By George Boyland
Suede - Wastelands
Brett Anderson chimes perfectly as he tells the story of a yearning lad who simply wants to meet his lover away from all human contact, in the wasteland, where he will then kill himself. The video, a free runner galloping to his secret place, takes me back.
Woody Guthrie - Talking Dust Bowl Blues
From prosperity to poverty as soon as the wind changed, according to Woody. The truth is the Dust Bowl was a man-made phenomenon, the result of gung-ho farming techniques that totally disregarded the husbandry of the Native Americans who had been cultivating the prairies for millennia. The dust storms sometimes travelled as far as the East Coast.
… Dust Bowl Ballads
The Troggs - Dust Bowl
The great Reg Presley addresses the ozone layer, the dust bowl and deforestation, whilst asking where are we going to go if things get worse? There's nowhere else in the known universe like here.
Old Crow Medicine Show - Used To Be A Mountain
They took down a mountain? Well, yes, according to the Old Crows. The river has gone, taking the fish with it. Now all you can see through the window is a slag heap. Here in the UK we know from bitter experience how dangerous such proximity can be.
J.J. Cale - Death In The Wilderness
J.J. knows that the wilderness is in danger. Threatened by self-centered, greedy, unseeing humans, unaware or unconcerned about the results of their actions because a Middle-Eastern village deity granted us dominion over the Earth, and all in it. It's ours to exploit and destroy. Jahweh said so thousands of years ago. J.J. lists the magnificent beasts we are driving towards extinction.
The Congos - Sodom And Gomorrah
And now the Middle-Eastern spirit has a champion. We all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and their populations. But did anyone profit from the deity's scorched earth punishment? The Congos tell the tale of a chap who was down in the mudhole, the dungeon where he ate and slept when the fire and brimstone struck. No more making bricks, says he, no more licks from the licking stick. (In case anyone wondered, a lick is a clout, and a licking stick is used in Barbadian martial arts, probably imported from Africa with the slaves.)
Richard Thompson - Walking Through A Wasted Land
Richard Thompson asks whatever happened to this country? Good question as he focusses on farmers who no longer work the plough, but make a fortune out of factory farming. The steel works are shut, and the only sweat on a man's brow is caused by fear of the future.
Hüsker Dü - Newest Industry
Weapons of mass destruction, eh? Whatever happened to them? Certain ex-politicians are making millions a year on the lecture circuit as a result of their world-class scaremongering; having left a myriad corpses in their wake and entire countries fighting to recover. Hüsker Dü couldn't see into the future, but they could see what was happening back then, and what the consequences would be. They imagined America invading Mexico as it would be a safe country in a time of destruction. Unfortunately for certain US factions, the Mexicans want to live with them side by side, though that ain't gonna happen.
PJ Harvey - The Ministry of Defence
"A ghost of a girl who runs and hides . . .
…This is how the world will end."
Soon we will all be ghosts. Not just in the memories of those who once knew us, but in the unknowable nothingness of what lies behind the universe. I've been dead. I know what it's like, as someone once sang; though the verbal culprit was unceremoniously turfed. Because we don't want to know. No one does.
David Rovics - No Fracking Way
Well this is up to the minute. As far as the UK is concerned. The new PM is in the arse pocket of the energy companies, particularly her ex-employer Shell, and she is a proponent of fracking. Never mind the threat of earthquakes, and the destruction of the environment, think of the dinners at the Savoy, the donations to the party and the deferred payments when they give her a job doing nothing after the country (or her party) chucks her out.
Snog - The Human Germ
These guys view humanity as a pestilence on the planet. They hint at mass extinction, and the inevitability that certain incredibly rich men are building spacecraft to take themselves off the planet whilst they contribute to the destruction of Mother Nature. I know it sounds far-fetched but . . .
Samantha Crain - When We Remain
This lady is contemplating whether at the end of times we will be reborn as plants and flowers. She is observing that some Native Americans are having to trek dozens of miles for a bucket of water, such is the ecological disaster they are living in.
The Doors - When The Music's Over
"What have they done to the earth, yeah?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her . . .
. . We want the world and we want it now!"
Yeah, me too.
The Arid Environment A-List Playlist In Full:
Badlands and Beyond B-List Playlist:
Ian Noe - Strip Job Blues
Bryan Ferry - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
James - Stripmining
Misty In Roots - Sodom And Gomorrah
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Darklands
The Band Of Holy Joy - The Devil Has A Hold On The Land
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - The Wasteland
Van Der Graaf Generator - Scorched Earth
Songs: Ohia - Farewell Transmission
Kevin Coyne - Looking For The River
Seth Lakeman - Childe The Hunter
Bert Jansch - Lost And Gone
The Atrix - Treasure On The Wasteland
Guru’s Wildcard Pick:
Bob Dylan - North Country Blues
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Grounds for imagination: songs about wastelands. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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