Individual Earth Songs

Do you know of other outstanding songs or albums that are not listed here but should be? If so, please send information or a demo to me for evaluation. Contact me.

Favorites – Albums with a  symbol indicates songs or albums that I think are exceptionally outstanding!

If you’d like to hear some of these Earth Songs, go to Audio Sources.

 

  • “Acony Bell” by Gillian Welch, on her album Revival (1996). A lovely song written by bluegrass artist Gillian Welch, about “Just a simple flower so small and plain.” Singing about “The fairest bloom the mountain know” the song tells the flower’s life story, and in so doing, gives a message of hope for everyone. Many “cover” versions available, several on YouTube. One of my favorites is performed by Robin Pliskin in the Sierra around a campfire! Another great version has the audio by Gillian Welch with a slide show of wildflowers in the Pacific Northwest. Note that the real Acony Bell (Shortia galacifolia) is a rare plant in the family Diapensiaceae found in the southern Appalachian Mountains, concentrated in the tri-state border region of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This video shows the actual species.
  • “Air Mail Pollution” by Dan Berggren, on his album Mountain Air.

Earth Songs
In This Section

  • “Amazon (Let This Be a Voice)” by John Denver on his Different Directions album, as well as the John Muir Tribute CD.
  • “Amazon” written by Bruce Watson, performed by Eric Bogle on Voices in the Wilderness, 1990.
    A lament about the burning of the Amazon, destroying rain forests to convert them to cattle ranches.
  • “Anthem for the Earth” by Robert Alder, on his album, Blue Ribbon Ready available on Amazon.com, iTunes, cdbaby.com, etc. A Singer-Songwriter calling us to love our home, and laying out some strategies to address environmental issues.
  • “Anthem for the Earth”- an ecological adaptation of the melody “O Canada” by Calixa Lavalee (YouTube). From the illustrated book Earth Anthems: A Songbook for Sharing Gratitude by Lucas Tensen and Friends, and its accompanying Earth Anthems Lyric Videos YouTube Playlist. Part of a series of “alternative ecological based lyrics in various national anthems that inspire young generations to be stewards and caretakers of the land we live on; lyrics that remind us of the inter-connected web of intricate beauty that unites all countries, people and cultures together.”
  • “Appleseed John” on the 1964 New Christy Minstrels’s album Land of Giants – A song about Johnny Appleseed.
  • A Celebration of the Land - American Wilderness Album Cover“Before I’m Gone” from  Wilderness  America:  A  Celebration  of  the  Land album. The penultimate song from the album is its crescendo: “Before I’m Gone” really powers the primary message of the album, calling on us all to “put an end to all we’re losing,” and to “give up being spoilers of the land.”  This is the best and most evocative song on this landmark album.  Lyrics  and Read  More…Listen to Before I’m Gone on YouTube
  • “Before the Earth Disappears” written and performed by Dennyvan.
    A call to save Mother Earth. Lyrics and MP3 download or streaming mp3 available from Dennyvan’s Ampcast.com site.
  • “Be The Rain” by Neil Young – plea to “Save the planet for another day…”
  • “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell  Big Yellow Taxi  Released as a single in April of 1970 (with “Woodstock” on the B-side) the same month as the first “Earth Day,” the song “Big Yellow Taxi” was inspired by Mitchell’s visit to Hawaii where she encountered a giant parking lot instead of the paradisical beauty she had  hoped to see. The song is considered “the first certifiably eco-friendly pop song” and is the song which launched Joni Mitchell’s career. It was included in her 1970 album Ladies of the Canyon. In 2007, she re-released a new version of the song on her album Shine, which replaces the initial playful warning with the resigned sound of factual truth.
    Also recorded by many others, including:
    • Máire Brennan on her 1994 album, Misty Eyed Adventures
    • Bob Dylan on his 1973 album Dylan, where instead of singing about the “big yellow taxi” that “took away my old man”, sings, “A big yellow bulldozer took away the house and land.” Similarly, in Mitchell’s live version of the song released on Miles of Aisles in 1974, she sings about “a big yellow tractor” that “pushed around my house, pushed around my land.”
    • Amy Grant on her 1994 album, House of Love Big Yellow Taxi
    • Sara Hamman on her album Breath By Breath Big Yellow Taxi
    • Sugar Beats on their album 21 Really Cool Songs – Fresh Versions of Classic Rock ‘n’ Roll for Kids Big Yellow Taxi
    • Ian & Helen C, on their album, Big Yellow Taxi (A New York Buskers Tale) Big Yellow Taxi (A New York Buskers Tale)
    • Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton. Big Yellow Taxi
    • Big Yellow Taxi on their album, A Tribute to Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi
  • “Blue Boat Home” by Peter Mayer. A vision of our life as passengers on the Earth. This song was born from the composer’s explorations on the guitar with “Hyfrodol,” one of his favorite melodies that he grew up singing in church. Being primarily a contemporary folk artist, Mayer took some rhythmic liberties with the melody, and then added his own text that refers to our life on this earth as a grand seafaring journey.  It is available in sheet music, and on the Peter Mayer album entitled Earth Town Square. A superb vocal version by Priscilla Herdman can be found on her album Into the Stars.
