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Nothing Could Grow There

from The Wood Wide Web by Ian Roland

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about

The song was written during the first COVID 19 pandemic lockdown in the UK in June 2020 and reflects the fear, isolation and concerns for survival felt across the world during that time and still ongoing today. The root causes of the pandemic form the basis of the song: the destruction of the natural world; biodiversity loss; the exponential rise in consumption over recent decades; the fallout from the pandemic in terms of economic hardship, loneliness, and separation. It is a cry echoing the cries of all of us and a plea for transformative change to rethink our relationship with nature and each other. It is a plea for the need to move away quickly from the greed of capitalism that has brought us to this cliff edge.

lyrics

NOTHING COULD GROW THERE Ian Roland

VERSE 1
WE ARE ARGUING
HOW ARE WE GOING TO FEED US NOW
HOW ARE WE GOING TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE
WE ARE ARGUING
CHILDREN UPSTAIRS PLAYING LOUD
WE NEVER BELIEVED THAT WE WOULD FAIL THEM

CHORUS
AND NOW WE’RE OUT THERE TOO
IN THE SHADOWS, IN THE DISTANT VIEW
I TRIED TO PLANT FOR YOU
BUT NOTHING WOULD GROW THERE
NOTHING COULD GROW THERE

VERSE 2
WE ARE ARGUING
BORROWED ALL THE BANK WOULD LEND
LIVING IN THE LAND OF THE MAKE BELIEVE FREE
BUT THE FREEDOM WE HAD
WASN’T WHAT OUR LOVE COULD BEAR
HATE AND LOVE JUST KICKED IN OUR DOOR

CHORUS
AND NOW WE’RE OUT THERE TOO
IN THE SHADOWS, IN THE DISTANT VIEW
I TRIED TO PLANT FOR YOU
BUT NOTHING WOULD GROW THERE
NOTHING COULD GROW THERE

INSTRUMENTAL

CHORUS
AND NOW WE’RE OUT THERE TOO
IN THE SHADOWS, IN THE DISTANT VIEW
I TRIED TO PLANT FOR YOU
BUT NOTHING WOULD GROW THERE
NOTHING COULD GROW THERE

VERSE 3
WE ARE ARGUING
HOW ARE WE GOING TO FEED US NOW
HOW ARE WE GOING TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE
WE ARE ARGUING
CHILDREN UPSTAIRS PLAYING LOUD
WE NEVER BELIEVED THAT WE WOULD FAIL THEM

credits

from The Wood Wide Web, released February 24, 2023

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Ian Roland Brighton, UK

Songwriter, Ian Roland, writes and performs unique Roots-Pop-Folk music, full of heart-strung orchestration and up-close, life-drenched lyrics. Ian has supported acts such as Martin Simpson, The Black Feathers, Stick In The Wheel, TV Smith, Robb Johnson, Boo Hewerdine, Robert Vincent, Chris Helme, Joshua Ray Walker, 10cc’s Graham Gouldman.

www.ianroland.com ... more

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