stewart

"Every footfall a dirge beat
every footstep a gravesite
on this planet made sacred
by forgotten sorrow." - E.G.

Links:

Day 1 (The Inauguration) - "Hands" - Jewel

Day 2 (The Million Woman March) - "Testimony" by Ferron, sung by Marcelle Davies Lashley

Day 3 - "Ruins" - by Cat Stevens

Day 4 - "Eve of Destruction" (1964) - by P. F. Sloan performed by Barry McGuire

Day 5 - "Hypersensive Jester" - by Denny Guy

Day 6 - "Teresa" - by John Stewart

Day 7 - "Black Boys on Mopeds" by Sinéad O'Connor

Day 8 - "Burn, Baby, Burn" - by Bruce Cockburn

Day 9 - "Black Day in July" - by Gordon Lightfoot

Day 10 - "Democracy is Coming" - Leonard Cohen

Friday, February 3, 2017

Links: Songs for a 4 Year Funeral

Sunday, January 22, 2017

A Song for Day 3 of a 4 Year Funeral