Escarpment Blues
Escarpment Blues: A Ballad for Nature's Battle
Lyrics
If they blow a hole in my backyard
If there's damage to my immediate surroundings
Everyone is gonna run away
People will flee or escape
The creeks won't flow to the Great Lake below
Streams won't reach the nearby Great Lake
Will the water in the wells still be okay?
Questioning the safety of well water after the damage
We'll need to build some new apartments
New housing needed, acknowledging road repairs
And I know we're gonna have to fix the roads
Acknowledging the necessity of fixing infrastructure
But if we blow a hole in the escarpment
Expressing concern about disrupting natural features
The wild ones won't have anywhere to go
Fear that wildlife will lose their habitat
If they blow a hole in the backbone
Concern about damaging the essential part of the landscape
The one that runs cross the muscles of the land
Reference to the crucial structure supporting the land
We might get a load of stone for the road
Potential gain of material but at a cost
But I don't know how much longer we can stand
Doubtful about the sustainability of this approach
We'll keep driving on the Blind Line
Navigating without a clear destination
If we don't know where we want to go
Proceeding without a defined purpose
Even knowledge that's sound can get watered down
Even valid knowledge can lose its integrity
Truth can get sucked out the car window
Truth can be lost or diluted during the journey
We're two-thirds water
Highlighting our composition being mostly water
What do we really need?
Raising the question of our actual needs
But sun, showers, soil and seed
Essential elements for life: sunlight, water, soil, and seeds
We're two-thirds water
Reiterating our predominantly watery nature
The aquifers provide
Underlining the importance of aquifers as water sources
Deep down in the rock
Describing the location of water sources within rocks
There's a pearl inside
Metaphorical representation of something valuable within
If they blow a hole in the backbone
Repetition of concern about damaging the vital land structure
The one that runs across the muscles of the land
Reiteration of the essential backbone of the landscape
We might get a load of stone for the road
Similar theme as line 13, with uncertainty about sustainability
But I don't know how much longer we can stand
Expressing doubt about the durability of current practices
Comment