  • “Call Me the Whale” by Paul Kaplan, performed by Bill Oliver on Have to Have a Habitat
  • “Calypso” by John Denver from the album Windsong – about Jacques Costeau’s ship. You can hear John Denver sound clips on Amazon.com.
  • “Cement Octopus” by Malvina Reynolds, performed by Pete Seeger on the ground-breaking album of Earth Songs, God Bless the Grass.
  • “Chief Seattle” Audio previews: (Real Audio) (MP3) by Meridian Green on her Live from Caspar album. Full Mp3 download available for purchase at eFolkMusic.com.
  • “Children of the Universe” by John Denver on his Seasons of the Heart album.
  • “Children of the World” (traditional tune, “Good King Wenceslas”), lyrics byAnn Palmer, sung by Earth Mama® – encourages us to “keep the planet healthy” and to follow “others of reknown” to “re-create our own home ground as an early heaven,” – including “Carson, Lovelock, John Muir too, many more agreeing, they speak up for what to do.” Available on YouTube and online music streaming services.
  • “Chinook Blues” by Alice De Micele on her album, Demons and Angels. Tells the first-person story of the hazards faced by a migrating Chinook Salmon.
  • Come Back Home by Jonathan Sprout and Dave Kinnoin.  This song is voiced in the first person as if John Muir himself were singing about the mountains, his dreams of exploring, climbing, and protecting them. The songwriter says: “It was Muir’s quotation ‘The mountains are calling me ‘come back home’ that inspired me to write the song from his perspective. I used my recollections of my visits to his sacred sites as well as his books and his magazine articles as jumping off points for the lyrics. Dave Kinnoin and I spent dozens of hours editing and re-writing the lyric until I thought it captured the essence of Mr. Muir’s simple passions.” The lyrics are fully evocative of the wilderness John Muir loved so well. Through this song, we learn how Muir yearned to: “catch a glimpse of a mountaintop / Awash with alpenglow, / Let me live out a dream on Yosemite Stream / Where my wilderness joys abound, / To discover the truth of eternal youth / Upon that sacred ground.” Most of the song celebrates the beauty of the wilderness, but part way through, poignantly asks, “Now who will preserve it all for us / So we can come back home?”
  • “Come Blow Your Horn” by Tom Chapin on his album This Pretty Planet – A great song about every species’ inherent worth.
  • “Coming of the Roads” by Billy Edd Wheeler, from the album Flowers and Stones; also performed by Peter, Paul and Mary on their album Songs of Conscience and Concern.
  • “Cry of the Wild” by Gary Bowman – from the album Gary Bowman’s Song of the Animals, Download Lyrics & MP3 soundclips from the artist’s website (off-site link)
  • “Cows with Guns” by Dana Lyons. This song hilariously imagines what it might be like if our livestock decided to fight back and had automatic weapons to do it! The lyrics can be read online, but trust me, it’s more fun just to buy the album and listen, or hear the soundclips! The rest of the website is fun to explore too!
  • “Coho” by ZunZun from their album Flabbergasted– humrous and thoughtful, tracing the life of the coho salmon on the epic journey to the sea. Also available as a musical play.
  • “Cuyahoga” by R.E.M. on their 1986 album Lifes Richest Pageant bemoans the famous time the river actually caught on fire as it was so polluted.
  • “Defend the Earth” by Alice De Micele on her album, Searching.
  • “Don’t Cut Me Down” by Olivia Newton-John, on her album Gaia – A tribute and plea for the old-growth forests. Eloquent lyrics and beautiful singing.
  • Earth Anthem Poster by Stephen Longfellow Fiske“Earth Anthem” by Stephen Longfellow Fiske This song is available on the album, Stephen Longfellow Fiske from Amazon.com. You can enjoy a music video of Fiske’s “Earth Anthem” on YouTube.
  • “Earth Anthem” music and lyrics by Bill Martin, performed by The Turtles on their album The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands (1968). See the very nice “Earth Anthem” Performed by The Turtles Slide show on YouTube. Very simple lyrics: And this is but an island in an ocean. / This is our home, third from the sun./ Let it be evergreen. / Let it be evergreen. And this is but an island in an ocean./ This is our home, third from the sun. / God, keep it evergreen. / To keep it evergreen I would lay my life down.  “Earth Anthem” was also performed by Dan Fogelberg, in his 2011 album Full Circle. See lyrics and slide show on YouTube.
  • “Earth Day Anthem” by Global Garden Foundation – (YouTube) – Featuring the refrain, “Think globally act locally.”
  •  “Earth Pledge” by Earth Mama (Joyce Rouse)
    A “bonus track” offered on her album, Grass Roots!, now available from the iTunes Music Store: Earth Pledge -bonus Track
  • “Earth Day Every Day” by John Denver .
    You can hear John Denver sound clips on Amazon.com.
  • Earth’s Our Only Home by Elliott Madriss, on his album Cherish the Earth. Saving the planet is so simple even a child should understand it, but this is not “children’s music” but a thoughtful presentation of the hard facts of the need to preserve our only home!
  • “Earth Patriot” by Howard Shapiro
  • Earth Day Song by David F. Saphra
  • “Earth Song” by Alchemy VII. This great song is a hard-driving song in four parts. Available for streaming on www.mp3.com, and on their 2002 album The Magick and their 2002 album White Raven Absolutely inspirational and unique. You might call this “New Age Hard Rock” – lead singer’s Gina’s beautiful voice is evocative of Lisa Thiel’s bell-like tones, but totally unlike soft “new age” music, this is accompanied by drums, bongo, voice harmony, and hard-driving electric guitar. “Do you hear the earth song?… connect with her energy, go with her flow…”
  • “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson. Perhaps more of a Peace Song than an Earth Song, the lyrics of this song also bemoans the loss of elephants, whales, and forest trails. I think better than the original is a version by Nemo Shaw available on YouTube which uplifts & transports the listener to higher realms. Beautiful sounding and with a nice video accompaniment, the song features entrancing angelic voices, as well as vocals & piano performed by Nemo Shaw.
  • “Ecology Song”, written and recorded by Stephen Sills on his Stephen Sills 2 album.
    “Mother nature made it green/Prettiest place you’ve ever seen/ People don’t know what they need”
  • “Evergreen, Everblue” by Raffi (1990, Homeland Publihing (CAPAC)) on his album, Evergreen, Everblue.
  • “Expanding Universe” by Eric Idle, performed by Dana Lyons and John Seed on their album, At Night They Howl at the Moon: Environmental Songs for Kids. Educational song about the revolving earth, sun, and galaxy, with a final reminder to “Sink your roots deep into reality, Dance your life for Planet Earth.”
  • “Fall on Me” by R.E.M. on their 1986 album Lifes Richest Pageant bemoans the phenomena of acid rain.
  • “The Flower That Shattered the Stone” by Joe Henry & John Jarvis. This great song has been recorded by John Denver, Olivia Newton-John and other artists.
  • “Fly Away” by John Denver. You can hear John Denver sound clips on Amazon.com.
  • “Forever Wild” by Walkin’ Jim Stoltz on his album Forever Wild (1987, Lone Coyote Records)
  • “For the Beauty of the Earth” by Folliott S. Pierpont, 1864, (music by Conrad Kocher)
  • “Foxfire Suite” by John Denver on Different Directions album.
  • “Fragile Day” by Wilderland (Kat Sanchez and Scott Blum). Motivated as a positive response to the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill disaster, all proceeds from the sale of this song benefits 3 charities that are helping with the habitat affected by the spill. The song mourns the devastation with the lyrics, “In the sea water below / Fish are dimming while they’re swimming / Blackened ocean of foam…” and goes on to speak about healing. There are 2 versions of the song, an electronic version and a folk version.
    Earth Pledge -bonus Track Available on iTunes   Watch the Fragile Day video on YouTube.
  • “Freedom Reigns” by Aro Veno – available on The Burn Sisters, Close to Home album.
  • “Friend to the Earth” by Chris Ellis – from Permaculture Musicians.
  • “From Way Up Here” by Malvina Reynolds, performed by Pete Seeger on the album God Bless the Grass. 
  • “Gaia” by Olivia Newton-John, on her album Gaia – Beginning with the sounds of the forest birds and rain, the voice of Gaia swells to not a plea but a command from the Earth Goddess: “Respect Me, Respect Me, I need you to protect me, For it is you not me, Whose fate is in jeopardy!” A powerful new song you MUST experience!
  • “Gaia’ By Joyce Poley, on her album Let Your Heart Sing, music and lyrics in the song book, Let Your Heart Sing! A Compansion songbook for the Let Your Heart Sing! CD. “Marble ball turnin’ turnin’ ’round in the sky… Well it surely is our only home… All living creatures share but one destiny… if we learn the dance, we can live in harmony, for it surely is our only home.” Listeners will enjoy joining in in the chorus of this song.
  • “Garden Song” written by David Mallett (1975, Cherry Lane Music) recorded on David Mallett’s Inches and Miles album, and by many other musicians, including John Denver, Peter Paul and Mary, Maria Muldaur, Nu Myth, and many others
    • “God Bless the Grass” by Malvina Reynolds, performed by Pete Seeger on his classic 1966 album God Bless the Grass:
      God bless the truth that fights toward the sun,
      They roll the lies over it and think that it is done
      It moves through the ground and reaches for the air,
      And after a while it is growing everywhere,
      And God bless the grass.
  • “The Gifts of Earth” words and music by Frances LeBeau – the Official State Environmental Song for Louisiana, adopted in 1990 – Louisiana Revised Statutes, Title 49, Section 155.2 (which contains the lyrics).
  • “Go Around,” Single performed by Lisa Carver, written by two Texas State Poet Laureates, Karla K. Morton and Alan Birkelbach. The song was released April 21, 2019, in honor of National Parks Week and Earth Day. According to National Parks Traveler (April 23, 2019), “The song’s lyrics were written by Morton and Birkelbach during their quest to visit all 61 U.S. national parks. (The poetry duo has visited 44 national parks so far, with an itinerary to visit the remaining parks during 2019) The music and vocals are by singer-songwriter Lisa Carver, an accomplished performer and recording artist currently living in the high desert of New Mexico. A lifetime of experience and the rugged, natural beauty that currently surrounds her have shaped her music and her distinctive, smoky voice.” Morton and Birkelbach say, “We believe the national parks are America’s greatest treasures and must be protected and preserved.” The song is available on on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal, Deezer and more. You also can buy a digital copy at https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/lisacarver1
  • “The Great Green Earth,” – written by Fred Small to mark the 25th anniversary of Earth Day.
