Time's Up

Album: Time's Up (1990)
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Songfacts®:

  • Long before climate change became a hot-button political issue, Living Colour released this apocalyptic song about the consequences of environmental destruction. "It just seemed very bleak," lead singer Corey Glover said in his Songfacts interview. "Like we didn't have much more time to really fix these things, that we needed to look at the world that we live in. That if we are the stewards of this world, we're not doing a very good job."
  • Guitarist Vernon Reid is the primary songwriter in Living Colour, but all members contribute. This one is a group composition, credited to Reid, Muzz Skillings, Corey Glover and Will Calhoun.
  • This was the title track to the second Living Colour album. It didn't sell nearly as well as their debut Vivid (and didn't contain any radio hits), but was applauded by critics and awarded a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Living Colour won the same award the previous year for "Cult of Personality."

Comments: 1

  • Cjsf from The Space Coast"Long before climate change became a hot-button political issue"? I remember, even as a kid, the congressional hearings on climate change in 1988. The scientists and others were clearly saying then that if we made relatively small changes then, we might avoid the worst effects a generation or so down the road, and perhaps emerge with a stronger, more resilient economy. We all know how that played out. For anyone paying attention to politics and socioeconomics at the time (like Living Colour obviuously did) this was a very big issue by 1990. For some time it was overshadowed in popular media by "The Ozone Hole", just as Acid Rain had overshadowed broader climate concerns a decade or so earlier.
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