Song picture
Clear Cutting the Trees
Comment Share
Preservation of the Quabbin watershed from commercial logging
environment water trees logging
Artist picture
Folk singer, social commentary, satire, people's stories, children's music
Hi Folks, The Bard Insurgent here. My comrade D.O. (the Poet Roofer) and I got that handle (The Bard Insurgents) from traveling town to town performing songs and poetry about people's lives. I've been performing since I was 3 years old, cutting my vocal chords on liturgical and classical music. I was a concert soloist as a child, when I wasn't herding cows, throwing hay and shoveling manure. During the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war, I began writing songs about social change. I left the country in 1970 and my dozen years in other countries, mostly in Africa & South America, have provided a global perspective to my music. My travels helped me realize that people all around the world are essentially the same in their basic life needs and their desires to live peacefully in their communities. These experiences have informed my commitment to working for international understanding as I organize at home. A powerful way to educate and inspire is with music. I tell people's stories, do social commentary with a touch of satire that I hope you enjoy and share with your friends, as well as sing together in the streets and in your living rooms. I also have children's music written for the children in my life with Jacob and Kayla as primary muses. Looking forward to seeing you on the road, Tom
Song Info
Charts
Peak #4
Peak in subgenre #1
Author
Tom Neilson
Rights
Tom Neilson
Uploaded
May 14, 2014
Track Files
MP3
MP3 4.1 MB 160 kbps 3:35
Story behind the song
The Quabbin watershed has been opened up by Governor Deval Patrick to clearcut trees for export and to use for firewood.
Lyrics
You can’t go for a hike in the Quabbin cause you might disturb habitat And a water system people are sippin and you might be disturbing that Water supply, can you tell me why you pollute with oil and gas With every truck that passes tearing up the ground till erosion is the sound of soil flowin down when they clear-cut the trees They’re clear cutting the trees x2 DCR does as they please when they clearcut our trees Motorboats leave a petroleum slick, if that’s water protection, they’re thick as a brick. Who are they kidding with all their skidding Heat up the earth with their dollar sign bidding. And what about the eagles nesting there When you cut down the trees, will they nest in the air And breath in the CO2 rising there when they clear-cut the trees…. It’s the Commonwealth Department of Cut and Run Through stone walls and wetlands - to oblivion With turtles and burrows and the deer and the cats. Don’t talk to me about habitat They clear cut on the hill, down to the water line Cut till they get their fill, cut for the dollar sign Cut the forest floor and for a few dollars more, Cut till there’s nothing to cut any more. They’re clear-cutting the trees…. Trees are the lungs of the earth and the soil is the guts And you eviscerate the body with your ruts and cuts To make pallets and burn up in biomass plants For a fist full of cash, the earth has no chance In the midst of climate chaos this is a crime. To lose carbon sequestration, the gov says is fine Cause what’s a little shade when there’s money to be made - The 6th extinction with another centigrade.
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