  • “Green City” by Stephen Longfellow Fiske on his Visions and Stephen Longfellow Fiske albums. This song is available on the album, Stephen Longfellow Fiske” by Stephen Longfellow Fiske at Amazon.com.
  • “Greenland’s Melting to the Sea” by Tom Nielsen – satirical folk song about climate change and pollution.
  • “A Happy Song About Global Warming by Jill Sobule (YouTube link) – This is a funny satirical song about global warming where everyone is sun-bathing in Central Park Manhattan in January. Part of the TED series, from 2006.
  • “Have to Have a Habitat” (Preview or buy on Bandcamp) by Bill Oliver  (1982)  This is an environmental classic. Buy the original!
  • “I Am a Dolphin” by Jay Mankita (1991, Low Budget Butterfly Productions)
  • “I am the River” by Dan Tyler on his album I Hope” – A Nashville-style song celebrating a river’s wandering and urging its waters be kept clean. “If a river lives, it can die.” The song has been chosen as the theme song for Tennessee WaterWorks!, Center for Environmental Education, a statewide organization to promote clean rivers and streams.
  • “If I Had Wings” by Golden Bough on their Album, Contemporary Songs – the Night Wind. “Sing for the love of life and all it’s giving….” Traditional melody with lyrics by Paul Espinoza.
  • “In a World” by Alice De Micele on her album, Searching.
  • “Islands” by John Denver on his Seasons of the Heart album.
  • “John of the Mountains” by Mathew Werner, performed by Mariposa.
  • “Just A Little Rain” (also known as “What Have They Done to the Rain?” by Malvina Reynolds, performed by Joan Baez, The Searchers, and others. (1962, renewed 1990, Schroeder Music)
  • “Katie’s River” by Jennifer Berezan, on her album Borderlines (1992, Flying Fish Records)
  • “The Keeper” by Barleycorn, on their album, Green and Gold: Free in MP3 format from emusic.com A favorite
  • “Keepers of the Earth” – Multiple songs with same title:
    • “Keepers of the Earth,” Words and Music by Joyce Poley (Watch YouTube Music video with artwork and lyrics). Joyce Poley is a singer/songwriter who has specialized in the leading of congregational singing for the past 20 years. Her compositions have been described as “accessible” and “spiritually rich” and are widely used in UU churches, as well as in schools and a variety of community groups. Joyce believes that congregational singing has the power to lift the spirit and heal the soul.  “Keepers of the Earth” received Honorable Mention in the 2014 Silliman Hymn Contest, and went on to win the People’s Choice Award at the Unitarian Universalists Musicians Network conference in San Diego.
    • “Keepers of the Earth,” Composed and written by Olajumoke Adamolekun.  In this YouTube Music video, the lyrics discuss guarding the  forests and saving our planet, while the music  is a rich blend of African percussions, guitars and youthful voices, with beautiful visuals of the singers, wildlife, land and seas of Africa. The performance is brilliantly delivered by young musicians of Centuple Resource Centre, Lagos, Nigeria.
    • “Keepers of the Earth,” by Red Feather Woman.  In this beautiful YouTube Music video, a Native American perspective is illustrated. 
    • “Keepers of the Earth” by Chuck Pyle. (1993) from his album Endless Sky. Listen on YouTubeor on Apple Music. A lovely song you can sing along too, as the background voices do in this recording. Read the lyrics here.
    • “Keepers of the Earth” by Joe Trevasani. “The web of life encircles us/from mountain to the sea/ We were put here for a purpose/ To be brothers you and me.” ” Listen on Apple Music. 
    • “Keepers of the Earth” by Okefenokee Joe.   Listen on YouTube.
  • “The Last Leviathan” words and music by Andy Barnes, Publisher: Friendly Overtures Ltd. © 1986 Friendly Overtures. – A haunting lament by the last of the great whales. Performed by Golden Bough on their album, Celtic Music from Ireland, Scotland and Brittany, CD II (1998), and also performed under the title “The Last of the Great Whales” by many other groups (some 75 in all!) including the Dubliners, Steven Quigg and a wonderful version by Solas on their album The Hour Before Dawn ( Free MP3 from emusic.com.
    Lyrics are also available – Offsite-link]
  • “Lean Back Into the Tree” by MaMuse
  • “Leave Them a Flower” written by Wally Whyton and performed by Ed Ames, as a single and on his album Love of the Common People (1969) – re-released on The Very Vest of Ed Ames (2001)  A dramatic plea to stop pollution and habitat destruction, asking us to leave Nature’s beauty to the next generation. Listen on YouTube.
