Talking about the grand scheme of things is often just an excuse for inaction.
lyrics
I was doing my recycling there in the pouring rain
chasing bits of paper that had dropped and blown away
Pushing empty bottles in an overflowing bin
Jumping at the buzzing of the bees and flies within
Sorting out the cardboard from the empty cans of pop
When a great big BMW came skidding to a stop right there
There appeared a suited man, a grin from ear to ear
“You think you’re doing good, my friend,” he told me with a sneer
“But really the environment is out of your control
“When the Indians and the Chinese use a billion tonnes of coal
“And countries use resources like they’re going out of style
“So your poxy little efforts here can only make me smile
“I’m thinking on a global scale, on a global scale,
“It ain’t no crime
“To think upon a global scale, on a global scale,
“Don’t waste your time!”
I tried to shake him off and so I headed down the street
I had to buy some coffee, tea and chocolate for a treat
I always check the labels just to see where things are made
And I try and buy organic and I try and buy fair-trade
But as I cast my eye across the supermarket shelf
Who should rear his head but BMW himself, right there
“You poor, deluded fool,” he said, “you canny make a dent;
“The folks that you are helping, they’re, like, 0.1 per cent
“Money makes the world go round whatever you may buy
“And you canny make a difference so you may as well not try
“market economics trump your conscience every time,
“And look - I’m buying Nestle and I get along just fine!
“I’m thinking on a global scale, on a global scale,
“It ain’t no crime
“To think upon a global scale, on a global scale,
“Don’t waste your time!”
I said, “My friend, your thoughtful words have cut me to the quick,
“You’ve shown that I’ve been acting like a sentimental prick
“How foolish and how gullible to try and do my bit
“When the world is full of millions who couldny give a shit
“And since you’ve been so thoughtful as to show me what is true
“Well, I have a proposition that is specially for you, just you.
“The Congolese, Iraqis, Afghans, Sudanese and more
“Are slaughtering each other in an endless global war
“And governments will subsidise the peddlers of death
“Who sit back and count the fortune made from every dying breath
“So, though I’d call for peace, it won’t do any good at all
“And it won’t make any difference if I boot you in the balls
“I’m thinking on a global scale, on a global scale,
“Is that what you mean?
“Thinking on a global scale, on a global scale,
“You don’t seem too keen!
“Thinking on a global scale, on a global scale,
“It’s not my job
“To think upon a global scale, on a global scale,
“So kindly shut yer gob.”
credits
from To Hell With Youth and Beauty,
released April 2, 2012
Written by Alan McClure
Performed by The Razorbills
Produced by Marcus Samson Wright
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