NOTE: If you’d like to skip my commentary and go straight to the song, go to 12:28. However, I do suggest listening to the whole episode!
Thanks for waiting an extra WEEK for the fourth episode of “25 Bad Songs,” an Art In All Its Forms podcast series where I (Suraj) write 25 songs — one song a week — and show you how I did it!
Today’s song, “When The Trees Smiled Back,” tells a story about nature, climate change, and the things we take for granted that could be lost forever.
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Full Lyrics:
Verse 1
We used to listen to The Beatles on road trips
Early morning drives through the forest
Singing la di dah dah day, la di dah dah day
Open up the windows you could smell it
Redwood trees and the foliage
Singing la di dah dah day, la di dah dah day
Pre-chorus 1
Painfully unaware when we were younger
Playing in the park as the fire got hotter
Smiling at the trees in the scorching summer
But now I wish for the days
Chorus 1
Back when the trees smiled back at us
Get on your knees and pray for us
That they’ll smile another day, smile another day
Back when the trees smiled back at us
You better hope there’s hope for us
That the smoke will clear away, they’ll smile another day
Verse 2
We used to listen to lay on the ground, feel the grass grow
Look at the sky and the stars above
Singing la di dah dah day, la di dah dah day
Open up your eyes, you can see it
The things we take for granted gonna slip through our fingertips
Imagine it, even if its too hard to admit
Pre-chorus 2
Painfully unaware when we were younger
We’re too lazy to let the world live longer
Smiling at the trees in the scorching summer
Wishing for better days
Chorus 2
Back when the trees smiled back at us
Get on your knees and pray for us
That they’ll smile another day, smile another day
Back when the trees smiled back at us
You better hope there’s hope for us
That the smoke will clear away, they’ll smile another day
Bridge
The world’s gonna come crashing down around us and we can’t be bothered (x4)
(La di dah dah day) (x3)
Chorus 2
Back when the trees smiled back at us
Get on your knees and pray for us
That they’ll smile another day, smile another day
Back when the trees smiled back at us
You better hope there’s hope for us
That the smoke will clear away, they’ll smile another day
Outro
La di dah dah day
25 Bad Songs: 4. "When The Trees Smiled Back"