  • “Let’s Save the Animals” by Paul Falgares and Liza DiSavino (1993)
  • “Listen to the Earth,” by composer James Grant. This environmental-themed cantata features texts by astronauts and luminaries such as Carl Sagan, John Muir and Robert W. Service. (World premiere in Saraota, Florida, in 2020 by Choral Artists of Sarasota, Dr. Joseph Holt, Artistic Director)
  • “The Lorax (In Laytonville)” by Meridian Green on her album In the Heart of This Town (From StringBender Records) – This cajun-y tune is based on a true story about a small logging town’s effort to ban the acclaimed Dr. Suess book about a little being who tries to “speak for the trees.: Listen to Streaming Audio version of this song in Real Audio format
  • “Love Is the Master” by John Denver on his One World album and reprlayed on other collections such as Portrait and The Country Roads Collection. A beautiful song about “”he wilderness…” where “your life is everything you want it to be.”
  • “Love Song to the Earth,” written by: Sean Paul, Toby Gad, Natasha Bedingfield & John Shanks. In this YouTube Official Music Video, performers include“ Sean Paul, Sir Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Colbie Caillat, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, Johnny Rzeznik, Krewella, Angelique Kidjo, Kelsea Ballerini, Nicole Scherzinger, Christina Grimmie, Victoria Justice & Q’Orianka Kilcher.  This video shows, beautiful scenes of Nature and the performers in outdoor settings. Every time the song is purchased, streamed, or shared, the royalties go directly towards the efforts of Friends of the Earth to keep fossil fuels in the ground and lower carbon emissions, and to the work of the U.N. Foundation to inspire international action on climate change. Official Website. 
  • “Lullaby for the Earth – written by Frances Aubrey and performed by Betsy Rose. This version of the classic lullaby “Hush Little Baby” is designed to motivate people to vote for candidates who will promote Earth-friendly policies and legislation. Its goal is to help people connect the health of the Earth with their children’s future. Betsy Rose has written and recorded many songs about the Earth.
  • “The Matriot Anthem” by Chris Highland – an International anthem for living in harmony with the Earth and all its people, sung to the melody of “America the Beautiful.”
  • “Medicine People” by Bear Dyken – on Clan Dyken’s album, Family Values (1989, Dyken Music, BMI, Forward Productions) Visit Clan Dyken website.
  • Me and Stickeen by Bill Oliver – A beautiful song taking the voice of John Muir telling the story of his adventure on an Alaska glacier with a little dog who insisted on tagging along with the rugged mountaineer.
  • “Mercy Mercy Me – The Ecology” by Marvin Gaye, on his 1971 album, What’s Going On. This song laments, “Oh mercy mercy me/Oh, things ain’t what they used to be no, no/Where did all the blue sky go?/Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east.”
  • “Mighty Big Ways” by Rodgers (BMI) performed by The New Christy Minstrels on their album The Definitive New Christy Minstrels (Disc 2). Praise to “a land of plenty, a land of beauty, a land that we can all share,” acknowldging “that the “Good Earth brings and lays at our feet each day” all these things attributing it to “His mighty big ways.” (If I could, I’d change the lyrics to “She has mighty big ways,” because I think they are really singing about Mother Nature.)
  • “Morning Has Broken” by Eleanor Farjeon using traditional Gaelic melody (1957, Harold Other Assoc.Inc.), performed by Cat Stevens on Teaser and the Firecat.
  • “Mother Earth” by Betsy Rose on her album Sacred Ground. A catchy melody, Betsy has a beautiful voice, with a bit of background chorus & group clapping; great for singing along. “It’s time for us to mother our Mother Earth.”
  • “Mother Nature” by Ron Kalmakoff – “She is here to protect us and our children, but how will we protect her? The balance is now fragile and uneasy.”  Music Video on Youtube.
  • “The Mountain Song” – by John Denver – “I saw the quiet splendour/Of a field of columbine … I’ve walked her wild and rugged paths/Through her open wilderness/And now I can never betray her/ Steal her riches and be gone/Cause when you love a mountain lady/You’re gonna sing a mountain song….“
  • “Muir Power to You” by Bill Oliver – Free MP3 or buy on John Muir Tribute CD or his albums Better Things to Do
  • My City Was Gone by The Pretenders
  • “My Dirty Stream (The Hudson River Song)” by Pete Seeger – on the influential album God Bless the Grass
  • “My Land is a Good Land” by Eric Anderson, performed by Pete Seeger on the album God Bless the Grass, which has just been re-released on CD!
  • “My Rainbow Race” by Pete Seeger (1970, Sanga Music). With the refrain, “One blue sky above us, One ocean, lapping all our shores, One earth so green and round, Who could ask for more?” this song confirms the reality that we all share this planet. This wonderful song acknowledges that “Some want to take the easy way: / Poisons, bombs! They think we need ’em.” but then confirms the essential truth that that theocrats of all stripes deny: “Don’t they know you can’t kill all the unbelievers. / There’s no shortcut to freedom.” The remaining lyrics provide inspiration that shows there really is a way to have peace on earth – it is actually simple: “learn to share / What’s been given to me and you.”
    Unfortunately a performance version of this song seems currently out of print, except for Donovan’s rendition on the tribute album Where Have All The Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger. However, you will find the lyrics and the catchy melody in Rise Up Singing: The Group Singing Songbook, available from Sing Out.
