5090 by FAWM: "Time Was"

Time Was

4 weeks ago by @dr_griff

Time Was

dr_griff

00:00

Liner Notes

#folk #dystopian #apocalypse #genx

Got to thinking about movies where the asteroid is heading for Earth, and all attempts to stop it have failed. Those movies give the cast weeks or months of lead time to dread the inevitable, deadly, world-ending impact. But as a GenXer who grew up hiding under school desks to protect myself from nuclear warfare, I wondered what it would be like if that dread was shortened to an hour or so, as all the nuclear missiles flew. (I'm also a Stephen King fan; have I mentioned that?)

So, here's a song.

Lyrics

(Capo 2)

V1
Em     Em7       D                              C
Coming for the world and don’t you worry
Em     Em7          D                          C
Coming from the tunnels deep and still
Em     Em7               D                C
Coming, there’s no use to try to hurry
Em                D                                Em
Coming in a blink when time stood still

V2
Falling, from a distance we can’t fathom
Falling, to the mushroom clouds they go
Falling, soon to dig a cloudy chasm
Falling, though we say it isn’t so

CHORUS
C                          D                          Em
Time was when I thought we had a future
C                           D                             B7
Time was when I reached out for your hand
C                             D                              Em
Time was when we always thought we’d make it
C                                   D                       Em
Time was what robbed us of what we’d planned

V3
Outside we can hear them, they are counting
Counting down the minutes to our end
Frozen as we realize that nothing
Turns back the clock, we cannot amend

CHORUS

V4
Ending all the world in just an hour
Weeping as the fire drowns out the screams
Burning all the world with crimson power
No one will ever know our dreams

CHORUS

Comments

@berni1954 3w

Ah, yes. I was a kid in the 1960s so I can really identify with this one. Back then the idea of a nuclear war was ever present, never more so than during the Cuban Missile Crisis. We lived in Nigeria then, so we expected we might just survive until the fallout drifted south and slowly killed us. Neville Shute's book "On the Beach" was like a description of what might have happened to us if Khrushchev had called Kennedy's bluff.

@rocketgrrrl 3w

Your second line about the tunnels, grabbed my attention completely. And your voice evoked a heart rending sadness through it all. I am a fellow Gen X, and grew up, thinking the same thing about the lack of the future.
This weekend, I’ll be going to a post apocalyptic LARP and I’ll bring your song with me in my heart.

@mace66 4w

I've always thought of myself as the kind of person who would say, 'Oh well, didn't see that coming', then go and make myself one last coffee. If you haven't seen it yet you should check out 'Don't look up' on Netflix.

Nice flow to the guitar and the lyrics have a good cadence to them.

@slusk 4w

You saved the best line for last. "No one will ever know our dreams". That line alone can bear a whole song. Good for title as well. I like the topic.