ENVIRONMENTAL SONGS

One of the best anti-sprawl, anti-pollution environmental songs ever done; includes the oft-quoted 'paved paradise' line.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone;
They paved paradise,
And put up a parking lot.

→ See full "Big Yellow Taxi" lyrics on GP

Originally from the album:
Ladies of the Canyon

Also available on the album:
Hits

→ Read GP's review of Joni Mitchell's Hits album

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

An excellent and uncharacteristically activist song from ELP. As for the album of the same name, it's one of the few times a formerly great rock band put out something new that really was "sort of like their old stuff."

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Ain't nobody gonna walk on water
When it falls like acid rain . . .

→ See full lyrics on Sing365

From the album:
Black Moon

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Sam Phillips lyrically points out that business-as-usual is slowly strangling the air, water, and grounds that sustain us.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

The future has been stolen away
By diggers, drillers and sellers.
We won't stop 'till we're under a black sky.

→ More:  Black Sky - full lyrics/listen

From the album:
Martinis and Bikinis

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A very nice, bright shiny techno-pop song whose message calls for a change in approach to solving planetary problems.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

'Love' is what the answer is,
No matter what the question is!
Love is what we're needing now
To get the world to turn around.

"Aye Calypso, the places you've been to, the things that you've shown us, the stories you tell..." It's hard to stop following along with these wonderful seafaring lyrics—some of the best from John Denver—and a great tribute to Jacques Cousteau, the captain of the Calypso and a true champion of the sea.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

To sail on a dream, on a crystal clear ocean,
To ride on the crest of a wild raging storm;
To work in the service of life and the living
In search of the answers to questions unknown;
To be part of the movement and part of the growing,
Part of beginning to understand . . .

→ See full "Calypso" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Windsong

→ Read GP's Windsong album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

An excellent CSNY song from their later period. Lyrics and lead singing by Graham Nash.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Clear blue skies—not too much to ask for;
They were here before we came;
Will they be here when we're gone?

→ See full "Clear Blue Skies" lyrics on GP

From the album:
American Dream

→ Read GP's American Dream album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

As a look back at the somewhat less mechanized, more dangerous days of coal mining, "Coal Tattoo" fits well into the Kingston Trio's general rock-tinged folk.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Somebody said, "That's a strange tattoo
You have on the side of your head."
I said, "That's the blueprint left by the coal.
A little more and I'd been dead."

→ See full "Coal Tattoo" lyrics on GP

From the album:
New Frontier/Time To Think

→ Read GP's New Frontier/Time To Think album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A classic from the '60s flower-pop library, sending out good vibes for a better tomorrow.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Look over yonder, what do you see!
The sun is a-rising, most definitely;
A new day's coming, people are changing.
Ain't it beautiful? Crystal blue persuasion . . .

→ See full lyrics on A-Z Lyrics

From the album:
Anthology

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

An early great one from Kansas—from the mysticism/nativism/environmentalism phase.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

We've strangled all her trees and starved her creatures;
There's poison in the sea and in the air;
But worst of all, we've learned to live without her;
We've lost the very meaning of our lives . . .
And now she's gonna die!

→ See full "Death of Mother Nature Suite" lyrics on GP

From the original album: Kansas

Also available on:
The Kansas Boxed Set (Slipcase)

→ Read GP's Kansas Slipcase Box Set album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

One of Jackson Browne's early hits, the song is a general commentary on the pititful state of things, social, environmental, and otherwise, as well as the frustrating separation we "more aware" folks feel.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

'Cause I have wandered through this world
And, as each moment has unfurled,
I've been waiting
To awaken from these dreams.
People go just where they will;
I never noticed them until
I got this feeling
That it's later than it seems . . .

→ See full "Doctor My Eyes" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Saturate Before Using (Jackson Browne first album)

→ Read GP's Saturate Before Using album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

The Beach Boys' preeminent environmental song, from one of the best albums from their "serious music" period.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man.
The poison floatin' out to sea
Now threatens life on land.
Don't go near the water...
Ain't it sad...

→ See full "Don't Go Near The Water" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Sunflower/Surf's Up

→ Read GP's Sunflower/Surf's Up album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

The song "Earth Anthem" was penned by songwriter Bill Martin in the mid-1960s. It first got noticed when the Turtles recorded it and included it on their album Battle of the Bands. This classic environmental-spiritual song has been covered by a number of artists, including Dan Fogelberg, who sang it in 1980 at the 'No Nukes' concert in Washington, D.C., on the Capitol steps.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

We are but an island in an ocean;
This is our home, third from the sun.
Let it be evergreen.
To keep it ever green,
I would lay my life down.
God, keep it evergreen.