  • “The Natural Order of Things” by Alchemy VII. Available for streaming on www.mp3.com, and on their self-titled album Alchemy VII. A hard-drivin’ and fun “blues” song sung by “Ma Ma Earth” herself. It is about the current state of the earth from her perspective.
  • “Need More” by Alchemy VII. Available for streaming on www.mp3.com, and on their self-titled album Alchemy VII. This is a heavy medium tempo metal rock song about the destructive, throw away attitude of always needing more, which has lead to so much of the devastation of our planet.
  • “New Hampshire Naturally” by Shaw Brothers (Official State Song) on their Album Flight Without Wings
  • “O Earth Beautiful” by Stephen Longfellow Fiske on his Visions and Stephen Longfellow Fiske albums. This song is available on the album, Stephen Longfellow Fiske” – Stephen Longfellow Fiske at Amazon.com.
  • “Ohia” by Golden Bough. A song about Hawaii’s state tree, the Ohia, which is threatened due to invasive non-native species and a strain of fungus that has attacked the ʻōhiʻa forests of the Big Island, causing rapid ʻōhiʻa death.  Many native Hawaiian traditions refer to the tree and the forests it forms as sacred to Pele, the volcano goddess, and to Laka, the goddess of hula. Concerns over the loss of cultural heritage as well as biodiversity are reflected in the lyrics to the song:

    Ancestral spirits will wander the forest trails,
    Will you protect the canopy?
    Or will you weep as the ancients become ghosts,
    Wandering the Maka land?

    Will the Ohia vanish before their time?
    Can their spirit live on?
    Will the Ohia vanish before their time?
    Is there nothing that can be done?

  • “Old Man River” – with new lyrics about chemical plants on the Mississippi and their toxic wastes, performed by The Limeliters, in their album, Global Carnival (1992, West Knoll Records) (out of print).
  • “Once there Was” by Dotie Gittelson – A lament, written in 1970, how “Once there was land as nature had planned” but now “The land that we knew is no more.”
  • “One Family, One Home” by Betsy Rose on her album Sacred Ground. A powerful protest song against cutting a tree down.
  • “One with the Land” by Dick McCormack
  • Our Blue Planet by Kerry Richardson – A lively celebration of life, sung by Richardson’s elementary school students.
  • “Over in the Endangered Meadow” by Sally Rogers (1989, Round River Records), on her album Piggyback Planet: Songs for a Whole Earth”
  • “Paiutes Mourn and Pinyon Pines” by Cary Griffith (May, 2011, MySpace) – A mournful country-western style tune lamenting not only the loss of Hetch Hetchy Valley, and its magnificent Black Oaks, but the Pinyon Pines planted there by Paiute tribes long ago.
  • “Paradise” by John Prine
  • “The Picnic of the World” by Tom Chapin, on his album Mother Earth. Lyrics by John Forster, Music by Jacques Offenbach. Take a powerhouse classical melody, add dozens of nation’s names, and what have you got? What else? – the picnic of the world “all sitting on the same big blanket, with the same big basket, full of problems and annoyances, but all knowing at the deep down heart of it, we’re all a part of it, the picnic of the world?
  • “The People Are Scratching” – word by Ernie Marrs and Harold Martin, music by Pete Seeger. A classic tale of ecological relationships and the cascade effect by unwarranted poisoning. Available on Seeger’s signature album, God Bless the Grass
  • “A Place in the Choir” – written by Bill Staines, from Staine’s albums Redbird’s Wing (Philo PH-1118), 1988 and The First Million Miles,1989, Rounder Records One Camp St., Cambridge, MA 02140, and Bridges, Red House Records, P.O. Box 4044, St. Paul, MN 55104. This last album includes a hilarious narrative “The Porcupine Talks to Itself” which explains that portion of the lyric in “A Place in the Choir.” My favorite version is performed by the Limeliters on their album, A Mighty Day! , 1996. West Knoll Records
  • “Plant Me a Tree” by Joe Wise, on his album Music for Kids: Best of Joe Wise, Vol. 2. This album also has a version of Bill Staine’s song Place in the Choir.
  • “Pointing at the Sun” by Cheryl Wheeler. 
  • Pointing at the Sun by Cheryle Wheeler Album CoverCheryl Wheeler’s song, “Pointing at the Sun,” from her 2009 album of the same name, offers a point-counter-point to contradictory visions practiced by humans about the mysteries of the universe. She accepts the Great Mystery for just what it is while at the same time singing that perhaps the plants and ants and elephants have a better idea about it all than we do. She begins by talking and appreciating the starry firmament: “So beautiful the mystery, we gaze aloft in wonder / At all the pieces we can see, at all the stars we’re under.” In subsequent lyrics, she clarifies that she cannot hope to fully understand these mysteries, but that is perfectly fine: “I don’t expect to understand, the question’s so beyond us / The mystery is majesty, humbling and wondrous.” Yet, in their hubris, by contrast, Wheeler says most of the world’s religions offer simplistic answers: “And here on earth we praise what God has done / Every church proclaims the only one.” By contrast, Wheeler willingly accepts that she doesn’t have a whisper of a clue of the great universal “Who and what and why and where and how and when.” She compares the misguided Believer of Absolute Certainty to fishes, rhetorically asking, “Do fishes ever look beyond the tank they’re in / And somehow contemplate creation too?” We are all in our own fish tank, with little hope of really understanding all the mysteries of the firmament. But while for humans, “every church proclaims the only one,” other species on Earth have found a better solution to how to live: “Ants and elephants have lives to run / And all the plants are pointing at the sun.” In her beautiful song, Wheeler suggests we could all do well to emulate the ants, the elephants, and the plants, by embracing our lives in simple ways under the warmth of the sun and the starry skies. – Excerpted from Pantheist Vision, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter 2023/2024.
