1. |
Fritz Haber
05:25
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The Industrial Revolution never had it so good
As when one man found a process
To make artificial manure out of thin air
His name was Fritz Haber
The nitrogen cycle is an intricate dance
From the air to the ground and then out through our plants
When all things decay, nitrogen's lost to the air
And only certain bacteria can reclaim it
In symbiosis with beans, alfalfa, lupines, clover and vetch
They give all living things nitrogen's organic forms
But it's not enough to feed more than four billion people on Earth
Without Fritz Haber
Haber determined he might make ammonia
From nitrogen and hydrogen gas
He wouldn't give up till he found just the right combination
Of catalyst, pressure, and temperature
The BASF corporation resisted his plan
But Carl Bosch believed him, and in 1909 they succeeded
Bosch and the company developed a way to scale up the process
They both won the Nobel Prize
And a new fertilizer industry was born
Oh Fritz!
You gave us everything that you had
How can we ever thank you?
How can we say it was bad?
Oh, Fritz
Fritz served the Kaiser in the Great War, and he achieved infamy
He came to be known as the father of chemical warfare
Despite the shame of Clara Immerwahr, his wife, it was a victory
But only the military-industrial complex won
For in his hour of triumph, she took his revolver, took her own life
She died in the arms of their twelve-year-old son
Baptized in Germany, but born a Jew
He died in 1934
He never lived to see his own inventions used
To exterminate his people in the war
Oh, Fritz!
You gave us everything that you had
How can we ever thank you?
How can we say it was bad?
Oh Fritz
Some say there's no going back
Some say our old way of life is under attack
Some say there's no future
I don't believe that
I gotta believe our survival stands on more than a technological crutch
But oh, Fritz Haber,
Maybe you gave too much.
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2. |
Cursed
03:44
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Cursed be the ground because of you
In painful toil you shall eat from it all the days of your life
Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you
And you shall eat
And you shall eat the plants of the field
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Until you return to the ground
Until you return to the ground
Until you return to the ground
You are dust, and to dust you shall return
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3. |
Giant Metal Chicken
03:03
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You asked me to buy you a giant metal chicken
I brought it home to your door
You took one look and said "That's not the one I wanted -
Take it back to the store," and I said:
"This is the last time I'll do anything for you"
When all I had to say was no
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
This isn't the first time
You've left me to clean up your mess
But this time I'll take what I like
And leave the rest
I went back for a giant metal chicken exchange
To replace the one that was wrong
When I brought it home to you, you said to me:
"What took you so long?"
And in my moment of shock and dismay, you said,
"Why do you look so nervous?
Come on tell me you've got something to say -
You were flirting with customer service!"
I gotta hand it to you,
This isn't the first time
You've left me to clean up your mess
But this time I'll take what I like
And leave the rest
You filled up the giant metal chicken
With all of our most precious things
Then you threw it out the second story window
I looked up at you, and down at our stuff
Lying there in the snow, and I said:
This isn't the first time
You've left me to clean up your mess
But this time I'll take what I like
And leave the rest
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4. |
The Sick Man
03:22
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His house is rich
His wheel is large
The sun never sets on his dandelion
His children number many thousands
In his fields
Treasures grow
Gold and jewels for all his children
Just enough for this army
"Bring me bread! Bring me wine!"
Cries the sick man
"Give me candy!"
Cries his child
The ox and the rat
The grain and the thistle
His belly is full but his bones are brittle
"Bring me bread! Bring me wine!"
Cries the sick man
"Give me candy!"
Cries his child
His house grows old
His wheel stands still
The desert creeps up to his doorstep
From his fields
His armies march
They'll bend their swords to plow new lands
"Bring me bread! Bring me wine!"
Cries the sick man
"Give me candy!"
Cries his child
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5. |
Who Says I Have To
02:56
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You're not alone
But that doesn't mean this is normal
You've got something better
And if you walk out of the desert, you'll find it someday
It's a long way
But where else do you have to be?
You've got a long time
Before you gotta call this one
That's what I thought
If I started crying I'd never stop
That's what I thought
It's not your fault
But that doesn't mean that you're helpless
You're carrying more than you think
And if you wanna you can let it go
That's what I thought
If I started crying I'd never stop
That's what I thought
But who says I have to? (who, who?)
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6. |
How It Fits Together
05:21
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