Earth Day Songs

It was way back in the 1970 when Sen. Gaylord Nelson's dream of an Earth Day celebration came to fruition. Starting back in the 60's and 70's there were a number of songs that pertain to the Earth and ecology. There have been some good Earth Day type songs released since then. Here are ten:

10. Mercy, Mercy, Me/ Marvin Gaye
Sort of a slow song to start out with this one.
Where did all the blue skies go, poison is the wind that blows from the North and South and East/oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury... Doesn't need an explanation does it?

9. Wonderful World/Louis Armstrong
I see skies of blue, clouds of white, bright blessed days, dark sacred nights and I think to myself what a wonderful world.

8. Country Roads (Take Me Home)/ John Denver
Almost heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains growin' like a breeze.

I've only been through West Virginia once, but that was enought o see what the late John Denver was talking about.

7. Signs/ 5 Man Electrical Band
I much prefer this original version to the remake of the 80's by one of the hair bands.
Signs, Signs, everywhere a sign, blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind, do this don't do that, can't you read the sign.

I suppose some billboards serve a purpose when one is on the road, getting off on an exit with no convenience stores or eating establishments is a bummer, but more than a few billboards are a nuisance. Therefore, any signs not pertaining to directions for tourists are bad in my book.

6. Down By The River/ Albert Hammond
This was the "B" side of the more famous single It Never Rains In Southern California. This song is an anthem for Earth Day...

City life was gettin' us down, so we spent a weekend out of town, we pitched a tent on a patch of ground, down by the river/ we didn't feel too good all night, so we took a walk in the morning light, when we came upon the strangest sight, down by the river/ a silverfish lay on it's side, it was washed up by the early tide, I wonder how it died, down by the river/the doctor put us both to bed, he dosed us up and shook his head, only foolish people go he said, down by the river/ the mighty willows weep said he, because they're dying gradually, from the waste from the factories, down by the river/ in time the riverbanks will die, the reeds will wilt and the ducks won't fly, there'll be a tear in the otter's eye, down by the river.

5. Out In The Country/Three Dog Night
One of this 70's bands more underrated songs and a perfect one for Earth Day.

when the world is closing in on me, I need a bit of room to move, I find a quiet place, far from the human race, out in the country, before the breathin' air is gone, before the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime..

4. Big Yellow Taxi/Joni Mitchell or Counting Crows

they took all the trees, put 'em in a tree museum, charged the people a dollar and a half to see 'em, don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot..

3. Beds Are Burning/ Midnight Oil
This 80's hit is about Australia giving land back to the original owners, the aborigines, but has ecological overtones as well.

How can we dance when our earth is turning, how can we sleep while out beds are burning, the time has come to say fair's fair, to pay the rent now, to pay our share, the time has come, a fact's a fact, it belongs to them, let's give it back.

The one and only hit by Midnight Oil, with one of the more recognizable beats from the 80's.

2. Feed The Tree/Belly
There has been speculation that this song is about dying. It makes sense when you think about it. Feed the tree? What else would that mean, but it still has relevance to the Earth Day theme.

So take your hat off, boy when you're talkin' to me and be there when I feed the tree Belly's lead singer Tanya Donnelly belts out.

1. Fall On Me/ R.E.M.
R.E.M., The band Rolling Stone magazine called the top rock band of the 80's, released this Dylanesque, 60's feeling kind of a song in the late 80's. It never got very high on the singles charts, but the CD Life's Rich Pageant made R.E.M. a household name in the rock and roll world. This song is about acid rain and for those of you who have forgotten the song or never heard it, I think you will find the melody quite contagious. This is my #1 Earth Day 2009 song.

theres the progress we have found (when the rain), a way to talk around the problem (when the children reign), buiding towered foresight isn't anything at all (keep your conscience in the dark), buy the sky and sell the sky and bleed the sky and tell the sky (melt the statues in the park), don't fall on me/ well I would keep it above, but it wouldn't be sky anymore, so if I send it to you, you've got to promise to keep it whole...

That's it. Enjoy Earth Day 2009 and remember the benefits of renewable energy, recycling, and reusing.