It started with Lil Dicky, and then it got worse.

The entertainment industry is obsessed with climate change, and just one example is the rapper’s song “Earth,” released just in time for Earth Day this spring. Featuring every popular artist under the sun, from Wiz Khalifa and Snoop Dogg to Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran, it’s a catchy (and weirdly gross) ditty about how much we love the Earth.

“I'm an elephant, I got junk in my trunk,” is one of its least sexual lyrics, while “We forgive you, Germany,” is definitely its most confusing. It’s mission-driven, sure, but at least it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Now instead, we have The 1975 and Greta Thunberg.

The English pop rock band, previously known for its songs about weed and sex , has turned political. With its newest single, “The 1975,” the band plays instrumentals while 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg reads an essay on climate change.

“We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis, and we need to call it what it is: an emergency,” she begins. “We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations, or we can continue with our business as usual and fail. That is up to you and me.”

I wish it really were up to us, but the fact is that climate change is such a global issue that a handful of conscientious people taking their bikes to work instead of driving isn’t going to do much. But that’s not what Thunberg suggests.

“Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases,” she explains, concluding: “Everything needs to change. And it has to start today. So, everyone out there, it is now time for civil disobedience. It is time to rebel.”

Thunberg has been reading too much Thoreau . The song, which runs for an interminable 4 minutes and 55 seconds, takes its duty too seriously, suggesting that climate change is really the issue that should spark global protests, not, you know, human rights abuses or something.

I never expected to say this, but I miss Lil Dicky. Why release a maudlin appeal for political protest when you can just sing, “We love the Earth, it is our planet”? Singers have been getting political since the genesis of melody, but that doesn't mean they should always take themselves so seriously. Why? Because if you're going to lecture, you'd better be consistent. The best tidbit about the new single comes from the BBC:

