[Silence]
[Arrangement: Acoustic guitar, piano, organ, bass, percussion, strings gradually building. Reflective but hopeful.]
[Intro]
As it was
(As it was)
Can we go back?
(Just because?)
As it was
(As it was)
Or is that chapter
(Already in “after”?)
[Verse 1]
The ice remembers
(What we forget)
A frozen history
(We haven’t met)
Layer by layer
(Year after year)
Now disappearing
(Before our tears)
The rivers wander
(New paths to find)
Leaving the maps
(We drew behind)
[Pre-Chorus]
The clock moves forward
(It can’t rewind)
The future arrives
(Constantly remind)
[Chorus]
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
Will the world ever be the same?
(Woe no, only in name)
Will the mountains wear
(The same old crown?)
Will the oceans rise
(Or settle down?)
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
[Refrain]
Gone is gone
(And time moves on)
Gone is gone
(From dusk till dawn)
What remains?
(What remains?)
The choice ahead
(Hope or dread?)
[Verse 2]
Species vanish
(Without goodbye)
Corals fade
(Beneath the tide)
Forests migrate
(To cooler ground)
Seeking climates
(No longer found)
The chemistry changes
(Within the sea)
Rewriting futures
(For you and me)
[Arrangement: Add strings and layered harmonies]
[Pre-Chorus]
The past is precious
(But cannot stay)
The question now is
(What comes our way)
[Chorus]
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
Will the world ever be the same?
(Woe no, only in name)
Will the seasons keep
(The rhythms known?)
Or become something
(Of their own?)
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
[Bridge]
Some losses linger
(For centuries)
Some changes echo
(Through histories)
Another century
(Is fading fast)
We cannot preserve
(The world we passed)
But the story doesn’t
(End right here)
The future still listens
(To what we steer)
[Instrumental]
[Piano Solo]
[Organ Swell]
[Guitar Lead]
[Final Chorus]
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
Will the world ever be the same?
(Woe no, only in name)
The question isn’t
(What we have lost)
The question is
(What future it costs)
Will the world ever be as it was?
(No, and man is “because”)
[Final Refrain]
Gone is gone
(And time moves on)
Gone is gone
(But life goes on)
What remains?
(What remains?)
If we delay…
(From today)
[Outro]
As it was?
(As it was?)
No…
How dangerous
(Depends on us)
About the Song
Will the World Ever Be as It Was?
That does not appear possible.
The climate of the twentieth century is gone.
Many glaciers are retreating beyond recovery. Ancient ice is melting. Species are disappearing. Ecosystems are shifting. Ocean chemistry is changing. Sea levels will continue rising for centuries, and some changes already underway will persist for generations.
The question is no longer whether we can preserve the world exactly as it was.
We cannot.
The more important question is whether we can influence the world that follows.
From the album “Unwritten“