[Intro]
See the level…
(Of the land and the sand)
Are you thinking…
(It is sinking?)
(Sinking!)
Wait a minute…
What’s rising?
(See… the sea!)
[Verse 1]
Beach Road by the ocean
(What’s going on?)
Sand is disappearing
(Where has it gone?)
Dunes are getting smaller
(Buffer wearing thin)
Southern swell is pounding
(Here it comes again!)
Big waves rolling
(Full of energy)
Higher water underneath
(That’s the synergy!)
[Refrain]
See the level sinking
(What were you thinking)
Is it at all surprising
(The sea level’s rising)
[Verse 2]
Multimillion-dollar houses
(Standing by the shore)
Pacific Ocean knocking
(Pounding at the door!)
One loses its foundation
(Another takes a hit)
The shoreline keeps retreating
(That’s the nature of it)
Sand absorbs the pounding
(Dunes absorb the flow)
Take away the buffer
(Where’s the energy go?)
[Refrain]
See the level sinking
(What were you thinking)
Is it at all surprising
(The sea level’s rising)
Wave energy pounding
(Shoreline confounding!)
[Bridge]
Can you build a wall
(Wait and watch it fall)
Against the sea?
(Can’t tempt destiny)
Can you stop a wave
(Ha! Watch it behave)
Can you make tomorrow
Act like yesterday?
(No way!)
[Break]
See…
(Sea!)
Level…
(Devil!)
Sinking…
(Rising!)
Yess…
See…
(Sea!)
Level…
(Level!)
RISING!
[Refrain]
See the level sinking
(What were you thinking)
Is it at all surprising
(The sea level’s rising)
Wave energy pounding
(Shoreline confounding!)
[Refrain]
See the level sinking
(What were you thinking)
Is it at all surprising
(The sea level’s rising)
[Break]
What’s sinking?
(The sand! The land)
What’s rising?
(See! The sea!)
What’s coming?
(The energy!)
See! (The sea!)
[Final Refrain]
See the level sinking
(What were you thinking)
Is it at all surprising
(The sea level’s rising)
See the level sinking
(Sand is retreating)
Is it at all surprising
(The waves keep repeating)
See the level sinking!
(Sinking!)
Sea level rising!
(Rising!)
[Outro]
No. It ain’t surprising
(Know the sea is rising)
About the Song
How Is the Climate Energy Hitting You?
SoCal Coastal Armoring
Sea Level vs. Private Property Rights = Managed Retreat
🌊 Climate energy is hitting the coast.
When waves encounter a hard structure instead of dissipating their energy across a gradually sloping beach, some of that energy can be reflected back toward the ocean.
That can increase scour at the base of the structure and accelerate the loss of sand immediately in front of—and adjacent to—the armored shoreline.
A difficult feedback loop can develop:
Loss of sand → greater wave energy → erosion → emergency armoring → altered wave & sediment dynamics → further beach loss
The result is a fundamental conflict:
Protect individual properties — or preserve the beach as a public resource.
🌊 Climate Change Changes the Equation
This isn’t simply a dispute over seawalls.
It’s a preview of a much larger problem.
As sea levels rise, coastal storms and extreme-wave events interact with a progressively higher baseline ocean. More energy can reach vulnerable shorelines, while the loss of beaches and dunes removes natural buffers that once absorbed part of that energy.
The physical equation is changing.
🏖️ Managed Retreat
Managed retreat may ultimately become the long-term strategy for some coastal properties.
The fundamental physical reality is simple:
You can build a wall against the ocean.
You cannot build a wall against a changing climate.
The Beach Road conflict is therefore about much more than a temporary rock wall.
It is about what happens when accelerating climate change collides with private property rights, public resources, and the physical limits of coastal engineering.
The ocean doesn’t recognize property lines.
🌎 How Is the Climate Energy Hitting You?
SoCal Coastal Armoring: Sea Level vs. Private Property Rights