  • “Pollution” by Tom Lehrer, available on That Was the Year that Was, (1965, Reprise Records) You can view a video of Lehrer performing “Pollution” on YouTube, which is now available on DVD. Years ago there was a superb professional video of this song synchronized with scenes of American pollution, but I haven’t been able to find it since. But lots of folks have created home-made versions on YouTube of this hilarious song.
  • “Power” by John and Johanna Hall, from their album Such is Love; also performed by Peter, Paul and Mary on their album Songs of Conscience & Concern.
    “Give me the spirit of living things… but take your atomic poison power away!”
  • “Prayer 2000”, performed by Priscilla Herdman on her album The Road Home – words & music Eliza Gilkyson & Mark Andes. Excerpt:

    Thank you for the sun
    Thank you for the full moon
    Thank you for my true love’s face
    And our lives in love consumed

    Thank you for the stars
    A home along the river
    Thank you for the ancient groves
    And the fishes brown and silver

    Ponies running wild
    Grass enough for grazing
    Water flowing clean and pure
    All the beauty that saves me

  • “Rage of the Butterfly” by Celtic Rock band Emerald Rose on their album Sunwise. A poetic song warning about global warming and climate change deniers: “And they’ll say that it’s not a problem / Or they’ll say that we’re not to blame / As they dig up another thousand tons / And put it to the flame / But the wind and the wave are rising / In the warming carbon sky.” Lyrcs with chords (PDF from Emerald Rose website)
  • “The Rainbow Road Song” by Rosie Emery
  • “The Rape of the World (Mother)” by Tracy Chapman, on her New Beginning album (1995).
  • Requiem for the Giant Trees Requiem for the Giant Trees by Anne Hills, Cindy Mangsen and Priscilla Herdman on their album Voices. Download from iTunes Music Store for 99 cents!
  • “The Rivers” by Cheryl Wheeler on her album Mrs. Pinocci’s Guitar.
    Cheryl laments, “Laden with garbage from decades ago/The Rivers can poison us.”
  • “Rockin in a Weary Land” by Lorraine Lee. Performed by Priscilla Herdman on her album Darkness Into Light Rockin' in a Weary Land 
  • “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver and Mike Taylor.
  • Rocky Mountain Daydream  –  © Tom Shindler 1974. Wonderful song yearning to live in the mountains among the trees – ” I want to live my life with nature / I want to make this earth my home.” Lyrics – YouTube Video  – Audio – Tom Shindler Website: TomsSongsLive.com
  • “Rocky Mountain Song” by W. Bay
  • “Run See the Sun” by Steve Schuch and Carol Fletcher
  • “Saltwater” by Julian Lennon. – Among others, recorded on Judith Durham’s Always There
    album. “We are a rock revolving around a golden sun, we are a billion children rolled into one; so when I hear about the hole in the sky, saltwater wells in my eyes…”
  • “Save Paradise” by Lenore Troia on her album Jetset to Sunset, with a more low-key remix on her album Symptoms of Love. Watch video slideshow with this song on You Tube. Great song about protecting this land and coastal wetlands and their wildlife and beauty, with emphasis on the Atlantic to the Carribean seas, the Gulf Coast, the Florida Keys, and the ocean. Also available on iTunes, etc.
  • Save the Blue Sky, Vocals and Lyrics by Jennifer Cook and Original Music by Don Ferrone – a climate change reggae song. Available on YouTube.
  • Save The World by George Harrison – “We’ve got to save the world | Someone else may want to use it | So far we’ve seen | This planet’s rape, how we’ve abused it | We’ve got to save the world.”
  • “Seminole Wind” written and recorded by American country music artist John Anderson on his album of the same name. The song laments the destruction of the environment like the draining of the Everglades and the loss of the Seminole homeland. This song has also been covered by numerous other artists, such as James Taylor, Lenore Troia (on her album Wild Island Night), Shea, Donna the Buffalo, Sally Winnm and others. Listen Lenore Troia’s exellent performance of “Seminole Wind” on YouTube or buy from Google Play, iTunes, or Amazon MP3.
  • “She’s Our Mother” by Garnett Hundley and Beverly Daugherty, on their album “Live Flat Out.” Nice song about how our Earth takes care of us.  Listen to “She’s Our Mother” on YouTube.
  • “So Long Garden Dream” by Michael Tomlinson, on his album Still Believe. “It’s over now unless we open our eyes.”
  • “Song of the Earth” by Tom Chapin, from his albums Around the World and Back Again (2010), and a live version on his album At the Turning Point (2018).  Lyrics | YouTube | “There is a song, a song without a word … Treat the earth well, treat the earth well./ It was not given to you by your parents / Treat the earth well / It was loaned to you by your children.” 
