“Gasoline,” from Sheryl Crow’s just-released Album “Detours,” is set in 2017, and foresees a nightmarish future when the world runs out of gas:

It was the summer of the riots

And London sat in sweltering heat

And the gangs of Mini Coopers

Took the battle to the streets

But when the creed was handed down

For no more trucks and no more cars

They threw cans of petrol through the windows at Scotland Yard…

…When the Mounties stormed the palace of the Saudi family

They held them up for ransom

Without disturbing their high tea

But their getaway was shaky

They stalled in the Riyadh streets

Cause you can’t make it very far

When your tank is on empty

Crow’s song sends the message that we’ve built our whole way of life on a shaky foundation that’s bound to crack when we run out of gas. Towards the end of “Gasoline,” she sings: I’ve got a message and a megaphone, and I’ll scream it to the death…”

Will a post-petroleum scenario set to music get more Americans reflecting on the fact that there’s only so much oil in the ground? No doubt someone, somewhere, right now, is sitting in their car, stuck in traffic, grooving to the strains of “Gasoline.” I hope it sinks in, and makes a stain.