Originally I wrote Dance While the World Is Burning for my stepson who had at that time many difficulties in his life. I felt he wanted to escape his problems instead of facing and solving them. From my own experiences I knew that you can’t solve anything by escaping; problems only get worse. And they won’t disappear at once, either. You have to take small steps forward because too big leaps can dispirit you right from the start. Small changes and steps forward give you strength and faith in achieving your ultimate goal: impossible becomes achievable.
I realised soon after writing the lyrics that this song isn’t solely about my stepson. It’s about the whole generation of his. We older generations have failed them by our greed and neglect, leaving them to fix the mess we’ve made, e.g. climate catastrophe. They don’t have the ‘luxury’ of being careless, no matter how those problems cause anxiety, and no matter how much they would like to forget everything and be as careless as their parents and grandparents are. Their task is to educate us and demand us to help save their future and the one of this planet. Again, the change takes place in small steps, and everyone – no matter how small and insignificant they feel – can make a difference with their own contribution and example. Look at Greta Thunberg, for example. A protest of one girl has grown to a worldwide movement of activists!
Hewey – Fragile Dream