Five. Years. The song FIVE YEARS (till the storms overcome us) is a transatlantic collaboration in which a devastating future of destruction due to climate change is foretold.
Franklin put together this introduction for the youtube release of the song (see below for link to the video).
We have already begun to see the effects of climate change driving storm cycles to produce once-in-a-thousand year size storms multiple times in the last ten years alone. The glaciers are now melting faster then scientists predicted and with a few more years of deforestation in Brazil the Amazon rainforest, the earth’s primary natural defense system regarding climate change will be reduced to a savannah unable to filter carbon emissions and releasing untold additional amounts of CO2 stored in its forests. As Franklin states
we’ve got five years so take out the forests - we don’t need them when we’ve got the madness.”
The song Five Years echoes the concept of David Bowie’s song of the same name from the iconic album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie’s song written and released in 1972, 50 years ago, was based on fiction. The song said that “earth was really dying” however there was no real mention of how or why - just the statement that the “news had just come over.” Today we find ourselves in a wholly different set of circumstances. Sure it can be said that the world will not simply end in five years but the new cycle of storms and record temperatures is already causing the great forests of the American west to burn incessantly and here and elsewhere across the globe, multiple swaths of land are turning into barren drought wastelands of desert unable to sustain crops to feed local farmers and their neighbors.
The climate change theme of the lyrics is matched to a dystopian feel from the music, which uses Phrygian, Lydian, and diminished modalities, and the relentless drums and percussion.
The song is finalized just as severe and deadly heatwaves move across Europe causing forests to burst into flames forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. Scientists indicate this is a trend that will continue to get worse and worse. Perhaps we don't have five years after all...
Contributors
Franklin Sane (Detroit MI USA): Lyrics and vocals. Video conception, creation and production.
Shaun Dugan: (East Sussex, UK) Song structure, guitars, basses, loops and synths. Mixing.
Jay Carros (Upstate NY USA): Percussion and drums.
Kelly Miller (Leoben Styria Austria) Sample curation and editing.
Thanks also to Robert Clausen (Moundsview MN USA ) for suggesting production ideas for the music.
The main artwork for the song was taken from a Pexels photo.
A video for this song is available on YouTube at ;
FIVE YEARS (till the storms
we’ve got five years till the
imagine what will happen to
I can only imagine in five
we’ve got five more years
and the wind and the rain and
see them pound us in five
we’ve got five years left
we’ve got five years to throw
five years to throw away today
we’ve got five years so on
while the carbon numbers go
the world till we’re all
we’ve got five years so take
we don’t need them when we’ve
the madness is here for five
we’ve got five years left
we’ve got five years to throw
five years to throw away today
we’ve got five years but then
all I can hear is the
give me five years of this
we’ve got five years before
To the flash of lightning
And the sound of the thunder
Five years before we're down
Climate change is already
As the atmosphere warms
Warming oceans have created a
Category five hurricanes
Unfortunately this is only
Curb carbon emissions
And the planet warms and the
In five years time, who can
Storm coming, storm coming,
Storm coming, storm coming,
Storm coming, storm coming,
Coming down
We've got five years, left
Five years to throw away, to
We've got five years to throw
©2022 Franklin Sane