Album: Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth by Skyclad, 1991

Our Dying Island

I woke from my daydream--discovered my nightmare was real,
At the altar of progress to gods of ambition we kneel,
Our database deities--they cannot save us,
Microchip miracles only enslave us.

The high priests of high finance claim that their actions are wise-
But our planet still dies. . .
It dies for the want of more people who care
'bout the poisons we pump in the seas and the air,

Yet blissfully ignorant--still unaware,
We strive for a future entwined with despair.
You say, Why waste concern on the rivers and trees-
-they belong to mankind to exploit as we please?

Face up to the fact that mankind's a disease-
-irrelevant microbes with colour T.V.s.
Tell me just what kind of fools would laugh and stare death in the face?

Only to worst kind of fools (like you and I -the human race).
If we laugh for long enough it could well be our epitaph,
Mother Earth will laugh the loudest -She will have the final laugh.

BUT WAIT--the time has come to realise,
BELIEVE--the truth our eyes will not disguise.
SPEAK OUT--to say, It's no concern of mine,
DECEIVED--is to be party to the crime.

We all toe the line and swallow the lies-
-and our island dies.
Let computers dictate our emotions--determine the way we should feel.
Turn our backs to the future now our days are numbered,
And where will we run to when this world is plundered?

Your conscience a whisper drowned out when your avarice cries-
And humanity dies. . .
Without hot winds or tower blocks crashing-
-no silver-lined mushroom clouds herald man's passing,

From the Garden of Eden--into death everlasting,
Such a high price to pay for what we took without asking.
Stupidity's legacy is passed down the years-
-as our knowledge increases dispelling the fears

That the ghosts of the past may again reappear-
-as the dawn of the silent apocalypse nears.
Tell me just what kind of fools would laugh and stare death in the face?
Only the worst kind of fools (like you and I--the human race).

If we laugh for long enough it could well be our epitaph,
Mother Earth will laugh the loudest--She will have the final laugh.
(The advent of insanity--no future for humanity.
You pander to your vanity--it blinds you to reality.
In temples of indifference we hail the gods of ignorance,
And sacrifice our final chance--behold the death of innocence.)

BUT WAIT--the end is near so we must choose,
BELIEVE--that we have everything to lose.
SPEAK OUT--if empty words are all we're worth,
DECEIVED--it is the end for Mother Earth.
We all toe the line and swallow the lies--and our island dies.

If we think the world is our oyster we'll surely choke on the pearl,
It is ours for a while to respect not defile--but minds drunk with power still whirl.
The lands we dispute are not ours to pollute--neither the air that we breathe,
But how will we ever see reason when we can't see the wood for the trees.

Now we hold the future in the palm of our hand--place your faith
In 'Rainbow Warriors' not castles of sand,
The hourglass is empty time is slipping away-
-so prepare your excuses for the Judgement Day.

Court is now in session--Mother Nature presides,
The jury are our children--whose futures we've denied.
The evidence conclusive--we have no alibi,
The victim was our planet--the verdict: MATRICIDE.

BUT WAIT--the time has come to realise,
BELIEVE--the truth our eyes will not disguise.
SPEAK OUT--to say, It's no concern of mine,
DECEIVED--is to be party to the crime.

BUT WAIT--the end is near so we must choose,
BELIEVE--that we have everything to lose.
SPEAK OUT--if empty words are all we're worth,
DECEIVED--it is the end for Mother Earth.




The Cradle Will Fall

A species in its infancy--a living idiosyncrasy,
This 'naked ape' believes itself divine.
Assured of its supremacy--it dreams of immortality,
The first words that it speaks--This world is mine.

But the time has come for us to realise,
That the animal instincts we deeply despise-
Are far more civilised than humanity.
Mankind has lived to curse the day it climbed down from the trees,

But still we keep our heads held high whilst crawling on our knees.
I hope I never live to see the 'perfect' world you crave,
Where ambition is the burden we shall carry to our graves.
We think that we are so superior--for in God's image we were made,

All other life we deem inferior--there to exploit, kill or enslave
No amount of remonstration could ever show a mind so small
that it is not 'the be and end all.'

Into the future we race driven on by our greed,
Like rats in a maze we will never be free.
Science is the 'new-religion'--scaples slash dissecting truth and reason,
Behind locked doors where no-one sees.

Down evolution's one way street mankind pursues his dream,
Of a race conceived in test tubes with the same designer genes,
But like a child who tries to run before it learns to crawl--
he'll go crying to his 'Mother' when he sees the cradle fall.

I am human--I was made to be the ultimate machine,
With the power at my fingertips to realise my dream.
Homo-sapiens--the 'master-race,' Nature's pride and joy,
Taking all the world will give me--what it won't I shall destroy.

In our hearts we yearn to be immortal--conquer all sickness and disease,
Create a world where even death's not fatal--then we can shape our destinies.
A populace of plastic people live genetically pre-programmed lives-
-and no-one laughs and no-one cries.

Blinded by science the masses are duped and deceived,
By the faces that smile from their colour T.V.s.
They'll steal your dreams--remove them surgically (but leave you scars so deepand lasting),
God is dead man has surpassed him.

Like children in our playground--we contrive such foolish games,
But fail to see the consequence of suicidal aims.
No matter how we bend the rules there's no way we can win,
Not even pleading Ignorance will vindicate our sins.

I am human--I was made to be the ultimate machine,
With the power at my fingertips to realise my dream.
Homo-sapiens--the 'master-race,' Nature's pride and joy,
Taking all the world will give me--what it won't I shall destroy.

Mankind a babe-in-arms,/Believes he's come of age-
And reaches for the stars,/With one foot in the grave.

I am human--I was made to be the ultimate machine,
I am human--I have the power to realise my dream.
I am human--an automaton--a mindless 'technoslave,'
I am human--I am servant to the monsters I have made.

maybe the most eco-philosophical band which focuses, not only in certain environmental issues but looks into things more deeper by examining the human selfperception and his consequent attitude towards nature, the so called superiority feeling because of technology achievements, the greed and his ignorance of what really we are, totally suspended beings by the biosphere functions and earth vital sources are limited.

You can hear some songs in myspace