IN SPITE OF OURSELVES: THE CLIMATE SCIENTIST AND THE DENIER

Lyrics by Jennifer Pierce, idea by Clay Roehner

Song by John Prine, In Spite of Ourselves

[C] She keeps showing me her data

But Heartland’s where I get my beta

The [F] warmest year in history

Got [C] nothin’ to do with you or me

[G] She’s a climate geek, I think she’s a freak, she’s never gonna let it [C] go. [G] [C]

[C] He don’t think the climate’s changin’

Just the weather, rearrangin’

[F] Exponential rise in CO2

Got [C] nothin’ to do with me or you

[G] He’s a liar, a climate denier, he’s never gonna let it [C go. [G] [C]

In spite of [F] ourselves

The Earth will keep on [C] spinning,

100 [G] years, baby we’ll be dead and [C] gone, [G] [C]

But [F] unless the geeks convince the [C] deniers,

There’ll be no-one left on [G] Earth to sing this [C] song. [G] [C]

[C] She keeps showin’ me projections,

Over-riding my objections

[F] Fires, floods and melting ice,

[C] Can’t we talk about something nice?

She [G] used to be charmin’, now she’s alarmin’

She’s never gonna let it [C] go. [G] [C]

[C] Now at least he thinks it’s warmin’

But not at rates he finds alarmin’

[F] He thinks the rise in CO2,

Is [C] from volcanoes, not me and you,

He’s [G] still a denier, I wish he’d retire, he’s never gonna let it [C] go. [G] [C]

In spite of [F] ourselves

The Earth will keep on [C] spinning,

100 [G] years, baby we’ll be dead and [C] gone, [G] [C]

But [F] unless the geeks convince the [C] deniers,

There’ll be no-one left on [G] Earth to sing this [C] song. [G] [C]

[C] She tells me sea level is risin’

At rates that I find surprisin’

I [F] must admit that greenhouse gas

[C] Sure is higher than in the past

[G] Maybe her data, are not errata, maybe I should let it [C] go. [G] [C]

He [C] may have started listenin’ to me,

‘cause climate is affecting his GDP

He [F] still don’t care about isotopes,

But [C] now at least I’ve got my hopes,

[G] These deniers, sure make me tired, but I’m never gonna let it [C] go. [G] [C].

In spite of [F] ourselves

The Earth will keep on [C] spinning,

100 [G] years, baby we’ll be dead and [C] gone, [G] [C]

But [F] unless the geeks convince the [C] deniers,

There’ll be no-one left on [G] Earth to sing this [C] song. [G] [C]