Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth

This is a deceptively complex song that hinges on a vaguely understood relationship between two interlocking ideas. First is the harsh, seemingly dualistic reality of nature: serene and alluring at its best, tempestuous, brutal and unforgiving at its worst. The same beautiful clouds you marvel at can raze cities and kill with indifference. The second main idea is in the implied narrative that builds on the second half and requires a little more unpacking. We have the image of a destructive deluge with narrow survival prospects already in place, then the rest of the song takes on a first-person perspective of someone separated from friends they wish to return to. In their desperation, they admit their infidelity and vow to do better. Whether this is relationship infidelity or religious infidelity is not specified, but in either case we are hearing thoughts driven by desperation and remorse.

Something left unsaid in this narrative portion becomes somewhat accessible through revisiting the first half: does this person believes there is a connection with their behavior and the grim situation they are in? A deity punishing them perhaps? Or have they simply reevaluated their behavior and values because they are now facing death? The answer is most likely the latter. Consider the tone of the line "grasp at straws that don't want grasping". In the context of a violent flood that can hurl towns from A to B, the real theme becomes clearer: at the end of the day the universe just doesn't give a damn. We cry out in the dark we hope that someone hears us, but the world is a cold, unfair and uncertain place.

So what can we do? The answer is in what causes that last vow to "be more faithful". The sentiment isn't really about fidelity, but about remorse and values. When people face death they realize their mistakes, and they're almost always caused by having made the wrong things important to them. The essence of the song becomes clearer here. We need to face reality, no matter how unattractive the truth can be, to meditate on our priorities and values, to not be lulled into routine and take the good things around us for granted, to not wait until the twilight of our lives to pursue truly important—to not turn our backs on Mother Earth.

Sorry about the typos and a couple missing words. I was half asleep when I wrote this.

A remarkable entry, entropyandvdka! Outside of "hurled from A to B", it could be perceived as a 'serious' song.

Never turn your back on' has two meanings. (1) somebody or something is worthwhile, valuable, not to be rejected or ignored for that reason. (2) if you turn your back on this person they may use the opportunity to attack you. Trust makes you vulnerable, predatable. I think the song initially seems to be predicated on (1) but as it develops you realise, with a growing horror it's (2). Mother Earth producing a violent storm hurling towns from A to B allegorises human agency. The predatory nature of man is the history of mankind. The song speaks as much to the Holocaust and to war as to a personal betrayal or crime, identifying the common predatory root hardwired into human nature so that there seems to be no hope. But then the sun comes up on this bleak landscape, in the warmth and relief of the repeated 'my friends' . This is the refuge - a place here you can safely turn your back. This unflinching song speaks to the catastrophe of man with the same complexity as Schubert lieder. It's a beautiful song.