Hello all. Today's my birthday (27 years), so I can do whatever I want, so I'm taking the liberty of posting lyrics to a couple of songs that I cowrote with Bob Dylan. I wrote these in honour of Buy Nothing Day, an environmentalist holiday that comes every year the day after American Thanksgiving. In college my environment club used to go do guerilla choir (we called ourselves the Raging Grandchildren) in malls to make a quixotic stance against overconsumption.

Anyway... here are the words, you know the tunes.

BLOWING IN THE WIND

How many credit cards must a man own
Before we call him a man?
How many seas must the great trawlers sail
Before the last fish is canned?
How many dumps must the styrofoam fill
Before it's forever banned?

(chorus the same as in Bob's version)

How many ads must one man see
Before he starts to grow wise?
How many fruits must a poor land export
Before they're allowed to grow rice?
How many barrels of oil can we waste
Before we have to pay its true price?

How many dollars do we try to earn
Pretending we need them to thrive?
How many more animals must we kill
Before we can see they're alive?
How many weapons will be bought and sold
Before we decide to survive?

How many rugs can a young girl weave
Before she's no longer a child?
How many trees can a nation chop down
Before there's no trees in the wild?
How many lies can a man listen to
Before he's no longer beguiled?


THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGING

Come gather round, people, and pause on your way
We're asking you now to buy nothing today
The cost may be more than the price that you pay
If the earth to you is worth saving
Then you'd better consider the words that we say
For the times they are a changing

Come ye Christmas shoppers and look at yourselves
Can joy and contentment be bought off the shelves?
Can anything last that's made by the elves?
Just what is it you're craving?
Life's just fine without all the whistles and bells
For the times...

Come mothers and fathers with children in tow
No war toys or Barbies will help them to grow
You can't buy their love, as you already know
That battery's rapidly fading
There's no better toys than the sand, grass, and snow
For the times...

Come managers, owners, and don't get us wrong
We're all in the same boat, we all hear the song
This overconsumption, it just can't go on
We all have a part to be playing
Let buyers and sellers together be strong
For the times...

Buy nothing today, come out of that store
That glitter ain't gold, so caveat emptor
Woe to the rich, and blessed are the poor
You know it's true what we're saying
That more is less and less is more
For the times...

Wow... looking back now with the advantage of a few years these songs seem so self-righteous and self-indulgent... but hey, what are birthdays for?

Thanks for reading,

Marion