[Silence]
[Spoken word]
What happens when we miss the 1.5°C Paris target?
(Did you forget?)
[Instrumental Intro: Slow Blues Guitar, Deep Sub-Bass, Low Piano, Organ, Drums, Percussion]
[Intro]
Knock, knock…
(Who’s there?)
Debt collector…
(No one’s here!)
You thought you had time
(You thought you were fine)
But time has a way
(Of collecting its pay)
[Verse 1]
We borrowed from tomorrow
And spent it all today
Took a little from the future
Then we threw the bill away
“Don’t worry ’bout the interest”
(We’ll deal with that somehow)
But the debt kept getting bigger
(And the collector’s here right now)
[Pre-Chorus]
First came the warning
(We waved it away)
Then came the interest
(It started to stay)
[Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
[Verse 2]
You can’t put the pain
A hundred years away
When the heat is at your doorstep
And the flood is on its way
Somewhere far?
(Right where you are)
Far away?
(Not today!)
[Chorus]
Not speculation
(Not speculation!)
Not some distant fate
The consequences
(Are already at the gate)
[Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
[Bridge]
The future moved closer
(The future moved here)
Somewhere else vanished
(It disappeared)
[Break]
Knock, knock!
(Who’s there?)
Debt!
(What debt?)
Climate debt!
(Not yet)
Your dues due
(Better come through)
How much can you take
Before you finally wake?
[Instrumental: Extended Blues-Rock Guitar Solo, Organ, Deep Bass, Heavy Drums]
[Pre-Chorus]
It’s not tomorrow
(It’s today)
It’s not somewhere else
(It’s this way)
It’s not abstract
(It’s real)
It’s not a theory
(Look and feel)
[Final Refrain]
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
First your fingers
(While the pain lingers)
There goes the toes
(Holy! And another knee)
Beyond speculation
(It’s debt collection)
What’s at stake
(A bone break)
How much pain
(Before we wake?)
[Outro]
Knock, knock…
(Who’s there?)
Debt collection…
(Already here.)
Oh, dear!
You missed the payment…
(We know.)
You missed the warning…
(Oh, no)
Now…
Pay attention.
(Avoid termination)
[Silence]
The new release of the day, “Debt Collection,” is the accounting of an accounting story. No, it’s not folklore anymore. It’s a retro-futuristic, swampy blues tune about spending your future.
The situation is due to what we do. And now, the blues dues are due.
About the Song: Climate Debt Collection
What happens when we miss the 1.5°C Paris target?
Think of it like owing money to a loan shark. The debt doesn’t wait decades to be collected.
Our fingers are being broken now. Our kneecaps are next.
One of the biggest challenges in communicating climate change is proximity—both in time and location.
If the consequences seem far away, people dismiss them. If they’re happening somewhere else, people ignore them.
But climate change is moving from:
future → present
and
somewhere else → right here.
We missed the 1.5°C Paris target. The climate debt is already being collected.
How much pain do we need to feel before we pay attention?
From the album “Full Blown“