Gary Bowman: Music

Talkin' Critter Blues

(Written by Gary, Performed by Gary, Lyndsey, Utah, & Buddy)

“If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected.” Chief Seattle

.
I went out for a hike one day,
Flora and fauna along the way
Picked some berries, Ate ‘em, 1…2…3!,
Went to sleep, ‘Neath a shady tree
(Birds a-singin’, Bees a-buzzin’…Logs a-sawin’)

I dreamed I awoke, But something was wrong,
There’s heaven and earth, But the critters were gone
No beasts of the field, No birds in the sky,
Couldn’t help but wonder why
(Global Warming…Greenhouse Gases…Bovine Exhaust…Take your pick!)

Well, I went out to fly a kite,
Best girl standin’, By my side
Wind kicked up, Swept us off the ground,
Soon we was a-flyin’ right over the town
(She held onto me, I held onto her…
Hey! Who’s got a-hold of the kite!)

Through the haze, We clutched that kite,
Not a living critter in sight
Past the smokestacks and factories,
Dodging satellite debris
(Whew…Rough on the old lungs…
Makes for pretty sunsets)

The wind died down, We hit the brake,
Fell right into the middle of a lake
Hit the water with a big old thud,
Stank like sewer, Oozed like mud
(Fish all floatin’, belly-up; Hitched a ride on a jet ski…Purty slick!)

We got to shore, We climbed a hill,
Sign said “Hazardous Waste Landfill”
Not so bad, If you stand upwind,
Thinkin’ ‘bout the shape we’re in
(Sometimes it seems like we’re turning this garden
into one big garbage heap)

Well, I woke up in a terrible sweat,
My t-shirt was a-soakin’ wet
I cried for the earth, and I cried for the seas,
I cried for the birds and the bumblybees
(Hard to imagine this old world
without the buzzing of Bombini Bombus)

‘Course the critters, they’re still all around,
Up in the sky, and on the ground,
Yet, as strange as it may seem,
I wonder, Was it just a dream?
(You know, We need to take care of this planet…
It’s the only one we have!)

© Gary Bowman, 2008