[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Sheryl Crow does it again..

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Mary Madigan:
Sheryl Crow does it again..
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1207245133.shtml


   She's one of my favorite singers, she's on my iPod, [1]Tuesday Night
   Music Club is a work of art - but sometimes she says the [2]looniest
   things.

   Music writer Irwin C. asked:

     I can read, but I can't read minds. Can someone please explain
     these lyrics to me?

   [3]Gasoline

   Way back in the year of 2017
   The sun was growing hotter
   And oil was way beyond its peak
   When crazy Hector Johnson broke into a refinery
   And the black gold started flowing
   Just like Boston tea.. 

   ...Gasoline
   Will be free, will be free
   Gasoline
   Will be free, will be free

   When the Mounties stormed the palace of the Saudi family
   They held them up for ransom
   Without disturbing their high tea
   But their getaway was shaky
   They stalled in the Riyadh streets
   Cause you can't make it very far
   When your tank is on empty...

   ...Gary ran a market way down in Tennessee
   Where all the farmers got together and talked about this great country
   But when the government turned its back on farming
   Man, what I hear
   They dragged the pumps out of the ground
   With a big vintage John Deere

   I've got soldiers on my payroll
   Standing guard on my front drive
   Snipers on the roof poised at those
   Who don't want me alive
   Cause they audited my taxes
   My family under threat
   Cause I've got a message and a megaphone
   And I'll scream it to the death

   Gasoline
   Will be free, will be free

   To me, it sounds like Sheryl (or her friend Rafael) has been watching
   too many Mad Max movies while reading misanthropic peak oil
   conspiracist [4]James Kunstler, who does indeed have a megaphone which
   he uses to scream his mesage "to the death".

   In any case, the government hasn't turned its back on farming.
   However, according to Cinnamon Stillwell, the farmer-friendly ethanol
   boom has had some [5]unintended consequences.

     Not only is ethanol less productive than gasoline as a fuel source,
     its production is hurting the environment it was intended to
     preserve, particularly in the Third World. The amount of land
     needed to grow corn and other biofuel sources means that their
     production is leading to deforestation, the destruction of wetlands
     and grasslands, species extinction, displacement of indigenous
     peoples and small farmers, and loss of habitats that store carbon.

     Scientists predict that the Gulf of Mexico, already polluted by
     agricultural runoff from the United States, will only get worse as
     demand for ethanol, and therefore corn, increases...

   When you've managed to survive a variety of predicted apocalypses
   (apocalypsii?) you become more cynical about predictions like Crow's.
   The future is never as exciting as promised - more a series of slowly
   repaired unintended consequences than soldiers on one's payroll and
   snipers on the roof. But at least her apocalypsii have a beat that you
   can dance to.

References

   1. http://www.amazon.com/Tuesday-Night-Music-Club-Sheryl/dp/B000002G1T
   2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr8k66I34VA
   3. http://www.lyricstime.com/sheryl-crow-gasoline-lyrics.html
   4. http://www.kunstler.com/
   5. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2008/04/02/cstillwell.DTL