From the recording Home
In 2010 I traveled with eco-philosopher Joanna Macy to northern Alberta to fly over the tar sands development. The horror of what we saw is difficult to describe. The extraction of bitumen from land that was once covered in pristine forest has been devastating to the natural world and the people who live in the region. And it is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Many are calling it the world’s most destructive project.
Lyrics
My Memory Forever
(the Alberta tar sands disaster)
I’m dreaming I’m flying over boreal forest
The trees are an ocean, green waves of motion
The Athabasca river is a ribbon of silver
And the caribou are running through my memory forever
I open my eyes and the world is on fire
There’s poison below me as far as you can show me
There’s no life, there’s no land, there’s just black tar and sand
And this aching in my heart, it goes on forever
There’s crack in the bloodstream and there’s money for the families of the workers who toil in the cold and the hell
And there’s cancer floating downstream to Chipewyan village
But nobody’s listening to the stories they tell
Oh the stories they tell
How far will we go?
I thought you, you’d want to know
How far will we go
Do you want to know?
Oh Canada, my homeland, majestic beauty
I can’t believe you’re selling all the northland away
In America we’re bleeding all the life from the world
Like a junky who is feeding on a million barrels a day
A million barrels a day
How far will we go?
I thought you, you’d want to know
How far will we go
Do you want to know?
I’m dreaming I’m flying over boreal forest
The trees are an ocean, green waves of motion
The Athabasca river is a ribbon of silver
And the caribou are running through my memory forever
©Jennifer Berezan
Jennifer Berezan: Vocal, Guitar
Jon Evans: Bass, Electric Guitar, Lap Steel Guitar
Scott Amendola: Drums
John R. Burr: Piano
Chris Webster, Anthony J. Costello: Backup Vocals
Marquinho Brasil: Udu