Sometimes, I start out with an idea for rewriting a song, and the song I’m rewriting has its own ideas. I was going to write something snarky about the recent news that an underwater oil pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico had ruptured and caught fire — underwater! — and provided suitably apocalyptic video.  Adele’s Set Fire To The Rain seemed a suitable song to filk, but I underestimated it.  The original is an angry song, and somehow my snarkery was not the right fit.  My resulting filk is very angry too.

July 2021

We want it all, the dream
The thunder roars, the road is freedom
There’s a price, so pay it later
Until it’s fallen due, what to do then?
We’re sure we are strong
Never lost, why would we cheat?
To win, find a way
Without falling in defeat.

But there’s a law that’s true
That I should have known, should have known
All the kings who rule
From their ashen throne, ashen throne
Only won the day
When some others lose, others lose

But you set fire to the sea
Watched it burn and said don’t blame me
Well it burned, but it’s fine
‘Cause it won’t affect your bottom line
This time

So I saw the view
Of the flame there, hell-fire bright
And I knew, the first time,
You will never step back, nothing’s a set back

‘Cause there’s a law that’s true
That I should have known, should have known
All the kings who rule
From their ashen throne, ashen throne
Only won the day
When some others lose, others lose

But you set fire to the sea
Watched it burn and said don’t blame me
Well it burned, but it’s fine
‘Cause it won’t affect your bottom line
This time

You set fire to the sea
You’ll burn us all, just wait and see
When you smiled, it was there
That I knew that you will never care
You don’t care

Sometimes I look up to the stars
The shining worlds must be waiting for us
Let them know, don’t you dare to call us
We’ll make you burn, that’s the truth about us

Yes, we set fire to the sea
Watched it burn and said don’t blame me
Well it burned, but it’s fine
‘Cause it won’t affect our bottom line
This time

We set fire to the sea
We’ll burn it all, just wait and see
When we smiled, it was there
That I knew that we will never care
We don’t care

Oh
Oh, no
We don’t care
Oh
We don’t care
We don’t care