{"id":55314,"date":"2026-09-03T18:43:03","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/?p=55314"},"modified":"2026-09-03T18:43:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:43:03","slug":"shocking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/2026\/09\/03\/shocking\/","title":{"rendered":"Shocking!"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Arrangement: High-energy piano\/organ rock with a crackling electric-guitar riff. Start with distant thunder and sparse piano, then explode into pounding drums and guitar on the refrain. The chorus should feel like a lightning strike.]<\/p>\n


\n\"Lightning
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n

[Intro]<\/p>\n

Did you hear that?
\n(Zap!)<\/p>\n

Did you see that?
\n(Flash!)<\/p>\n

Whoa…
\n(Wake from your nap)
\n(It’s time to dash!<\/p>\n

It’s shocking!<\/p>\n

[Verse 1]
\nIt’s happening in the atmosphere
\nYou can feel it in the air
\nHeat is building
\nMoisture rising
\nEnergy is everywhere<\/p>\n

[Refrain]
\nI’m talking…
\n(Shocking!)<\/p>\n

There’s no denying…
\n(It’s electrifying)
\n…and terrifying<\/p>\n

[Verse 2]
\nOn September one
\nThe storm was far from done
\nThousands of strikes
\nLit up the night sky
\n(Yikes!)
\nFeel the sky cry<\/p>\n

[Refrain]
\nI’m talking…
\n(Shocking!)<\/p>\n

There’s no denying…
\n(It’s electrifying)
\n…and terrifying<\/p>\n

[Bridge]
\nScience has a warning
\nWritten in the storm:<\/p>\n

For every degree of warming
\nThe lightning risks transform<\/p>\n

[Instrumental]
\n[Electric guitar imitates lightning]<\/p>\n

Zap!
\n(Zap!)<\/p>\n

Flash!
\n(Flash!)<\/p>\n

Boom!
\n(Boom!)<\/p>\n

Again!<\/p>\n

Zap!
\n(Zap!)<\/p>\n

Flash!
\n(Flash!)<\/p>\n

Boom!<\/p>\n

[Breakdown]
\n[Music drops to bass, heartbeat-like kick, and distant thunder]<\/p>\n

I’m talking…<\/p>\n

(Shocking!)<\/p>\n

There’s no denying…<\/p>\n

(It’s electrifying)<\/p>\n

…mystifying<\/p>\n

[Full band]<\/p>\n

WATCH THE SKY!
\n(CRY!)<\/p>\n

[Refrain]
\nI’m talking…
\n(Shocking!)<\/p>\n

There’s no denying…
\n(It’s electrifying)
\n…and terrifying<\/p>\n

[Outro]<\/p>\n

[Thunder rolls]<\/p>\n

Where there’s heat…<\/p>\n

(There’s energy.)<\/p>\n

It comes to be…<\/p>\n

(Oh, you’ll see)<\/p>\n

[Lightning crack]<\/p>\n

ZAP!<\/p>\n


\n\"Extreme
\n<\/a><\/figure>\n

About the Song: How Is the Climate Energy Hitting You?
\nChester County, It\u2019s Shocking<\/p>\n

How is a warmer and increasingly moisture-loaded atmosphere changing the conditions under which severe thunderstorms develop?<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, the number of lightning strikes in Chester County, PA, has increased dramatically, rising from approximately 18,200 in 2016 to more than 30,500 in 2026.<\/p>\n

During the peak of the September 1 storm, Chester County was bombarded by thousands of lightning strikes. The broader storm line was averaging more than 400 lightning strikes every 15 minutes as it moved through the region.<\/p>\n

Peer-reviewed atmospheric research published in Science has projected that cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in the contiguous United States could increase by approximately 12% for every 1\u00b0C of global warming.<\/p>\n

Lightning strikes in Chester County during September 1\u20132, when two extreme storm systems passed through the region, are estimated at 4,361 strikes. In 2016, there were approximately 18,200 strikes. Assuming there are no additional storms for the remainder of 2026, the estimated total would reach 34,861 strikes\u2014representing approximately a 91.5% increase over the 2016 total, or nearly double the number of strikes recorded ten years earlier.<\/p>\n

Chester County, It\u2019s Shocking: Lightning Strikes Are Surging<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From the album “Fluidization<\/a>“<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Arrangement: High-energy piano\/organ rock with a crackling electric-guitar riff. Start with distant thunder and sparse piano, then explode into pounding drums and guitar on the refrain. The chorus should feel like a lightning strike.] [Intro] Did you hear that? (Zap!) Did you see that? (Flash!) Whoa… (Wake from your nap) (It’s time to dash! It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[163],"class_list":["post-55314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4d-music","tag-climate-change"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55333,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55314\/revisions\/55333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kingarthur.com\/songwriter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}