HARD ROCK TRACK ABOUT THE DIRECTION WE ARE HEADED IN...AS A PLANET
melodic
hard rock
classic rock
mainstream
original rock
political rock
arena rock
the road less traveled
songs with a message
avalanche hard rock band
michael foster
will there be tomorrow
Story behind the song
SONG INFORMATION
Produced and Mixed by: Michael Foster
Engineered by: Mark Easton
Recorded at: ROUGH CUT STUDIO...Eastford, Conn. in June, 2005.
Music and Lyrics by: Michael Foster
Copyright 1984, 2005 by Crystal Magic Music (ASCAP)
Michael Foster: Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Vocals
Mark Easton: Acoustic and Electric Guitars
Barry Easton: Drums
Michael Corsini: Bass
"Are We Ever Going To Learn" is a song that I wrote in late 1984, nearly five years after the original incarnation of Avalanche had broken up in 1980. It was performed "live" only a few times in 1985...with a short-lived, three piece version of Avalanche. Since then, I have performed it privately in select circumstances as an acoustic solo piece...most recently on my March, 2005 "Live" SP Radio performance on Mike K's Saturday Night Rocks Show...which was "streamed" worldwide...as it happened. It really got me curious to hear the song recorded as it was always intended to be heard...as a hard rock tune...and with the original surviving Avalanche members recording again since 2004...it became a logical choice for the May-June, 2005 recording sessions in Connecticut at ROUGH CUT STUDIO. New bassist Michael Corsini did an unbelievable job of interpreting the essence of this song...and putting his own distinctive stamp on the bass parts...and Barry Easton...Avalanche's drummer...put in an outstanding performance, as well. Since the band had never "heard" this song before...it has all the freshness of a brand new tune...and the relevance of the lyrics...is even more true today than when the song was written. Mark and I always seem to play together as if we "finish each other's sentences" (musically) and this song clearly reflects that as well. The playing by the entire group on this song was flawless, really (if only I could sing!)....and ended up being one of the strongest of the new tracks from those 2005 sessions.
When I wrote this song...the "rain" that I was referring to was (literally) about "Acid Rain"...and (figuratively) about..."the approaching storm". The "rivers churning" was about the mindless pollution of our environment...and "atomic thunder" and "the sky is burning" really require no explanations. We seem to be going through life with blinders on....and just because it seems easier to pretend these problems are not really that important...well, that is pure madness...plain and simple. Denial of the evidence that is all around us...doesn't make any of that evidence false. It simply means that we are lying to ourselves...and "racing to the finish". As Mark Easton so eloquently states on "Medicine Man" (one of his tunes from The Easton Brothers Band)..."the people who can really change things...are just too blind to see". Any rational person can recognize the necessity to leave the planet in at least as good condition as it was in when we "got here"...unfortunately selfishness, greed, and short-sightedness seem to rule the day...and the future is fading for the natural world. It is really up to US. If we don't learn from history...and the mistakes made by civilizations that came before...and are gone...then THIS time...with the capabilities we have to permanently destroy the natural world...something that, in the past, would always survive the folly of man...we are in truly dangerous and precarious territory. I sure hope we wake up...before "waking up"...is no longer an option.
Mike (NAV)
Lyrics
ARE WE EVER GOING TO LEARN?
Music and Lyrics by: Michael Foster
Copyright 1984, 2005 by Crystal Magic Music (ASCAP)
1st Verse
Do you remember?
When the world was young and free...
Life used to be so easy...
Every day the sun would shine...
The air was fine and clean...
Now, when I look around...
I see it falling down, around me...
We've got to stop what were doing...
Before it's only a ruin...
2nd Verse
Will anybody listen?
We push the truth aside...
Till we just can't hide from the reasons...
For all the lies they've told...
While they bought and sold...our future...
A future with no life at all...
Put up that shopping mall...forget those trees...
And as the future is fading...
It's just not worth what we're trading...
Chorus
Can't you see that the rain is coming?
Can't you see that the river's churning?
Can't you hear atomic thunder?
Can't you see that the sky is burning?
Can't you feel the madness coming?
Can't you see the tables turning?
Do you think that the sun can shine again?
Are we ever going to learn?
(Repeat Chorus)
Are we ever gonna...ever going to learn?
END