Social Awareness Song: World is on Fire by Sarah McLachlan

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in, yeah I'll try to hold it in

[Chorus]
The world's on fire and
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
(Try and bring my share)
I try to bring more
More than I can handle
(Bring it to the table)
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

[Chorus]

Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take, the less we become
The fortune of one that means less for some

[Chorus x2]

            I think that the message of this song is that people are suffering from starvation and other people don’t care about that, they just care about their own lives, but there are people who care. It also says that if we help each other out through the tough times, we can get by them. Another message I think is in this song is that we don’t pay attention to the things that are affecting other parts of the world and sometimes we don’t even realize they’re there, we’re blind to them.

            I think the message of people not caring that other people are suffering from starvation is in the song because it talks about bringing water to people, which might also imply food with it. The people not caring about it would be the really rich people, they don’t donate any of their fortune to help the less fortunate, but there are people who care and they spend time and money helping the poor people get by in their lives. This is shown in the line: “The fortune of one means less for some”. It basically says that if one person suffers, some people don’t care.

            I think the message of helping each other during tough times will help us get by because of the line: “You’re not alone in this story’s pages” because it says that you’re not the only one going through this and it can get better. This means that you have people you can relate with and you can get through it together.

            I think that the message of problems in the world being ignored by people in other parts of the world is in the song because of the line: “We part the veil on our killer sun”. It says that we reveal the troubles of the world and they aren’t good. Those problems affect the world and we ignore them. Those problems are addressed by some people, but no one listens to those people and they end up regretting it.