Lyrics:
The wind has shifted several times
Stuck up here floating till I find
A reason to drop anchor I
Might just stay here till I die
Every day I watch it get worse
No urgency to try and stop this curse
Held on to hope for a change
But now I realize it all stays the same
Have nothing left to go on
And even if I did the ocean isn’t kind
This whole world is sinking
I am too far gone
The veins that stretch across these leaves
Look for an opening
And the pelt you're wearing
Would have welcomed others in
And risk their lives and exit their den
To gather food to make sure everyone is fed
In every heart there's a grave
It's a one we create
In every heart there's a gate
And we're kicking it in
Now when dust returns to dust
What will be left of us?
In every heart there's a grave
And we're digging it deep
If alchemy isn't real
Then how'd they turn life into gold?
What was once priceless is now mercilessly being sold
This is our home and our existence
We have to become the resistance
As we watch them tear our roots from underground
There is a part of us that will always rebound
I felt the iron run through the lines in my palm
Like water filling up my lungs
Like plastic trapping me from air
Waiting for someone to care
Everything's going to worsen here
The fire continues but I don't care
Let the smoke-filled air enter my lungs
Living in a broken system
I used to walk along this creek when I was young
Watch the water flow through the rocks
Now incandescent streaks spread across
Watching glaciers melt as forests burn down
Oil darken the sea as life is cleared out
It seems that all of life is pushing for a better life
But you and me
In every heart there's a grave
It's a one we create
In every heart there's a gate
And we're kicking it in
Now when dust returns to dust
What will be left of us?
In every heart there's a grave
And we're digging it
Background:
A poem that I wrote in 2015 about elephants inspired me to revisit and re-purpose the words into a song. The original poem was titled 'Elephant Graves.' Elephants exhibit a behavior where they frequently visit a location where a love one was lost, and spend time there. Their reverence for life and emotional tie into the environment was so inspiring and fascinating to me, and I found it in stark contrast with how humans tie into the environment. We as humans default to seeing how something can benefit us, and more often than not, we exploit that as much as possible. We've poached these wonderful beings for something as simple as ivory. That disgust and disdain is what is behind the chorus of this song originally writing "What a garden of greed in these lies we conceive... In the lives we discard, we find a way to live on. In every heart there is a grave, and we're digging it deep"
The second animal I reference is a beaver. I find it absolutely fascinating how every being, every species, can play such integral part in an ecosystem. Beavers are the mapmakers of the world. They can dig rivers and streams deeper, divert them in different directions, and control the rate at which they flow. Not only do they have that unique role in the ecosystem, they are also extremely hospitable. Beavers were found to allow other small mammals to live in their dens with them, going as far as to leaving their dens to gather more food for the winter if there are more mouths to feed. Beavers are awesome, but yet again, almost hunted to extinction for their fur because of a fashion trend.
So that was the background and inspiration that became the lyrics for Modern Graves, here is the lyric analysis.
Analysis:
The introduction sung by our good friend Taylin from Migrate and least (check them out!), is all about apathy. I feel that one of the biggest environmental issues we face today is apathy. It works in two ways: first changing personally to help better the environment is increasingly difficult when others don't. We are somewhat habituated as humans to justify our actions based off of seeing others do the same action. If everyone is doing something it becomes more acceptable regardless of the actual action. Second, the organizations that can make the largest impact: governments and businesses, seem to largely not care because it is less profitable. So as individuals we feel helpless, and even that the damage we've done to the environment will happen regardless of how we change now: "The ocean isn't kind. The whole world is sinking, I am too far gone."
But then SMACK the snare hits and the lyrics focus on how every being is doing their part. Stomates on leaves track the sun to provide for the tree, beavers go out of their way to house and feed other species for an entire season. SMACK, the rest of life goes on building for a better future and helping others.
The chorus reiterates, its our fault as humans. We are digging our own grave for what? Profit. But: "When dust returns to dust, what will be left of us?" Is a reminder that profit means nothing because we can't take it with us, and the suffering we cause or alleviate while we're here is much more meaningful and purposeful than any acquisition of wealth.
The punk bridge furthers that notion. "How'd they turn life into gold? What was once priceless is now mercilessly being sold." It's just... sad. It's sad that we as a society have turned life into a currency, we value other living beings by what they can provide us. We have deforested, fragmented, and degraded the majority of ecosystems around the world to the point where they can't provide for the species that have lived there for millions of years. That's beyond depressing to me. In the end the lyrics bounce back against the apathy: "This is our home and our existence, we have to become the resistance."
The second verse draws parallels from pollution to our own very being. Mine pollution has caused countless environmental catastrophes. So: "I've watched the iron run through the lines in my palms" has a double meaning, as you also have iron in your blood, or could have iron polluted water running across your hand. That double meaning continues with "like water filling up my lungs." because having water in your lungs is generally a bad thing, whereas having blood (appropriately) nourishing your lungs is good. Towards the end of this part the lyrics revert to a more apathetic, defeated, mentality "Let the smoke filled air enter my lungs, living in a broken system."
The spoken word part follows that defeated mentality and references a creek that I grew up by and would spend countless hours just exploring. When I visited this creek more recently, it was polluted. It is near a highway, and I found old tires and a large assortment of litter. I have lived through numerous environmental catastrophes such as the BP oil spill, and the spoken word outlines all of the environmental damage I've witnessed both on the local and global scale. The lyrics end with: "It seems that all of life is pushing for a better life... but you and me." We have done exponentially more harm than good, and that is why the chorus comes back in. "In every heart there is a grave, and we're digging it."
Summary:
I don't want to end on that note, because being apathetic and defeated is meaningless. I do believe we can make a change and revert back into a society that values life and the environment with reverence. To do this though, we have to change our habits, we have to question the motives behind our culture, because corporations will respond. Even if its slow, even if it starts local, we can cause trends and the profit margins will follow.
Anyway, thanks so much for listening/reading the lyric analysis for 'Modern Graves'. I'm glad I was finally able to bring these lyrics to life. Please feel free to go ahead and pre-save the song on Spotify! https://show.co/h3XGAkl
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