Ain’t No Mountain High Enough Parody
Thornhill, Canada
2022, Junior, Performing Arts
Listen, baby, ain’t no hurdle high
Ain’t no habit old, ain’t no reason wild enough, baby
Climate change’ll get ya, no matter who you are
That day ain’t that far, get to it, baby
Gotta start today, the oceans are dying
There’s no use denying
‘Cause baby, there ain’t no hurdle high enough
Ain’t no habit old enough, ain’t no reason wild enough
To excuse this uncomfortable truth, baby
Sea levels rise when we melt the ice
For short-lived convenience the seas pay the price
The whales are beached and the corals bleach
To the depths of the waters, carbon footprints reach
But baby, there ain’t no burger good enough
Ain’t no cell phone new enough, ain’t no sports car fast enough
To justify the toll on the Earth, baby
Oh no darling, no oil, no coal
Petroleum’s not worth it, baby
No, no baby, go renewable
World procrastination is the explanation
Just start today, oh baby
In the warmer climates, fish migrate on,
Biodiversity gone
Acidification, carbon dioxide
They’re killin’ crustaceans and tainting the tide
But don’t you know that there ain’t no hurdle high enough
Ain’t no habit old enough, ain’t no reason wild enough
To excuse this uncomfortable truth, baby
Don’t you know that there ain’t no burger good enough
Ain’t no cell phone new enough, ain’t no sports car fast enough
Ain’t no hurdle high enough, ain’t no habit old enough
Ain’t no reason wild enough, ain’t no burger good enough
Ain’t no cell phone new enough
Reflection
Reflection
What better way to reprimand the human race than through one of my favorite upbeat songs? The expectation versus the reality of my parody couldn’t be more different. One might expect to hear uplifting lyrics about how humanity can conquer any problem with hard work, but be surprised to be told to stop procrastinating. My lyrics aim to give people a glimpse of how our actions impact the earth—especially the destruction of the oceans—and more importantly, to communicate the fact that no excuse, habit, or challenge we face is enough to ignore the damage we continue to inflict. I also wanted to convey some of the more significant causes of climate change that I learned about, such as using non-renewable resources, maintaining meat-heavy diets, and manufacturing more products when existing ones are still functional. My message to viewers is that as easy as procrastination is, we can’t afford to let the daunting global issue of climate change justify our inactivity.