This Good War is our latest Shiner song, inspired by longtime friend and Shiner fan, Seth Klein, and his climate emergency book, A Good War, whose premise is that we should mobilize with speed and effectiveness to face the latest existential crisis, this time environmental, as we did in the 1940s with the Second World War.
Seth challenged me back in January of 2021 to write an inspiring and uplifting climate emergency song… so we took up the gauntlet to create an invigorating musical call to arms. All Shiner hands were on deck for this one, including lyrically.
The result - This Good War - was recorded in Toronto, Canada during the Summer of 2021, otherwise known as the Summer of even more extreme weather (BC fires and Hurricane Ida floods) and the Delta variant.
So this song is released with hope on September 13th, 2021 - a week before the federal election in Canada, where we can put political feet to the climate fire in the voting booth!
For more information about the accompanying movement to mobilize Canada for the climate emergency, see the Climate Emergency Unit.
www.climateemergencyunit.ca
Lyrics
You can be the one with
your head in the sand
Or you can be a guardian
of our children’s land
Think that all the answers
Will smack you in the face
Before you hit the ground
Their goes the human race
Now’s the chance
Win this good war
Join the dance
Bold and brave
Turn the tide
And ride that wave
You can be the one
with head in sand
Or you can be a guardian
Protecting the path
To our children’s land
Sustain this Earth we’re given
Halve our human hubris in
ten years - no more
To overcome the odds
We’ll have to go to war
So call up all the reserves
All hands on deck
there’s no more sitting back
We all must take this trek
‘Cause
Now’s the chance
To win this good war
Join the dance
Bold and brave
Turn the tide
And ride that wave
You can be the one
with head in sand
Or you can be a guardian
Protecting the path
To our children’s land
Sustain this Earth we’re given
Mixi the mud with mangroves
A sword and shield
Cultivate the coastline
A Green New Deal
This is not a change
It’s an emergency
The biomes will rebirth
If there is urgency
So now’s the chance
To win this good war
Join the dance
Bold and brave
Turn the tide
And ride that wave
You can be the one
with head in sand
Or you can be a guardian
Protecting the path
To our children’s land
Sustain this Earth we’re given
Sustain this Earth we’re given
Sustain this Earth we’re given