2 Either/or or both/and: eco protest
In the audio that follows, Theo Simon performs one of his best-known anthems. He is the songwriter and lead singer for Seize the Day, a band that often performs at protest sites, as well as at green and pagan festivals. In addition to explicit protest songs, they also perform celebratory anthems inspired by ecological spirituality.
Activity 2
As you listen to this anthem (or read the transcript), reflect on your responses to its message and performance.
Transcript: Seize the Day
Here’s a little history of a bigger mystery,
I have written this story into my song.
If it isn’t what you're used to,
I hope it will amuse you.
And maybe if you choose to then you’ll sing along.
It goes:
‘I am as old as the universe,
I’ve been here before and I’ll be here again.
I am a child of the universe,
A part of all women and a part of all men.’
Once upon a sometime and once upon a somewhere,
And once upon a somehow there was a big bang.
Energy revolving and energy dissolving
And energy evolving, and that’s what I am.
I’m a little flower to blossom for an hour,
But in me there’s a power that grows on and on.
Power in the root of me,
Power in the shoot of me,
Power in the fruit which will pass my seed on.
I am not a somebody, I am not a nobody,
I’m a cell in one body filling all space.
All I ever could be and all I ever should be
And all I ever will be is here in this place.
Discussion
It is important to recognise that sometimes religiously motivated protest is closely linked with celebration.