Science Fiction

Florida's Phosphate Mines: An Environmental Ballad
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Lyrics

Little green men coming out of paint cans,

Reference to extraterrestrial beings emerging from paint cans.

Phosphate mines and Slaked Lime, 1966, he was sixteen,

Mentions specific elements (Phosphate mines, Slaked Lime) and the year 1966 when the narrator was 16.

It's Central Florida in the era of the dragline,

Setting in Central Florida during the era of dragline equipment.

Play it over the pit and dig up more of that green shit,

Playing music over the mining pit to extract more valuable material.

And trade it with the Russians, who are traditionally hated,

Trading the mined material with Russians, despite historical animosity.

You can imagine that after a few years

Anticipating a point of exhaustion in conversation after several years.

That you'd run out of things to say,

Expressing a commitment to be present every day.

And I'll be here every day.

Continued presence and dedication to the situation.

Phospho~Gypsum, Radon-222,

References to Phospho~Gypsum and Radon-222, possibly related to mining.

The daughters watch over you,

Suggests a protective influence of daughters amidst potentially harmful elements.

On a transformer four stories high it walks like a cripple

Describing a large transformer moving over the pit, engaging in mining activities.

And turns on its base,

The transformer's movement and operation.

Diggin' up that Dicalcium Phosphate.

Excavating Dicalcium Phosphate from the pit.

Travel the blacktop

Encouraging travel along the blacktop road, possibly referring to exploration.

And you won't have far to go to find an alien civilization,

Expectation of encountering an alien civilization on the journey.

A creature from a creation that's from outer space.

Describing a creature from outer space in the creation.

Sixty foot high for miles around;

Depicting a massive structure, sixty feet high, visible for miles.

One million tons of Phospho~Gypsum tailings rise to the sky.

Highlighting the significant quantity of Phospho~Gypsum tailings.

Nearly half the world's fertilizer once lay beneath the overburden;

Historical note on the abundance of fertilizer beneath the overburden.

It got taken off this sandbar,

Commenting on the removal of material from the sandbar, leaving something behind.

And now there's something that's left behind.

Recognition of the mess left behind.

Hey, this place is a mess!

Expressing dismay at the current state of the location.

'what are you takin' about?

Questioning the speaker's statement about cleaning up later.

I'll clean it up later.

Denying the responsibility to clean up due to not being a miner.

No, that's not the way it is at all, I'm not a miner I don't care,

Rejecting association with the mining system and asserting a punk identity.

Man, that's pant of the system, I'm punk,

Highlighting the systemic nature of the situation on the planet's surface.

But who's gonna indict the Wall Street Journal, just me and Bob Ray,

Raising questions about accountability and justice in media like the Wall Street Journal.

It's just part of the system here on the surface of the planet

Acknowledging the systemic nature of issues on the planet's surface.

And the day has come when there's only work left

Noting the dwindling availability of work.

There's unlimited sunshine in a bottle of Tropicana,

Describing a positive aspect, unlimited sunshine represented in a bottle of Tropicana.

With his friends and his 'Spooky Tooth' 8-track flipped upside down,

Depicting a person enjoying time with friends and music.

Drivin' in his Mercury Monterey down to Lithia Springs,

Describing a drive in a Mercury Monterey to Lithia Springs.

Saying that if we could take the tailings,

Proposing an idea to use tailings for constructing a building for the New York Stork Exchange.

And build a building for the New York Stork Exchange,

Suggesting a way to share the story of living in a state that mines Radon extensively.

Then we could tell everyone about

Encouraging sharing the experience of residing in a state involved in Radon mining.

How we live in a state that digs Radon by the ton

Emphasizing the significant scale of Radon extraction.

And you'll be l

Incomplete line, possibly indicating an interruption or unfinished thought.

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