[Lugal]

Do you have a family to take into consideration, Hawkcreek? It may seem simple to you to decide on what to do to prepare, but it certainly doesn't to me. Uprooting yourself and your family from jobs, friends and relatives and moving to... where? isn't done in a heartbeat. I do think of some basic strategies, I do try to take PO into consideration, I do read up on storing food, etc, but I don't give up my current life and do try to live in the present. That's what I meant by "taking the blue pill".

And I do think gallows humour is one of best and most deeply human ways of dealing with something terrifying. You might disagree.

Anyway, thanks for your compassionate post, it was really touching.

[Lugal]

Ok, I also realize that my first post may have seemed more defeatist than I really meant it to! In one way, it was a sort of reaction to some of the really hardcore preparation strategies I've read about from some of the other people in this forum, that make me feel sort of intimidated. In another sense, I was also venting a bit of frustration, as I'm a lot more worried about PO than my wife. There is one part of me that would like to really persuade her into taking some really serious measures, moving somewhere and start really preparing. At the same time I know that she would be miserable moving away from family and friends, and I would be too. I just couldn't pull it off. So I'm trying to just figure out smaller measures and strategies as well as I can, and then seize the day and hope for the best.

And as I've said before, I really think it's actually constructive to laugh and play around a bit with what scares you.

Good luck to you, hope everything works out well for you and your family. I'm sure it will!
Anyway, good luck

[AlCzervik]

I had to bump this thread. Don Henley must have known about peak oil when he wrote this song five years ago.

Workin' It (by DON HENLEY) Lyrics:

Album: Inside Job(2000)


Ah, it's open season here my friend
It always is; it always has been
Welcome, welcome to the U.S.A.
We're partying fools in the autumn of our heyday
And though we're running out of everything
We can't afford to quit
Before this binge is over
We've got to squeeze off one more hit
We're workin' it
Workin' it

Soon you will be dancing face-to-face
With the limits of ambition and the scars of the marketplace
Welcome to the land of flame and fizz
Where you will learn that packaging is all that heaven is

We got the little black car, the little black dress
Got the guru, the trainer, the full court press
We got the software, hard drive, CD-ROM
We got the exploitation.com
We got the pager, cell phone, bootleg methaqualone
The media, the message: you are what you own
We got the agent, lawyer, lapdog, voyeur
Talk show, book deal, round mouth, square meal

We're so busy covering our asses, we just can't commit
Oh, back off, don't bother me, baby
Can't you see I'm workin' it
Workin' it

It's plain to see Miss Liberty has not yet come of age
But, she loves to feed the animals as long as they're locked up in the cage
And everybody knows the girl's got balls of brass
Aw, kiss my ass

(Solo)
We've got a whole new class of opiates
To blunt the stench of discontent
In these corporation nation-states
Where the loudest live to trample on the least
They say it's just the predatory nature of the beast

But, the barons in the balcony are laughing
And pointing to the pit
They say, "Aw look, they've grown accustomed to the smell
Now, people love that shit
And we're workin' it"
Workin' it

We got the short-term gain, the long-term mess
We got the suffocating, quarterly consciousness
Yes man, run like a thief

New York to Hollywood, hype and glory
Special effects, no story
Yes man, run like a thief

Workin' it
Workin' it

Well, you don't know who the enemy is
You don't know
You don't know who the enemy is

Company man
"Eight for me, one for you"
(Workin' it)
"Very fair"

[Ebyss]

Well.. I kind thought they were all a bit defeatist too, so here's a few more "upbeat" ones :

Destiny's Child : Survivor

Gloria Gaynor : I Will Survive

The Who : Baba O'Reilly

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')ut here in the fields
I fight for my meals
I get my back into my living
I don't need to fight
To prove I'm right
I don't need to be forgiven

Don't cry
Don't raise your eye
It's only teenage wasteland

Sally ,take my hand
Travel south crossland
Put out the fire
Don't look past my shoulder
The exodus is here
The happy ones are near
Let's get together
Before we get much older

Teenage wasteland
It's only teenage wasteland
Teenage wasteland
Oh, oh
Teenage wasteland
They're all wasted!

[Lora]

Depeche Mode has some particularly appropriate songs I think.

"Black Celebration"

Lets have a black celebration
Black celebration
Tonight

To celebrate the fact
That we've seen the back
Of another black day

I look to you
How you carry on
When all hope is gone
Can't you see

Your optimistic eyes
Seem like paradise
To someone like me

"Stripped" - Part love song, part lament about industrialization

Come with me
Into the trees
We'll lay on the grass
And let the hours pass

Take my hand
Come back to the land
Let's get away
Just for one day

Let me see you
Stripped down to the bone
Let me see you
Stripped down to the bone

Metropolis
Has nothing on this
You're breathing in fumes
I taste when we kiss

[Lora]

This stanza from "Blasphemous Rumours" too:

I don't want to start
Any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's
Got a sick sense of humor
And when I die
I expect to find Him laughing

[Lora]

"Fly on the Windscreen"

Death is everywhere
There are flies on the windscreen
For a start
Reminding us
We could be torn apart
Tonight

Death is everywhere
There are lambs for the slaughter
Waiting to die
And I can sense
The hours slipping by
Tonight

Death is everywhere
The more I look
The more I see
The more I feel
A sense of urgency
Tonight

[Doly]

I think a lot of classic 70s hits are appropiate. I wonder if there is a connection...

For example:

Money - Liza Minelli (ABBA also had a Money song, but it isn't half as good)
I want it all - Queen (the best song dedicated to the mother of the problem)
I will survive - Gloria Gaynor

[lorenzo]

Great topic!

I often read PeakOil.com's message boards with Rammstein screaming in my back.

They'd be excellent to write a dedicated song about decay, collective death, a slowly coming disaster, little babies being thrown into graves alive, rotting corpses, etc...

