Do you Remember the Once-Ler?

Описание: This music video is based on Dr. Suess' classic book "The Lorax", first published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the Once-ler. The song "Do You Remember the Once-ler" is a song written and performed by the acoustic rock band "Solving For X". The lyrics to the song can be found at the bottom of this page.

In the story, the Once-ler arrives with his mule and cart and takes in the sights; There are Bar-ba-Loots (resembling bears) that frolic about and eat fruit from the trees, Swomee Swans that fly through the air and sing as they go, and Humming Fish that go swimming about in the ponds and humming as they swim. But the Once-ler is only interested in the beauty of the Truffula Trees. Taking a few samples of the Truffula tree, he decides to set up shop on the spot.

Enamored by these gorgeous trees, the Once-ler chops one down and uses its foliage to knit a "Thneed", an odd-looking but versatile garment that he insists "everyone needs." A strange creature called the Lorax suddenly emerges from the stump and protests, saying that he "speaks for the trees, as the trees have no tongues," but the Once-ler ignores him and, spurred by greed and the success of his first sale, begins a huge Thneed-making business that brings in his whole family, much to the Lorax's distress.

As the Once-ler's small shop grows into a factory and new equipment is being made to keep up with the demand for more Thneeds, signs of damage to the Truffula Forest become evident to the Lorax. The Lorax first complains to the Once-ler that the Truffula trees, being chopped down, were also the food source of the Bar-ba-Loots, who are now facing a terrible food shortage and a disease called "the Crummies because of gas and no food in their tummies." To save them, the Lorax sends them off to find another food source. At first, the Once-ler only shows a little remorse, but still focuses on expanding his business.

Soon, the Once-ler's Thneed-making business has expanded tenfold and now uses delivery trucks to take out the shipments. The Lorax eventually comes back complaining to the Once-ler that the factories are belching out so much "smogulous smoke" that it is giving the Swomee Swans sore throats, leaving them unable to sing. After the Lorax sends them off, he also complains to the Once-ler about his machinery making a goo by-product called "Gluppity Glup" and "Shloppity Shlop," and how it's being dumped into the ponds where the Humming Fish live, leaving them unable to hum and forcing the Lorax to send them away too.

The Once-ler, however, still dismisses the Lorax's pleadings and goes so far as to berate the Lorax for chastising his business practices. The Lorax's complaints, however, unhappily prove to be true just as the last Truffula Tree gets chopped down. With all the trees gone, no more Thneeds can be made, so the Thneed factories close down and the Once-ler's family departs, leaving the Once-ler alone with the Lorax, who, looking back at the Once-ler sadly, picks himself up by the "seat of his pants" and floats away through a hole in the smog, leaving behind only a small pile of rocks with the word "UNLESS" inscribed into them.

The Once-ler alone remains, gazing upon the disintegrating ruins of his factories over the years and contemplating the meaning of this last message, perhaps with a sense of remorse. In the end, the Once-ler gives a boy the very last Truffula seed for him to plant and take care of, potentially regrowing the forest and resulting in the Lorax's return.

"Do You Remember the Once-ler" - words and music by "Solving for X"

Do you remember the Once-ler?
who saw the world as his to take
He said “I really only fractured
the rules that we made to break”
Never really seemed to notice
the things we found appalling
Smiling as the final Truffula was falling

CHORUS:
Falling, falling, falling,
leave the world to heal tomorrow
Knowing we can always run to higher ground.
Same day different story
when we pay the now we borrow
Falling, falling, falling, till there’s no one left around

Do you remember the Once-ler?
who finally drove the world away?
Turning out the things we live for
he turned the sky from blue to gray
Never really seemed to notice
the things we found appalling
Smiling as the final Truffula was falling

Falling down and falling out
we live what we believe, we fall in line
Thank God he held on to a seed

Do you remember the Once-ler?
who saw the world that he designed
Looking from an empty factory
at the nothing that he left behind
Finally really seemed to notice
the things we found appalling
Crying as the final Truffula was falling

CHORUS