“It Is Time to Rebel.” Greta Thunberg’s Words Are Set to Music by The 1975
"We are failing. but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands. But unless we recognize the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don't have a chance.
"We are facing a disaster of unspoken suffering for enormous amounts of people and now is not the time to focus on what we can or cannot say. Now is the time for speaking clearly."
These are the words of vegan climate change activitst Greta Thunberg about our impact on the planet, but they could apply to social change, cultural change, and political change. It's part of a song and remix by the band, The 1975, set to music and showing a beautiful montage of natural landscapes. The band–called The 1975, so please don't drop the THE from the title, despite what Grammerly might want you to do–was formed by Matty Healy, along with George Daniel, Ross MacDonald, and Adam Hann. The 1975 does not shy from commenting on current events. How does this Grammy-nominated rock band know Greta Thunberg?
In 2016, The 1975 premiered their album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It and their song “Loving Someone.” Although the song originally discussed Healy's life, it came to represent something more, according to Showbiz CheatSheet, which reported that during their acceptance speech at the Brit Awards in 2017, Healy discussed the need to stand for something you care about and use your platform to impact social and political change. He said: “You can be scared of being perceived as being preachy, but the fact of the matter is, in times like this, art is way more important. It just is. People need to accept and do something about that. We’re going to try and do something about that.”
In 2019, The 1975 won the Brit Award for “Album of the Year” and used their platform to discuss current events and specifically how women in the music industry are perceived.
Following the mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, the band dedicated “Loving Someone” to members of the LGBTQ+ community. The group projected a pride flag behind them during a performance of the song, which eventually became a trademark of their live shows.
Here, in this beautiful track that has become an anthem for all who care about climate change, they let Thunberg's voice carry the soundtrack. The young activist became an international sensation at age 15 when she single-handedly began climate striking on Fridays, posting herself outside the Swedish Parliament Building holding up a sign that called for action on climate change by holding up a sign that read: Skolstrejk för klimatet, or School Strike for Climate. Soon, other students engaged in similar protests in their own towns. By the following year, she had sparked the launch of a worldwide climate strike and became Time Magazine's Woman of the Year in 2019. Her speech at the UN General Assembly brought more attention.
The powerful speech, and her voice, is mesmerizing and one wonders if she could speak for a generation on other topics and lead in the politically chaotic unrest right now. Her words:
Read Greta Thundberg's Speech and Hear Resonnating Calls for Action Now
"We are right now, in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis and we need to call it what it is: An emergency. We must acknowledge that we do not have the situation under control, and we don't have all the solutions yet. Unless those solutions meant that we simply stop doing certain things. We must admit that we are losing this battle. We need to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present forms have failed. But homo sapiens have not yet failed. Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our hands. But unless we recognize the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don't stand a chance. We are facing a disaster of unspoken sufferings for enormous amounts of people. And now is not the time of speaking politely of what we can and can not say. Now is
We time to speak clearly. Solving the climate crisis is the greatest challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution is so simple that even a small child can understand.
We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases, and either we do that or we don't. You say that nothing in life is black or white, but that is a lie, a very dangerous lie. Either we prevent a warming of 1.5 degree of warming or we don't. Either we avoid setting off that irreversible chain reaction beyond human control or we don't ... Either we choose to go on as our civilization or we don't. That is as black or white as it gets. Because there are no gray areas when it comes to survival.
"Now we can all have a choice: We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations or we can continue with our business as usual, and fail. That is up to you and me. And yes, we need a system change along with human change but one does not exist without the other. If you look through history, all the big changes in society, have started with people at the grassroots level, people like you and me. So I ask you to please wake up and make the changes required possible. To do your best is no longer good enough. We must all do the seemingly impossible.
"Today we use about 100 million barrels of oil, every single day. There are no politics to change that. There are no rules to keep that oil in the ground. So we can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to change. Everything needs to change and it has to start today. So everyone out there: It is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel."
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