[Silence]
[Instrumental, Guitar, Piano, Organ, Synth, Bass, Percussion, Drums]
[Intro]
[Instrumental Intro: Pulsing Synth, Dark Organ, Distorted Guitar Harmonics]
[Minimal Beat, Sub Bass, Spoken Vocal]
(Quick!)
What’s the trick?
(What’s the scheme?)
What’s the cost?
(Of the dream?)
Before all’s lost…
[Verse 1]
They wanted profit
We wanted more
They dug too deep
Into the core
We burned tomorrow
For today
And smiled while taking it away
[Pre-Chorus]
Every barrel
(Brings on peril)
Every shortcut
(But, but, but)
Me, my, mine!
(Every mine)
Crossed the line
[Chorus]
Oh well
(If you’re gonna tell…)
Here’s the secret formula:
Doubling time equals
The time-dependent growth constant
Times the natural logarithm of 2
(It’s true)
[Bridge]
“The Secret Formula”
(Featuring Princess Earth)
… and man staring as Dracula
Oh well
(If you’re gonna sell…)
Here’s the hidden mechanism
(Princess Earth)
… trapped inside the prism
[Instrumental]
[Guitar Solo]
[Heavy Bass Pulse, Organ Stabs, Drum Fills]
[Verse 2]
The hotter it gets
The more things break
The more things break
The more heat they make
The ice retreats
The oceans rise
The smoke fills up the darkened skies
The forests burn
The methane climbs
And every decade outruns time
[Bridge]
Sucking out the lifeblood
(Up to our ears in mud)
Draining every artery
(Blood becomes the flood)
Sucking out the lifeblood
(Trading life for blood)
Every warning buried
(Underneath the mud)
[Breakdown]
[Minimal Percussion, Low Drone, Spoken Vocal]
The faster it goes
(The faster it grows)
The shorter the time
(Before it shows)
The smaller the gap
(Between cause and effect)
[Final Chorus]
Oh well
(If you’re gonna tell…)
Here’s the secret formula:
Doubling time equals
The time-dependent growth constant
Times the natural logarithm of 2
(It’s true)
[Bridge]
“The Secret Formula”
(Featuring Princess Earth)
… man staring as Dracula
Oh well
(If you’re gonna sell…)
Here’s the hidden mechanism
(Princess Earth)
… trapped inside the prism
Oh well
(Now the numbers swell…)
Here’s the shrinking doubling time
(Princess Earth)
… falling out of line
[Outro]
[Slow Piano, Fading Synth, Wind FX]
What’s the trick?
(What’s the scheme?)
What’s the cost?
(Of the dream?)
[Fade Out]
About the Song
This song is about feedback loops and shrinking doubling times in the climate system. As warming increases, it triggers other processes that add even more warming: melting ice reduces reflectivity, fires release carbon, thawing permafrost releases methane, and warmer oceans intensify storms and reduce carbon absorption.
The key mathematical idea (“secret formula”) is that doubling time depends on the growth constant:
When growth processes are governed by feedbacks, the doubling time is:
Td(t)=k(t)ln(2)
Where:
Td(t) = doubling time
k(t) = time-dependent growth constant
ln(2) = natural logarithm of 2
If feedback amplification increases
k(t), doubling times shrink.
As feedback loops strengthen, k(t) rises and doubling times shrink. That means impacts compound faster and faster. Instead of a slow, linear trend, climate change becomes an accelerating cascade where each destabilized system amplifies the next.
From the album “Laboratory“