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Powerline

from Watershed by The Cold River Ranters

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about

George Perkins Marsh (1801-1882) [ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Perkins_Marsh ] worked as a US diplomat posted to the Ottoman empire.
But before all that...
AS THE STORY GOES:
One day when he was a young boy, Marsh went out fishing with his father along their favorite Vermont river, and they came across lots of dead fish floating in the water. His father asked the boy if he knew why all the fish were dying, but young Marsh couldn't answer. The old man pointed down at the fish, and then up at the hills.
"IF YOU WANT FISH, LOOK TO THE WATER," he intoned.
The lad noticed that the water of the river was not so clear as before; sand and mud filled the water, choking the fish's gills.
"IF YOU WANT WATER, LOOK TO THE MOUNTAINS."
The fish were choking on silt and sediment eroding off the hills above!
"But father," said young Marsh, "What's wrong with the mountains? Why are they killing the fish?"
"IF YOU WANT MOUNTAINS, LOOK TO THE FOREST."
High above them in the hills, they could see balds and clearcuts where logging operations had stripped the steep land of its protective timber cover, exposing it to the ravages of rainfall and wind.
And as for the "IT'S IN OUR HANDS" part?
Marsh later observed of the ruins of The Old World, "There are parts of Asia Minor, of Northern Africa, of Greece, and even of Alpine Europe, where the operation of causes SET IN ACTION BY MAN has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon." (Man & Nature, 1867, emphasis added) [ archive.org/details/manandnatureorp00marsgoog ] His dawning awareness of the worldwide fragility of nature & humanity's complicity in its irrevocable destruction heralded the very beginnings of organized active environmentalism in the US, leading to the Weeks Act of 1911 &c. ...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND NOW:
Fast forward to 21st century NH. The proposed "Northern Pass" powerline would run through the NH White Mountains, connecting northern hydro power with southern markets... This is not an innocent question of NH scenery & sovereignty; look at the long term effects of HydroQuebec on ecosystems & indigenous communities throughout the North Country! The NH Forest Society has worked to resist Northern Pass -- you'll find much more info at their site here: [ www.forestsociety.org/advocacy-issue/northern-pass ]
Our song here collects a few facts & voices & specs from the ongoing "Northern Pass" debate & sets them to an old song. The original music? Why, none other than a rollicking recording of "You Shall Be Free" by Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, & Cisco Houston. [ www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo2JQYP0Hjg ]
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lyrics

Well way down yonder in the great big city
They got electric lights so pretty,
They got walk-in coolers with 49 flavors of beer.
But all they talk about is sustainable power,
How they wanna buy about a billion kilowatt hours,
Build a great big tower & pipe it right through here:
~ Let's build a powerline! ~

~ Let's build a powerline!
One hundred forty miles!
~ Let's build a powerline!
One hundred feet tall!
~ Let's build a powerline!
Two hundred feet wide!
~ Let's build a powerline!
Right through your town line...
(I wouldn't put it in mine!)
~ Let's build a powerline!
~~ Let's build a powerline!

Well my great-grandmammy started this farm, built it up with the muscle of her arm,
Down through the years they passed it on to me.
Now a man pulls up in a government truck, says, "Hey sonny, you're in luck!
You get to sign away your right away to me, and here's what you're gonna see:
~ We'll build a powerline! ~

~ Let's build a powerline! &c.
Right through your property line!

Way up north where the cold winds shiver, they got a machine turning 'round the river,
Gonna make it flow backwards over and under the land.
That's green power for me, green power for you, but if you're the Cree or the Caribou,
Like the rivers and the mountains and the fish you can all be DAMMED RIGHT UP!
~ We're building powerlines! ~

~ Let's build a powerline! &c.
Right through your trapline!

If you want fish, look to the water.
If you want water, look to the mountains.
If you want mountains, look to the forest.
It's in our hands, it's in our hands.

Now I just wanna ask you and plant the seed:
Is more new power really what we need
To run our coolers in the winter
And our porchlights night and day?
Because we can kill a river just to fill a machine,
We can call it sustainable, even paint it green,
But we just can't wipe the ugly truth away.

If you want fish, look to the water.
If you want water, look to the mountains.
If you want mountains, look to the forest.
It's in our hands, it's in our hands.

credits

from Watershed, released November 21, 2015
W/ SPECIAL GUESTS:
Jack Bopp (vocals, tenor babylonian plucked polyeuphonitrope)
Emily Hague (vocals, flute)

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The Cold River Ranters Keene, New Hampshire

HOT GONZO PRIMITIVE FOLK JIVE!
Traditional & original all-acoustic music from the hills of Southern NH...

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