Union Songs

We Can't Afford to Save the Planet

A Song by Kevin McCarthy©Kevin McCarthy 2010

- [play]

Hey Dad ... why are the days getting hotter and hotter?
and how come the droughts are getting longer?
there's more wild fires and floods than ever before
and even the polar ice is starting to thaw
I mean ... how come ocean levels are rising?
and why are Pacific islands subsiding?
when we see record temperatures and glaciers melt
shouldn't we do something to save our planet?

Aaw honey, you just don't understand, you see ...
We really can't afford to save the planet
imagine the chaos on global markets
the negative impact on corporate profits
total mayhem for vested interests
our investment portfolio would take a dive
bonuses and dividends not far behind
the virtual extinction of life as we know it
so don't even think about saving the planet!

[MUSIC - play chorus]
gawd girl! ... what are you talking about?
have you been on that internet again?

Yeh but Dad ... won't the Great Barrier Reef soon be a memory?
and our coastal properties disappear into history?
they reckon the monsoon could fail in the north
and our water storages are already short
I mean ... how can you work when your job's underwater?
and where's the security in global disorder?
with our farming land slowly becoming a desert
surely we should do something to save our planet?

Aaw, you're not bloody listening love, that fact is ...
We just can't afford to save the planet
imagine the chaos on global markets
the negative impact on corporate profits
total mayhem for vested interests
our investment portfolio would take a dive
bonuses and dividends not far behind
the virtual extinction of life as we know it
so don't even think about saving the planet!

[MUSIC - play chorus]
bloody hell, girl ... what's got into you?

Yeh, but Dad ...
can we really afford to lose our productive land?
won't the homeless and the hungry need a helping hand?
and if global warming brings widespread scarcity
won't supply and demand raise the cost of necessities?
I mean ... who'll pay the price for climate calamity
if the big polluters are granted immunity?
Dad, if you do nothing to help save our planet
where does that leave me?

[MUSIC - play chorus]
Well ... Errr .... Hmmm .... Ahhh

Notes

Many thanks to Kevin McCarthy and Luci Susanto for permission to add this song to the Union Songs collection

Kevin writes:
'With the climate change debate reaching boiling point (again), I've enclosed a demo of my song We Can't Afford to Save the Planet, sung by myself and Darwin schoolgirl Luci Susanto Although written a year ago, it could be described as the School Kit edition of Tony Abbott's Climate Change Policy'

See more of Kevin's's work in this collection.

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