Another Saturday in the roaring twenties, where the planet seems determined to audition for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. China’s coal mines have once again proven that 'safety regulations' remain a theoretical concept, while Putin and Ukraine continue their deadly game of 'who can blow up a dormitory fastest.' Meanwhile, the Trump administration is playing a rousing round of 'Not In My Backyard' with Ebola refugees, and a French mum has redefined 'roadside assistance' by dumping her sprogs in Portugal. It’s enough to make one reach for the sherry before noon.
🎵 (s)Hit of the Day 🎵
Version 1
Version 2
📜 Lyrics 📜
[Verse 1]
Eighty-two men in a Shanxi hole
Buried beneath the blackened soul
Of progress and power and quarterly gains
Sixteen years since the last one, but who remains?
Counting the cost in coal and bone
While the shareholders stroke their polished stone
And the harpsichord plays a merry little tune
Beneath a pale and indifferent moon
[Chorus]
Oh, isn't it lovely, isn't it grand
The cream of the cream of the fatherland
We're reaching for stars with a soot-stained hand
Progress, dear boy, do you understand?
Progress, dear boy, isn't it grand?
[Verse 2]
A dormitory struck, or perhaps a drone
Depends on which truth you've lately known
Putin promises vengeance, Kyiv denies
And the truth is the first casual departure from lies
While a French mother drives to a Portuguese road
And leaves two small children to carry the load
Of a life lived hard with no safety net
The finest education that money can't get
[Chorus]
Oh, isn't it lovely, isn't it grand
The cream of the cream of the fatherland
We're reaching for stars with a soot-stained hand
Progress, dear boy, do you understand?
Progress, dear boy, isn't it grand?
[Bridge]
And across the Atlantic, the circus performs
Where justice is twisted into curious forms
He wouldn't be charged if he'd simply complied
With the wrongful deportation that nearly cost him his life
Refugees fleeing to cooler domains
Get handed to ICE and their tender domains
And the Congo is burning with fever and dread
But we can't bring back the ones already dead
No, we can't bring back the ones already dead
[Oboe Solo]
[Verse 3]
SpaceX launches a beautiful thing
A rocket that shines like Saturn's ring
We can touch the heavens, we can kiss the sky
But we're bloody incompetent at not letting people die
Starship V3, a magnificent feat
While the earth groans beneath our feet
Yes, we're reaching for Mars with a soot-stained hand
Progress, dear boy, do you understand?
[Chorus]
Oh, isn't it lovely, isn't it grand
The cream of the cream of the fatherland
We're reaching for stars with a soot-stained hand
Progress, dear boy, do you understand?
Progress, dear boy, isn't it grand?
[Outro]
Progress...
Such progress...
Do you understand?
Progress...
[Spoken] Lovely