[Intro] [A somber, minor-key acoustic guitar pattern. A low, mourning fiddle enters after 4 bars, echoing the "vocal" melody.] [Verse 1] We treat the land like paper, just a thing to tear and fold Exchanging all the emerald green for a pocket full of gold We’ve dammed the silver rivers and we've scarred the ancient hills While the smoke from all the progress makes a ghost of all our wills We’re living on a mountain that we’re digging out below And we’re acting like we’ve got a thousand other places we can go. [Chorus] But the debt is coming due, my friend, the sky is turning grey And you can’t buy back the morning once you’ve sold the light of day The greed is in the water and Corruption’s in the leaf And our disregard for consequence is the sister to our grief. [Instrumental Interlude] [A rapid, slightly dissonant guitar and fiddle interlude that creates a sense of rising tension.] [Verse 2] Nature doesn't argue and the forest doesn't sue She just pulls the blanket back and waits for what we’ll do The fire’s in the canyon and the tide is at the door And the things we took for granted aren't certain anymore It’s easy to look sideways while the contracts all get signed But you can’t outrun the shadow that you’re leaving far behind. [Chorus] But the debt is coming due, my friend, the sky is turning grey And you can’t buy back the morning once you’ve sold the light of day The greed is in the water and Corruption’s in the leaf And our disregard for consequence is the sister to our grief. [Bridge] Let’s look into the mirror while there’s still a little light Before the gift is broken and we vanish in the night It’s not too late to turn the tide and heal the wounded ground But we’ve got to start by listening to Nature’s real and holy sound. [Outro - Lyrics] Wake up before the gales com... Wake up before the floods Wake up before all forests blaze And coastlines are lost for good It may not be too late for us But we must start full soon Before we let ALL slowly die And none live beneath the moon. [Outro - Instrumental] (mournful violin and weeping mandolin combine for the last 10 bars, slowing and slowing and slowing to the final fade out)
