This song was born out of my awakening to the ongoing climate catastrophe and increasing pollution. The year was 2004. I realised the greed of humankind has caused all these problems and we haven’t even reached the pinnacle of overspending yet. Multinational corporations grind profit at the expense of our globe, and at an ever-increasing pace. They control the consumption habits of the masses, make us want products we don’t even need. “I consume, thus I am” seems to be the motto. At the same time – while millions live in extreme poverty and misery – the owners of these giant corporations amass their wealth even though they couldn’t use it all should they live forever. These grim thoughts mixed in my head with images of “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe”, 2nd book in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” trilogy in five parts, written by Douglas Adams. In the book, the cream of the universe gathers to watch the end of the universe to the restaurant which is permanently anchored in time just before the zero hour. While watching the end of everything from the safe distance, they are served delicacies from around the galaxy.
In the song, the narrator watches as the super-rich flying in the bubble of superabundance have gathered to feast above the dead Earth. They can’t go outside because the air is too poisonous. Somewhere down on the surface they see some neon lights still flickering, maybe Las Vegas or something similar, who knows. This is the end product of all end products: the dead planet. But fate has its say on the matter: the bubble crashes to the ground, breaking to pieces. There is no longer any use for money as there are no one left able to fix the bubble. Eventually, the rich have the same fate as the others. There are no oceans anymore but they drown in the ocean of greed which they themselves created.
We all must do our part if we are going to save our environment, our FUTURE. But responsibility cannot be imposed on a bunch of activists; it must be on those who have the real power. They must act now and provide us with conditions to operate on a sustainable basis. There is no economy on a dead planet.
Hewey – Fragile Dream