Listen to the Wind is a musical about the climate crisis written by Timothy Sheard. The musical consists of twenty-five songs in all. During the 2-year Covid lockdown, Timothy attended virtual music lessons with a teacher in New Orleans. Out of those lessons and his love for theatre came his first musical: Listen to the Wind.
Once he has finished recording the songs, Timothy will begin submitting the work to theatre groups around the country… and the world. We are beyond delighted to share with you one of the songs from the musical: ‘What if we Kept the Coal in the Ground?’ Enjoy.
‘What if we Kept the Coal in the Ground’
[Melissa]
Robin Hood told his merry men one sad summer’s day
Sherwood Forest is no more, it’s all been stripped away.
The king cut down the Mighty oaks for ships to rule the seas.
The barons burned the wood to warm their stony castles keeps.
[Both]
What if we kept the coal in the ground
And left all the oil down where it was found.
What if we passed on burning the gas,
What if we kept the coal in the ground.
[Melissa]
Then they dug deep mines for coal to power great factories,
They fed the fires of mighty trains and steamships on the seas.
The London fog became a smog that poisoned the young and the old
They shook their heads and buried the dead and kept on burning the coal.
[Both]
What if we caught the sun’s energy, and
Used it to make our ‘lectricity.
Why don’t we ride the moon-chasing tide
What if we kept the coal in the ground.
[Brian]
It won’t be easy, banks will be queasy if we stop drilling for oil
They’re so risk averse they will not reverse their plunder of water and soil.
We know it is best if we invest in the Sun and the Sea and the Wind,
A simple decision for the transition, time for the change to begin.
[Both]
What if we kept the coal in the ground.
And left all the oil down where it was found,
The old engines getting a pension
What if we kept the coal in the ground.
What if we kept the coal in the ground.
Mason Emmert (Music director), Timothy Sheard (playwright, lyricist, composer), Colin Kane, Michael Smalls, Sabrina Rudden, Bryan Mason, Melissa Kong (actors), Shiho Kawai (piano).
Timothy Sheard was born in NYC and currently lives in Brooklyn with his Irish-American wife Mary Elizabeth Lonergan. Tim is a veteran nurse with 40 years hospital duty as an RN. He is also a writer and a lifelong labor and social justice activist. After publishing an impressive 11 novels and over 50 short stories, he founded Hard Ball & Little Heroes Press in Brooklyn to bring grownups, children, parents and educators stories that engage the reader in the most important issues of their lives: immigrant and labor rights, gender equality, the climate crisis, and the value of sharing and caring for others.
*Image Ojo Toluwashe, Unsplash.