Year by Year
Irving, TX
2024, Senior, Performing Arts
There’s a lake by the side of a glacier
Made of that ice giant’s tears
Each day another drop trickles
It’ll be gone in just a few years
I stood on the bank on the other side
Watching another slice fall
After a pause, the echo resounding
A thunderclap, one more piece gone
Year by year, drop by drop
Is there a way to make it stop?
Didn’t realize how soon,
No, I didn’t have a clue
Until I reached Iceland
And I saw the truth
Each year it gets a bit hotter
The headlines scream “New Record High”
Iceland’s the land of fire and ice
But in a few years, it’ll just be fire
In a place so far removed from home
I saw the truth with my eyes
The gas in the sky, it trapped the heat
And the heat, well, it melted the ice
Year by year, drop by drop
Is there a way to make it stop?
Didn’t realize how soon
No, I didn’t have a clue
Until I reached Iceland
And I saw the truth
Yet through all the darkness
Or should I say heat
I wonder if there’s hope for change
Or is this how it will be?
What if we all stood resolutely together
And cleaned up the mess that we made?
Year by year, drop by drop
Is there a way to make it stop?
Didn’t realize how soon
No, I didn’t have a clue
Until I reached Iceland
And I saw the truth
There’s a lake by the side of a glacier
Made of that ice giant’s tears
Is there a way to reverse this
We’ve only got a few years
So here I stand, in the suburbs of Dallas
As the planet continues to warm
But there is a glimmer of hope yet
We can make a change before it’s all gone
Reflection
Reflection
In the summer of 2017, I traveled to Iceland and had the experience of seeing those iconic glaciers pictured on every postcard or travel blog about the country. Yet next to every glacier was a lake, or a river, or at least a small rivulet of water steadily trickling off the giant block of ice. Every tour guide told us how each glacier was steadily melting out due to climate change. For the first time in my life, I could physically see the impacts of climate change. I knew what I wanted to write my song about: the glaciers of Iceland. It’s been years since then but the experience has stuck with me, and in recent years, it’s only worsening. Temperatures continue to rise globally, and arctic areas are melting drop by drop. The images seen in the video demonstrate this. The song begins with a soft verse that builds up to the main chorus line. Later, the bridge creates a more hopeful tone as I consider the possibility of change. After a return to the chorus, the outro echoes the beginning of the piece through a new angle. It ends on an unresolved chord, creating a lingering question to listeners about the uncertainty and hope regarding what may happen next. My message to viewers is that the impacts of climate change are imminent. Although it may not be as apparent in day-to-day life, expanding your view to places like Iceland makes the effects clear. I believe it is important to get involved and do your own part. Raising awareness and spreading the word is the way to enact bigger policies and change. There are so many mediums, including art, through which this can be done. All in all, the experience of creating this song was positively challenging and very fulfilling.