→ See full lyrics on MP3Lyrics.org

From the album:
Solid Zinc: The Turtles Anthology

→ Read GP's Solid Zinc: The Turtles Anthology album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

The preeminent Earth Day song from folk-rock nature-master John Denver.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Celebrate land and sea,
Celebrate you and me—
Celebrate Earth Day, every day . . .

→ See full "Earth Day Every Day" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Earth Songs

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

→ Related: GP's review of John Denver's 'Country Roads: Greatest Hits'

The King of Pop transforms himself into a philosopher-king with this one, as he winds his way through war and peace and environmental bone-headedness.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

What about nature's worth?
It's our planet's womb...
What about animals?
We've turned kingdoms to dust...

→ See full "Earth Song" lyrics on GP

→ Watch Michael Jackson's "Earth Song" music video on GP

From the album:
History - Past, Present And Future - Book I

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A simple but pointed commentary on our throw-away consumer society. Love the drumming riff!

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Look beneath your lid some morning,
See those things you didn't quite consume—
The world's a can for
Your fresh garbage . . .

→ See full "Fresh-Garbage" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Spirit (first album)

→ Read GP's review of Spirit's first album

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A fun classic. The eco spin is Godzilla's origins—genetic mutation from radiation.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

History shows again and again
How nature points out the folly of men . . .
Godzilla!

→ See full "Godzilla" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Spectres

→ Read GP's Spectres album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Some great lyrics appreciating the little blue and green jewel we live on, sung in a melodic (if gravelly) manner over a soft rock 'n' roll backing.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Good planets are hard to find;
Temperate zones and tropic climes;
True currents in thriving seas;
Winds blowin' through breathing trees;
Strong ozone and safe sunshine;
Good planets are hard to find...

→ See full lyrics on Sing365

From the album:
Rocking Horse Head

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Although no one is dumping excess grain in the ocean anymore, there are plenty of other food and agricultural problems. This top-notch Moodies' song addresses a variety of societal ills.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Men's mighty mine-machines digging in the ground,
Stealing rare minerals where they can be found.
Concrete caves with iron doors, bury it again,
While a starving, frightened world fills the sea with grain.

→ See full lyrics on A-Z Lyrics

From the album:
A Question of Balance

→ Read GP's A Question of Balance album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A "mother earth" type eco song that starts off slow and builds nicely.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

I am alive; can't you see
That you have got to learn to treat me tenderly.

From the album:
Live at the Mountain Arts Center

→ Hear more clips, download MP3s, or check out this album in MP3 Format on Amazon

→ See Goose Creek Symphony CDs on Amazon

One of the most out-there, futuristic songs to ever make the Top 40. Great stuff about where we're going as a species.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

In the year 9595,
I'm kind a wond'rin' if man is gonna be alive—
He's taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothin' . . .

→ Listen and see full lyrics on YouTube

From the album:
In The Year 2525

→ Check out CD... on Amazon.com

Not really an environmental song, but rather a "personal healing" song with larger implications.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Inner revolution, shake it up baby—
There's something in your life you don't like?
You got the power to change it.
You can't fix it with a drug, can't kill it with a gun;
Inner revolution—that's the way it's done.

→ See full "Inner Revolution" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Inner Revolution

→ Read GP's Inner Revolution album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

One of the best and most popular environment / ecology songs ever. A great tune from a great album.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Woh-oh.... Mercy, mercy me;
Things ain't what they used to be, no no;
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north and south and east . . .

→ See full lyrics on Sing 365

From the album:
What's Going On?

→ Hear album clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

"My City Was Gone" is a worthy anthem against urban sprawl, the duplicity of politicians, and the general mass insanity associated with the push for ever more outward growth.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

I went back to Ohio,
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride.
The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls,
And Muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls.
Said, a, o, oh way to go, Ohio...

→ See full lyrics on Sing365

From the album:
Learning To Crawl

→ Read GP's Learning To Crawl album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A personal proggy favorite among environmental songs, from a concept album that is arguably Spirit's best work.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

It's nature's way of telling you ... (Summer breeze)
It's nature's way of telling you ... (Dying trees)
It's nature's way of receiving you;
It's nature's way of retrieving you;
It's nature's way of telling you
Something's wrong ...

