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Biomess
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acoustic folk social commentary political satire western massachusetts oil coal climate change fracking incineration music for social change nuclear energy
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 #87
Peak in subgenre #15
Author
Tom Neilson
Rights
Tom Neilson
Uploaded
June 19, 2011
Track Files
MP3
MP3 3.2 MB 128 kbps 3:26
Story behind the song
Tom met Janet on election day and she asked him to write a song to tell the story of Greenfield's resistance to a proposed biomass plant aka wood burning incinerator.
Lyrics
They want to cut down our trees Poison our air, waste our water away. Burn a ton every minute, 60 tons an hour 1400 tons a day. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, NO and SO2 All gonna find their way to your inside When you breathe that toxic stew. Siltation and soil erosion taking cover from the land And when all our trees are spent, it’s not ½ a percent Got to stop it while we can. There are shysters who always sell snake oil Does payola slip into a hand? Cause what kind of person burns up our trees Poisons the air, wastes our water, our land. A million gallons a day of sewage from our town To flush that boiler out . Till it gets so thick, they have to dump it in the river’ Say good bye to the perch, bass, & trout. This incinerator’s inefficient, burns at 23% An obscene waste of energy. The chromosomal damage and endocrine disruption Gives bio-abnormalities. There are shysters who always sell snake oil Does payola slip into a hand? Cause what kind of person burns up our trees Poisons the air, wastes our water, our land. And what do we get in exchange for our trees? Asthma, and cancer, and heart disease.
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