Soundtrack of My Life

"Earth" by Imogen Heap

I've gotten a bit behind now, but this is entry number 19.

"Earth" by Imogen Heap

Baby, behave, we'll make it work
(Are you with me?)

You're not golden
And I'm getting tired
Act like you own the place
When really you've only just arrived
I caught first glimmers
In hides and skins
Look who's all grown up
Black-swanning about the solar winds

You're gonna lose it all
And find yourself on your knees
So, get a grip and you might
Flow-reverse the great, slow bleed
I've tried patience, but
You always want a war
This house won't tolerate any more

Stop this right away
Put that down and clean this mess up
End of conversation
Put your back in it and
Make it up to me now

The cold shoulder
Folded arms and looking up
You've never listened
And carry on careless, regardless
This is not a fire drill and
If we hold any hope
It's harmonic connection
And stereos in symbiosis

These Lego land empires
Choking out mine now
You're everywhere, everywhere
Multiplying around me, child
A strain on my heart
This rock can't tolerate any more

Stop this right away
Put that down and clean this mess up
End of conversation
Put your back in it and
Make it up to me now

Baby, behave, we'll make it work (x8)
(Are you with me?)
Whoa, oh, oh, oh
You're only what you give back (x5)

Stop this right away
Put that down and clean this mess up
End of conversation
Put your back in it and
Make it up to me now

Are you with me?
You're only what you give back (x5)

Did I mention that I love vocal harmonies? Well, I do. I also love the planet Earth and would like it to continue to be habitable for human beings in the future. Wouldn't that be nice? I think so. That might be a controversial take. Some folks are ready to abandon Earth for Mars, I hear, but it sure seems a lot simpler to fix the current planet than to trash it and have to colonize a whole new one from scratch, which we will proceed to immediately trash. I mean, we've already littered space so much that at some point we may not be able to fly anything in near Earth orbit anymore due to the threat of space debris projectiles.   Yes-- first the land, then the oceans, and now space. Humans are the opposite of King Midas. Everything we touch turns to garbage.

This masterful piece is a tapestry of layered vocals with a not-so-subtle message. I'm not sure exactly how many layers this took, but it sounds like hundreds at some points. (I'm pretty sure it's not, it just sounds that way.) That combined with the vocal percussion really gives the song more depth and dimension than you would expect is possible from a single person's voice. Because it sounds like Imogen did all the vocal parts herself, which is why everything blends together so well. I think it's pretty clever that she wrote this from the Earth's perspective, and Mother Earth is not happy with us. "Put that down and clean this mess up."

As a note, people talk about how we’re "destroying the Earth", but that's not really what's going to happen. The Earth, as a planet, will continue to exist and orbit the sun. What we're actually doing is causing our own extinction, along with the extinction of most of the other forms of life currently on the Earth.

But the Earth, she's going to be just fine without us.

Anni