Happy New Year everyone!

At a friends dinner party last night, we were watching the BBC coverage of the London fireworks and the midnight countdown. A compilation track of music was being played by the BBC.. Just after Big Ben sounded in the New Year I had a little chuckle when London Calling (The Clash, 1979) came on,

in the chorus (not played):

“The ice age is coming, the sun is zooming in”

Proof, perhaps that the 70’s ice age scare was very real and had made it into popular culture. Watts Up has an interesting article  ‘Time Covers and Global Warming’ on a similar theme.

I don’t remember that much of the 70’s, (born in 69) but there definitely was an apocalyptic gloom and doom, ‘end of the world’ mentality going on, nuclear destruction, an ice age was coming, (due to CO2 and other pollutants 😉 ) followed in the 80’s, by fears of nuclear war  and the take up of the catastrophic man made global warming vision.  

The  ‘Meltdown’ referred to in the lyrics of ‘London Calling’ was refering to ‘Nuclear Meltdown’ – the  Three Mile Island incident and because of this, decades later, the Environmentalists won’t let politicians build nuclear power stations to solve the Green Energy Gap problem.

So another generation now has the end of the world due to CAGW…  (when in reality it might be aGW – ie tenths C)
Certain environmental groups and politicians almost seem to relish it, a modern 21st equivalent of 17th, 18th or 19th  century end of the world vision. As an observer of history, the human race does seem to be endowed with the ability and even has a need to scare itself beyond reason, with a whole new catastrophic idea every generation and it is always different ‘this time’ and ‘real’.  
 

London Calling – The Clash

 full lyrics – very doom gloom, nuclear doom, ice-age, london drowning, etc….
 
London calling to the faraway towns
Now war is declared – and battle come down
London calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard,you boys and girls
London calling, now don’t look to us
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust
London calling, see we ain’t got no swing
‘Cept for the ring of that truncheon thing

CHORUS
The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Meltdown expected, the wheat is growing thin
Engines stop running, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, live by the river

London calling to the imitation zone
Forget it, brother, you can go at it alone
London calling to the zombies of death
Quit holding out – and draw another breath
London calling – and I don’t wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw you *running out
London calling, see we ain’t got no high
Except for that one with the yellowy eyes

CHORUS x2
The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear error, but I have no fear
Cause London is drowning and I, I live by the river

Now get this
London calling, yes, I was there, too
An’ you know what they said? Well, some of it was true!
London calling at the top of the dial
And after all this, won’t you give me a smile?
London Calling

I never felt so much alive, alive, alive…