The water levels are at an all-time low

Boats are running aground, calling for a tow

Some say we haven’t had enough snow and rain

But I say there’s underworld activity to blame

It’s a shame but it’s true, we’ve got the great lakes blues

It’s got to be diversion, then it’s pumped into trucks

And shipped off to places with drought and big bucks

It could be going to the middle east, across the sea and far away

Or maybe closer to home in Vegas, Texas or LA

There’s gonna be hell to pay, for these great lakes blues

Some say it’s just a cycle, the same in decades past

Climate change brings evaporation, but there’s too much too fast

We look to science and history, instead of criminal acts

There’s gotta be something else going on behind our backs

I guess no one’s sure what to do, so we’ve got the great lakes blues

The beaches are bigger, which you might think is a good thing

Except for the simple fact that the water’s disappearing

Waterfront property’s not the same anymore

It’s a chore to reach the water from what used to be the shore

It’s so much different than before, and it gives you the great lakes blues

At the new water’s edge, you can’t help but wonder what’s the deal?

Who would’ve thought fresh water was something you could steal?

Went away for a few years, when I got back it was so strange

The lakes weren’t so great anymore, things had changed

Makes you wonder how many others have ‘em too, the great lakes blues 

The lakes it would seem, are somehow getting wrecked

And when the water goes away, there’s a trickle-down effect

From boating to shipping to wetlands and fish

With numbers all declining, is it time to make a wish?

Makes you wish there was more you could do, to lose these great lakes blues

The Chinese fill their tankers, and tow their bags behind

They take our water home and bottle it, then sell it back to us online

Corporate brands like Nestle, Ice Mountain and Perrier

Hide pumps in our woods to drain aquifers that feed the lakes

It’s not too late to regulate it, but ‘till then, we’ll have these great lakes blues

They call it blue gold, and we’ve got pirates from all around

Politicians in bed with corporations, who buy the rights underground

They siphon it in secrecy, faster than nature can replace it

Millions of gallons a year, stockpiled for privatization

It’s time we take a stand and make demands, to lose these great lakes blues

Water’s everywhere in Michigan, just like cars

But the auto industry’s gone now, they took what was ours

Now they’re takin’ our water, and I say it’s time to raise the stakes

Before we have to rename them all the Good Lakes

It’s time we take control of our fate, and lose these great lakes blues

We’ve always thought of it as free, never thought we’d run out

But as the world gets more thirsty, it’s time to raise a doubt

It’s not deep enough for keelboats, no docks are long enough

I never thought smooth sailing would become so rough

We’re getting’ stuck in the muck, with the great lakes blues

Now I’m not one for conspiracy theories, but there must be more to it

Some say water’s the world’s next oil, and there’s shortages to prove it

I say we start charging for it, and when the last drop is drawn

We can afford desalinization, ‘till our oceans are all gone

It won’t take very long, but ‘till then, we’ll have the great lakes blues