→ Listen, or see full lyrics on YouTube

From the album:
Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

→ Read GP's Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A cool contemporary song suggesting that there is really no alternative to taking care of the planet that sustains us.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

If green should turn to grey,
Would our hearts still bloody beat?
If the mountains crumble away
And the river dry,
Would it stop the stepping feet?

→ See full lyrics on Metro Lyrics

From the album:
Remember Two Things

→ Hear clip of this song or buy the MP3, or check out the CD on Amazon.com

An unabashed tirade on the environmental insanity that seems to be an inexplicable part of how the world is being run. And the best cut on the album!

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

The woman screams at the windy day;
Her children play in the acid rain.
The water is green and the sky is brown;
the cars and buildings, all broken down.

→ See full "Only A Dream" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Inner Revolution

→ Read GP's Inner Revolution album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Breathe deep—and do the things that make it worth breathing clean, fresh air!

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

O-X-Y-G-E-N —
Baby, I'm free!

From the album:
The Goose is Loose

→ Hear more clips, download MP3s, or check out this album in MP3 Format on Amazon

→ See Goose Creek Symphony CDs on Amazon

Richard Sinclaid, ex-front man for Caravan and Camel, pens a jewel here in this eco effort. It's an updated sound compared to his proggy 1970s work, but still excellent.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

I sit at traffic lights and turn my engine off;
Unleaded fuel,
Recycling should be the rule.
Help all those threatened, endangered creatures to survive;
Air, land and sea
Should remain poison-free.
Long may green reign.

→ See full "Plan It Earth" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Caravan of Dreams

→ Read GP's
Caravan of Dreams album review

→ Check out CD... on Amazon.com

These inspiring opening words to Spirit's classic "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus" set the tone for the remainder of what turns out to be a great concept album.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

You have the world at your fingertips;
No one can make it better than you.
You have the world at your fingertips,
But see what you've done
To the rain and the sun;
So many changes have all just begun
To reap...
I know you're asleep....
Wake Up!

From the album:
Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

→ Read GP's Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A direct commentary on how the policies of "modern agricultural" have led to the catastrophic downturn in family farming in the US.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

From the album:
Scarecrow

→ Read GP's Scarecrow album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Well there's ninety-seven crosses planted in the courthouse yard—
Ninety-seven families who lost ninety-seven farms.
I think about my grandpa and my neighbors and my name,
And some nights I feel like dyin', like that scarecrow in the rain.
Rain on the scarecrow, blood on the plow . . .

→ See full "Rain on the Scarecrow" lyrics on GP

A bit abstract compared to the typical environmental song due to its extended play time and broader themes, but nonetheless a very worthy eco effort.

→ MP3 clip from the album Live in Trenton 2002. Hear more clips, download MP3s, or check out MP3 CD ... on Amazon.com

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Man! You had it all your own way;
Now, salvaging blocks of decay.
Clean the scene;
Change machines!

→ See full lyrics on Lyric Wikia

Original album:
Recycled

MINI-REVIEW:  The song "Recycled" is originally from the 1976 studio album Recycled. It's rare that an entire album addresses an environmental theme, but here is one. Nektar's Recycled transcends mere notions of recycling to also explore man's relationship with nature and the cycles of existence. Musically and lyrically, it's a forgotten jewel of the 1970s progressive rock era.

→ See more Recycled reviews or check out the CD... on Amazon.com

This progressive blues-rock classic was a smash hit for the Yardbirds. Its green overtones are less well recognized.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Now the trees are almost green,
But will they still be seen
When time and tide have been?
Fall into your passing hands;
Please don't destroy these lands;
Don't make them desert sands.

→ See full lyrics on Metro Lyrics

From the album:
Ultimate!

→ Read GP's Ultimate! album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A surprising—and excellent—eco song from one of the best known psychedelic bands of the late 1960s.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Miles and miles of gasoline fumes
In the air like transparent tombs.
Feel secure? They're all around you . . .

From the album:
Metamorphosis

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Far from enabling the American Dream, the country's endless suburbs have bred remoteness and alienation. Such is the theme of "Subdivisions," a Rush classic.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order,
An insulated border
In between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown.

→ See full lyrics on A-Z Lyrics

From the album:
Signals

→ Read GP's Signals album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Lyrically: Social and environmental issues. Musically: A shimmering backdrop of progressive pop that features a pleasing mix of Eastern and Western instrumentation.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

From the album:
Supernova

→ Read GP's Supernova album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Population overload, treading in a fragile zone;
Ozone layer disappearing, predictions that the end is nearing ...
Rain forests are getting thin, roads and houses built within;
Scientists say take some action, politicians no reaction.
Bossa Supernova, bossa supernova, dancing on a shrinking planet ...