They're so dark and morbid. They're also one of the most catholic bands around.


Rammstein

Lyrics ©1995 Rammstein.

Rammstein
Ein Mensch brennt
Rammstein
Fleischgeruch liegt in der Luft
Rammstein
ein Kind stirbt
Rammstein
die Sonne scheint

Rammstein
ein Flammenmeer
Rammstein
Blut gerinnt auf dem Asphalt
Rammstein
Mütter schreien
Rammstein
die Sonne scheint

Rammstein
ein Massengrab
Rammstein
kein Entrinnen
Rammstein
kein Vogel singt mehr
Rammstein
die Sonne scheint



Unofficial Translation ©2003 Jeremy Williams.

Rammstein
A man is burning
Rammstein
The smell of flesh lies in the air
Rammstein
A child is dying
Rammstein
The sun is shining

Rammstein
A sea of flames
Rammstein
Blood is coagulating on the asphalt
Rammstein
Mothers are screaming
Rammstein
The sun is shining

Rammstein
A mass grave
Rammstein
No escape
Rammstein
No birds are singing anymore
Rammstein
The sun is shining

[4StringSlinger]

These are a few of the albums that will formulate the soundtrack as I lay waste to evildoers, post-crash:

Neurosis- The Eye Of Every Storm

Isis- Panopticon

Tool- all albums, but specifically Aenima and Lateralus

[Antimatter]

Tool - Ænema

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')Some say the end is near
Some say we'll see armageddon soon
I certainly hope we will
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away
Any fucking time, any fucking day
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car

It's a
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away
Any fucking time, any fucking day
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay

Some say a comet will fall from the sky
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits

Some say the end is near
Some say we'll see armageddon soon
I certainly hope we will 'cause
I sure could use a vacation from this

Silly shit, stupid shit...

One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied

Learn to swim

Mom's gonna fix it all soon
Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be

Learn to swim

Fuck L. Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones
Fuck all those gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes

Learn to swim

Fuck retro anything
Fuck your tattoos
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory

Learn to swim

Fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses

Learn to swim

'cause I'm praying for mayhem
And I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way
I wanna watch it all go down
Mom please flush it all away
I wanna see it go right in and down
I wanna watch it go right in
Watch you flush it all away

Time to bring it down again
Don't just call me pessimist
Try and read between the lines

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend

I wanna see it all come down
Suck it down
Flush it down

[seldom_seen]

Many people in Jamaica regard Peter Tosh a prophet, and I can't say I have grounds to argue.
This Peter Tosh song has taken on a whole new relevance to me.

Crystal Ball

Lookin' at your crystal ball culture man
I say Lookin' in your crystal ball culture man
What do you see culture man
Tell me what do you see culture man

I see people victim
Prices rising
Gas shortage
And the dollar devalue

In the city
In a you shitty
In the city
In a the shitty...

[Fatherof4]

School House Rock - Click to Listen

[AlCzervik]

IGY by Doanld Fagen sounds positive, but I detect a hint of sarcasm


Standing tough under stars and stripes
We can tell
This dream's in sight
You've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from new york to paris
Well by seventy-six we'll be a.o.k.

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

Get your ticket to that wheel in space
While there's time
The fix is in
You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky
You know we've got to win
Here at home we'll play in the city
Powered by the sun

Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be spandex jackets one for everyone

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from new york to paris
(more leisure for artists everywhere)
A just machine to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We'll be clean when their work is done
We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young

What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free

[Aaron]

I should have picked:

Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[johnmarkos]

I have this bad habit of plugging my friends' bands. What can I say? It's some of my favorite music.

Anyway, if you're in San Francisco when they have a gig, check out The Secrets of Family Happiness. They tend to play along with slideshows that depict lonely scenes of rural or industrial decline and neglect.

Thoughts of PO invoke their music for me.

[Turlox]

Stevie Ray Vaughn -Life by the Drop

[Laurasia]

Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction:

The eastern world, it is explodin’.
Violence flarin’, bullets loadin’
You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’
You don’t believe in war, but what’s that gun you’re totin’
And even the Jordan River has bodies floatin’

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save, with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy
It’s bound to scare you boy

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation.
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’

And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

Think of all the hate there is in Red China
Then take a look around to Selma, Alabama
You may leave here for 4 days in space
But when you return, it’s the same old place
The poundin’ of the drums, the pride and disgrace
You can bury your dead, but don’t leave a trace
Hate your next-door neighbor, but don’t forget to say grace
And… tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don’t believe
We’re on the eve
Of destruction
Mm, no no, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

(Different war, different time, but there are parallels)

[Laurasia]

And one of my all-time favourites from a long-ago Peak Oil thread (about a Peak Oil "anthem"):

Silent Running by Mike & the Mechanics.

Take the children and yourself
And hide out in the cellar
By now the fighting will be close at hand
Don’t believe the church and state
And everything they tell you
Believe in me, I’m with the high command

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

There’s a gun and ammunition
Just inside the doorway
Use it only in emergency
Better you should pray to god
The father and the spirit
Will guide you and protect from up here

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Swear allegiance to the flag
Whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly
For some day sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still

Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?
Can you hear me, can you hear me running?
Can you hear me running, can you hear me calling you?

Can you hear me running (can you hear me calling you? )
(can you hear me) hear me calling you?
(can you hear me running) hear me running babe?
(can you hear me running) hear me running?
Calling you, calling you


(I hope we never feel that we are compelled, in the future, to live double-identity lives like this - I hope things never get that bad)

[small_steps]

Scorpions
Winds of change

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the winds of change

The world is closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the winds of change

[Chorus:]
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the winds of change

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the winds of change

The wind of change blows straight
Into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring
The freedom bell for peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the winds of change