I Never Meant To Leave The Earth This Way

I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to leave the Earth this way
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to let it burn away
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to leave the Earth this way
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to let it burn away
You say you don't want to think about it
Because it's too depressing
Even though it's the main thing
That needs addressing
I ask what you think about Greta
And what she's doing for the world
You say she seems like a weirdo
A bit of a freak for a schoolgirl
I say: Don't you want to do something like that?
To change the world for the better?
But I'm thinking: What are you doing, dad?
Who are you to be piling on pressure?
Sure, I protest, go to rallies
Write and rage against the machine
But in the end it's all folly
I'm just another cog in the machine
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to leave the Earth this way
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to let it burn away
They say individuals can do very little
Most of the damage is caused by companies
My actions cause barely a ripple
While the polluters take all the money
What's the good of buying green light bulbs
Skipping the car and riding a bike
When billionaires are getting green laws pulled
So they can carry on doing what they like?
And how does me trying to save water
Have any kind of effect
When it's industrial users that ought to
Be the ones they keep in check?
I might do voluntary work, write these lyrics
Try to change some people's minds
But when you're facing a world of cynics
It feels like a huge waste of time
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to leave the Earth this way
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to let it burn away
There's hope, I know you're on the right path
When I ask what you want to be
You say you're going to use your gift for maths
Be a passive architect, solar engineer
It's the hope that we all have
That our kids will do it better
But time's not something that they have
We've got to stop being the wreckers
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to leave the Earth this way
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to let it burn away