| In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the conservation movement was mushrooming, as for the first time there were large numbers of people starting to get seriously concerned about what we were doing to the environment. High profile publications like Rachael Carson’s "Silent Spring" were fuelling the debate about pesticides and wildlife destruction. This was my own modest contribution, and it used to get people singing along - and not just the ones with long hair and flowery shirts.
The imagery is perhaps a bit dated nowadays (it originally mentioned Concord by name, as producing the supersonic sounds, but that itself is now history....), and it’s not a song I regularly perform; but the message is still very valid. It’s no use pointing the finger at groups or individuals - we can only do our best in the situation to which we are born. Thankfully, more and more of us are awakening to the problems, and we must all hope that the changes now gradually taking place will not turn out to be too little too late.
(The penny referred to is the old kind, worth one two hundred and fortieth of a pound - not the new one that the unfortunate win on "Deal or No Deal".) |
