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 overcome us) lyrics by Franklin Sane

we’ve got five years till the storms overcome us 
imagine what will happen to everyone of us
I can only imagine in five years

we’ve got five more years till the storms surround us 
and the wind and the rain and the hail come to pound us
see them pound us in five more years

we’ve got five years left today 
we’ve got five years to throw away
five years to throw away today

we’ve got five years so on with the talking 
while the carbon numbers go on stalking 
the world till we’re all burning inside of the graveyards

we’ve got five years so take out the forests 
we don’t need them when we’ve got the madness
the madness is here for five more years

we’ve got five years left today
we’ve got five years to throw away
five years to throw away today

we’ve got five years but then who’s counting 
all I can hear is the government shouting 
give me five years of this and then we’re done

we’ve got five years before we go under
To the flash of lightning
And the sound of the thunder
Five years before we're down and we're done

Climate change is already bringing massive storms
As the atmosphere warms bringing torrential rains and flooding
Warming oceans have created a perfect cauldron for brewing
Category five hurricanes bringing winds of 185 miles per hour

Unfortunately this is only the beginning as we fail to
Curb carbon emissions 
And the planet warms and the storms come to overwhelm us
In five years time, who can survive?

Storm coming, storm coming, storm coming down
Storm coming, storm coming, storm coming down 
Storm coming, storm coming, storm coming down
Coming down

We've got five years, left today
Five years to throw away, to throw away today
We've got five years to throw away today


©2022 Franklin Sane