→ See full lyrics on Liquid Blue's web site

Step back in your mind with James Taylor as he reminisces about ranching and cowboys and how it used to be—before the day of the "modern cowboy" on his fume belching four-wheeler, sending dogies off to manure-strewn feed lots.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range.
His horse and his cattle are his only companions;
He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons,
Waiting for summer, his pastures to change . . .

→ See full "Sweet Baby James" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Sweet Baby James

→ Read GP's
Sweet Baby James album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A fun kids' song about recycling and reducing use of stuff in the first place.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Three it's a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number,
Because two times three is six,
And three times six is eighteen,
And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R.
We've got three R's we're going to talk about today:
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle . . .

From the album:
Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

The song starts out with pastoral images of everyday life, culminating in the terrifying end described in the lyrics below. A great anti-nuke song from the 1960s folk-rock era.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Now the sun has come to earth,
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death.
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash . . .
And the sun has come to earth.

→ See full lyrics on Sing365

From the album:
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

→ Hear clips, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Short but inventive, "The Trees" uses the metaphor of forest personalities to comment on the human tendency towards envy, greed, and violence.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas....

→ See more "The Trees" lyrics on GP

From the album:
Hemispheres

→ Read GP's Hemispheres album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Penned long before high gas prices had made long commutes a waste of money as well as time, James Taylor nails our angst over the "commuter trap."

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Well I left my job about 5 o'clock.
It took fifteen minutes go three blocks—
Just in time to stand in line,
With a freeway looking like a parking lot.
Damn! . . .
This traffic jam . . .

→ See full "Traffic Jam" lyrics on GP

From the album:
JT

→ Read GP's
JT album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

A very cool song about how we focus on being busy consumers at the expense of being good citizens and compassionate humans. Musically, somewhat reminiscent of the Smithereens and REM.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

We gotta clean up the air—
Pollution rampant everywhere...
Shootin' wolves from the air
Shows you couldn't really care...

From the album:
Taking Root

→ Hear clips and download MP3s on Amazon.com

What will Santa and the elves will do if the North Pole ice melts? Egad—that scenario can't be good! While Captain Sea Level's message is semi-serious, it's clothed in a jolly red musical suit, with the sound being somewhere between the Beach Boys and NRBQ, with a little Jimmy Buffett thrown in for good measure.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

When the north pole starts to melt,
What is gonna happen to his little elves?
Will they be too busy swimming to make the toys?
And what will Santa do
If the North Pole melts too fast?
Is this Christmas gonna be his last?
What will parents have to tell their girls and boys?

→ See full lyrics or download free MP3 at Captain Sea Level web page

A scathing commentary on the fantasy of modern dream living and the vacuous politicians who keep telling us that all is well. One of Tull's best efforts, both lyrically and musically.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

From the album:
Living in the Past

→ Read GP's Living in the Past album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

The excrement bubbles, the century's slime decays;
And the brainwashing government lackeys would have us say,
It's under control and we'll soon be on our way.
To a grand year for babies and quiz panel games
Of the hot hungry millions you'll be sure to remain.
The natural resources are dwindling and no one grows old,
And those with no homes to go to, please dig yourselves holes.

→ See full "Wond'ring Again" lyrics on GP

Was Fox Mulder right; are there aliens out there who want to take over the planet? Or does Peter Schilling's "Zone 804" have it right; that there are aliens out there who can help us fix the sad state of the planet? Time will tell.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Calling Earth and still no one has heard
The simple message of its words:
From the Zone 804
In peace, not war,
We come to restore
Your planet...

From the album:
The Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime)

→ Read GP's The Different Story (World Of Lust And Crime) album review

→ Hear clips, download MP3s, check out CD... on Amazon.com

Blending the vocalizations and stylings of artists like Mark Knopfler, John Hiatt, and Sting, this 9-song CD by J.P. Taylor offers up some very solid coffee-house rock. Fair-trade organic coffee-house rock, that is—all of the songs on the album have a distinctly earth-friendly slant, gently touching on issues such as conservation, clean air and water, global warming, and the need for all of us to start pulling together. J.P. Taylor isn't just "doing good" here—he's doing good music.

L Y R I C S   S N I P P E T

Temperature's rising
Soon we're gonna have a fever;
We can't keep doing
What we've been doing
So long (but)...
We can turn it around,
If we'll just come together....

→ See full lyrics for all songs on J.P. Taylor's site

MP3-ALBUM WIDGET

→ Or see CD page at Amazon.com