The mentor text that I chose is a song by one of my favorite singers/songwriters Ziggy Alberts called laps around the sun. Let's start with a little background about who ziggy is and what his values are because that will help conclusions to be drawn from his singing. Alberts was born and grew up on Queensland's sunshine coast, a city an hour north of Brisbane, Australia. Growing up on the coast he developed a grassroots style and was very passionate about environmental conservation, a passion which is peppered throughout many of his songs conveying an underlying theme.
The song “laps around the sun” is on an album of the same name, which was released in 2018, the same year that I graduated high school, so I would listen to this song on my drive along the ocean to and from school, but never thought to reflect on the lyrics. The song begins with a set of questions “do you see the way that we have grown apart”, “do you see the ways that we have gone too far?” and “do you see the way that we’ve let plastic cover the ocean like snow?”. These three questions are briefly answered, but the one that grabs my attention the most is the second question. The broad nature of this question lends itself well to be at the start of a song, as it can be interpreted several different ways and can prompt one to think of their own ways in which they may have gone too far. This question is then repeated in a later verse, emphasizing that we need to be more conscientious in our approach to life. The answer to his third question is quite striking as it talks about how plastic is made of oil, yet it is juxtaposed with snow, a very pure substance. This juxtaposition is a key component of this song that makes his messages all the more powerful.
The chorus of the song implies where Alberts is from without explicitly saying it. The bottlebrush is a plant native to Australia and grows along the east coast of the continent, with its striking color and characteristic lemony scent, it is an iconic native flora. The line in the chorus “lately I've been too busy to smell the bottle brush, just chasing laps around the sun” is a representation of how fast-paced our world has become, and is an apt comment on our current tendencies to live in the future and forget the present. The phrase to smell the bottle brush is reminiscent of the popular saying to stop and smell the roses; a clever take on a turn of phrase that is almost overused. Our generation is too busy living for the next year and living in the future that we forget to look at the issues facing us here and now. This is fitting, as we are currently focussing on our past, present, and future selves.
The next verse really delivers the brunt of the message, that we need to take better care of our environment, the world that keeps us alive, rather than thinking about tomorrow, since there may not be one. He says that we need to come together and put our differences apart, conveying that global conservation will not be achievable at this stage without the involvement of everybody. Alberts asks if you see the way we need our reefs like we need the trees along our shore? He then answers his own question saying that half of what we breathe is out of sight and on the ocean floor. This is in direct reference to coral reef conservation, and also a comment about the common attitude of “out of sight, out of mind” among our generation. The ocean accounts for the production of 70% of the oxygen we breathe, along with corals and sea grass being one of the best carbon sinks on earth, further justifying his stance on climate change while also tying in his upbringing in a coastal, environmentally conscious town.
In his final verse, he wrote the words ‘and I've sat here and cried, salt running from my eyes, just wondering how the fuck will I end up with you?’. The first and most obvious conclusion that can be drawn from this is that he can see how the world will eventually become uninhabitable and he won't be able to end up with his love. Though this line also offers something more powerful through the use of swearing. It is used in this application to convey raw emotion rather than telling us how he felt. The use of the word fuck is also ear-catching, grabbing the attention of the listener so they may hear his message clearer. The song ends with the words “oh how much there is left to learn” repeated three times, echoing his statement at the end of each verse. The repetition of these words reiterates the idea that we are becoming ignorant along with the general disregard for the environment and the world in which we live. So, continuing in Ziggy’s style, I now ask you, in what ways have we gone too far?