4. Before the Oceans Rose

© Robbie O’Connell 2015 Slievenamon Music (BMI)

So much can change in a century; things we take for granted today become irrelevant and things we couldn’t even imagine become commonplace. Just as the sound of horses’ hooves clip-clopping on city streets is a rare and unusual occurrence nowadays, the common sound of blaring horns in a rush-hour traffic jam was unheard of a century ago.

I was wondering what the world would be like for a child living a hundred years in the future and how our present reality would compare with it. Which of the everyday things we take for granted now will be gone forever? It seems to me that we have a lot to lose.

The immeasurable damage caused by the human infestation of this planet, combined with dwindling land mass and natural resources, suggests it will be a dystopian world where what is ordinary now will seem surreal or wondrous then.

Surely, future generations will be astounded, and angered, that we did so little to prevent the rise of our oceans, the destruction of our forests and the turmoil that ensued. I hope I am wrong but it seems unlikely that I will be too far off the mark.

BEFORE THE OCEANS ROSE

© Robbie O'Connell 2015 Slievenamon Music (BMI)

Great grandad told me stories of when he was a boy,
How the world was different then and the freedom he enjoyed.
He spent his summers by the beach, in the winters they had snow. 
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
They had football games and holidays and everyone had cars.
You could travel all around the world, there weren't so many wars.
They had houses with big gardens where flowers and trees would grow.
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
Way back in the old days before the oceans rose.

He told me how when he was young there was always food to eat.                       
Water wasn't rationed, they had lots of fish and meat,
And where we have the desert now, vast fields of corn were grown.
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
They had festivals and concerts, they had restaurants and pubs.
The houses all had showers, some even had bathtubs.
Oil cost more than water and you picked out your own clothes.
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
Way back in the old days before the oceans rose.

They had schools and universities, you could study what you liked.
You were free to pick your own job and you didn't work the dikes.
Their leaders were elected, you could vote for who you chose.
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
The streets weren’t full of checkpoints, there were no ID tattoos.
They didn’t impose curfews and surveillance drones weren’t used.
You could wake up in the morning and just walk out of your home.
But that was in the old days before the oceans rose.
Way back in the old days before the oceans rose.

How could they have done nothing as the ice crashed to the sea,
Or as they watched the shriveled crops wither in the fields.
It so hard to be hopeful when you see what's gone before,
Back there in the old days before the oceans rose.
When profit is the driving force they don’t care what gets lost.
They can’t look beyond the balance sheet to see the final cost.
But profit isn't everything as any kid now knows.
As it was back in the old days before the oceans rose.
Way back in the old days before the oceans rose.

No, profit isn't everything as any kid now knows.
As it was back in the old days before the oceans rose.
Way back in the old days before the oceans rose.