Living Without Power

Although off the Texas coast, Hurricane Ike created 80 mile/hour winds in Ohio. The storm took out the power for tens of thousands of residents. Cheryl’s brother was among those who were sitting mostly in the dark.

At that same time, we were only a month from the US presidential election, and we wondered about the ramifications. It dovetailed perfectly as a hurricane metaphor. The story line made us think about how those in power can easily control and isolate people, thereby, in many ways keeping them in the dark. Ohio had been the political swing state in the election, so the storm reaching from Texas all the way to Ohio seemed the perfect story.

Abdicating our power and responsibility ultimately leaves us vulnerable to tragedy, storms and those frustrating power outages.

Music

Lyrics

Heartless hurricane
Ripped through the coast of Texas
All the way to Ohio we felt the wind
Trees fell across the lines
Sparks flew, lights dimmed and flickered out
We were left in darkness
Living without power

Tragic hurricane
Swept away in its madness
Almost everything standing in its way
Though we are miles away
Safe, we thought, without an ocean shore
Unsteady in the darkness
Living without power

Out in the mailbox
I found letters that I read by flashlight
Threw out all the food
That wouldn’t keep just one more day
Streets are empty since the traffic lights went out

No one going house-to-house
All the newspapers say that help is on the way . . . Just wait

Nothing left to do but sleep away the time
‘Til the power is restored
We can only hope and pray that help is on the way

How can a hurricane
Cause so much grief and heartache
Leave us isolated, withdrawn and still
Rather than sit and wait
Maybe someday we’ll try to figure out
How to create more power
No longer in the dark

No longer in the dark

Credits

From Moment of Truth, track released March 1, 2009
Cheryl Martlage – Lyrics, vocals and production
Emerson Martlage – Music, guitar, vocals and production
Mr Toad’s San Francisco – Mastering
Inspiration – Hurricane Ike