“My songwriting hero, the late Pete Seeger, said, ‘Beware of editorials in song, better to tell a story’,” said singer/guitarist/songwriter Jesse Sternberg of NYC’s own Out of System Transfer. “When I want to make a political statement in a song, I try to make it indirectly through a personal narrative.”
According to Sternberg, who founded the band at Oberlin College with multi-instrumentalists Danielle Kolker, Jon Good, and Jesse Jacobsen, this song is about “the specter of climate change that takes the form of an internal monologue (dialogue?) of a person facing what seems to be the end of humanity as an apparently apocalyptic storm hits New York, beginning with Coney Island.
“The verses basically show him berating himself for not having seen this coming, ignoring all the warning signs of climate change, etc. while the choruses document the destruction of one Coney Island landmark after another (the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel, the Parachute Jump).
“At the end it’s implied that humanity is not quite dead yet.”
Directed by Preston Spurlock, this animated video is a fine, frenetic start to the week. Turn it up and jump around!
All proceeds from Bandcamp sales of the “Storm Clouds” single will go to Rising Tide NYC, a local organization that fights against climate change. Why not cough up a few coins for a good cause?