  • “Song of the Free” – An ecological adaptation of “The Star Spangled Banner” by John Stafford Smith (YouTube). From the illustrated book Earth Anthems: A Songbook for Sharing Gratitude by Lucas Tensen and Friends, and its accompanying Earth Anthems Lyric Videos YouTube Playlist.  “Song of the Free’ honors our animal friends, family bonds, diversity and our connection with the Earth. This lyric video offers playful lyrics that bring attention to oceans, coastal shores and wilderness.
  • “Song for the Nation” by Fathead on his album Blues Weather proves that not all Earth Songs are in the folk or singer-songwriter genre – this thoroughoing “blues” song asks us the “clean it up.””Sierra” by Kyle Vincent on his 2003 album, Solitary Road. A favorite
    Where have you gone John Muir?, Mother Nature cries her weary eyes to you. The acoustic guitar driven “Sierra,” was inspired by the works of John Denver and John Muir. It is Vincent’s plea to promote peace and caring for our planet. Also available:
  • “Somebody’s Habitat” by Joyce Rouse (Earth Mama) on her album Under the Rainbow. Upbeat melody tells the story of what happens when we cut too many trees, and poses the solution to love our babies by loving some other babies’ habitat. Favorite!
  • “Song of the Wilderness” [mp3 sample] by Dan Berggren, on his album One With the Water.
  • “Song for Rachel” by Walkin’ Jim Stoltz, on his Little Piece of Time (2004) album. – In addition To Rachel Carson, at the end of this song, Walkin’ Jim adds the names of “others of my tribe:” John Muir, Leopold, William O. Douglas, Brower, Cousteau, Ed Abbey, Bob Marshall, Thoreau , Mardy Murie, Jane Goodall, Sigurd Olsen, “and all my earth heroes.”
    (also available on the M.U.S.E. Songs for the Earth: A Tribute to Rachel Carson CD)
    “And I’m singing this song for Rachel
    And for the Elders of my tribe
    And I’m singin’ it for the children
    And this ol’ Earth on which we ride.
    There will be no silent spring, and there will come a better day.
    If we keep singin’ this song for Rachel,
    and remember what she had to say.    “- from “A Song for Rachel” by Walkin’ Jim Stoltz
  • “Swimming to the Other Side” by Pat Humphries. A favorite
  • “They Damned Okeechobee” by Ken Skeens, from his 2003 album Florida Spirit. Laments the destruction of the beauty of Lake Okeechobbee in Florida.
  • “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie A favorite Sally Rogers has added some great environmental lyrics to this song on her album Piggyback Planet: Songs for a Whole Earth”
  • “Tree Hugger” (YouTube) by Jim Bush, performed by Bill Oliver and the Otter Space Band
  • “Tree Song: for the Sisters of the Siskiyou” by Patrick Dodd, a tribute to the (mostly) elderly women who were jailed for blockading a logging truck to defend old growth forests in southern Oregon against the Forest Service’s so-called “Biscuit fire recovery project” (read: “timber sale”). Don’t miss the Quicktime® video of Dodd singing this with the Sisters at their second blockade! For more information, see the Siskiyou Project.
  • “Saltwater” by Julian Lennon. – Among others, recorded on Judith Durham’s Always There album. “We are a rock revolving around a golden sun, we are a billion children rolled into one; so when I hear about the hole in the sky, saltwater wells in my eyes…”
  • “Silent Ruin” by Olivia Newton-John on her album Gaia – A song written for a documentary, “The Last Whale”, Olivia changed the word “whale” to “wild” for the album because she recognizes all the planet;s creatures face the same plight.
  • “The Eagle and the Hawk” by John Denver and Mike Taylor.
  • “The Song of the World’s Last Whale” by Pete Seeger – Imagine hearing the last humpback whale sing from a sailboat. This song includes a messge of hope: “If we can save our singers in the sea, Perhaps there’s a chance To save you and me.” It is available on Pete Seeger’s 2008 album, At 89.
  • “Tapestry” by Don McLean – “Every thread of creation is held in position … By still other strands of things living…”
  • “Take Me Home” by Amy Fradon & Leslie Ritter on their album Take Me Home (1994) Shenachie/Cachet Records). – A beautiful song about the beauty of nature.
  • “Throwing Stones” by John Perry Barlow performed by The Grateful Dead
  • Think Like a River” by Barry Hertz, bhertz@direct.ca on his album Sure Cure A favorite
  • “To All My Relations” by Bear Dyken – on Clan Dyken’s album, Family Values (1989, Dyken Music, BMI, Forward Productions)
  • “To the Wild Country” by John Denver. You can hear John Denver sound clips or buy the album from Amazon.com. A favorite
  • “The Tree” by Dana Lyons from his album At Night They Howl at the Moon: Environmental Songs for Kids. A moving song from the “first-person” point of view of a 800 year old growth tree, nurturing life for hundreds of years only to be threatened by a bulldozer.
  • “Turn This Thing Around” by Johnny Abbott, 1994 (BMI). Listen to “Turn This Thing Around” on You Tube. Johnny Abbott’s authentic Tennessee twang puts an authentic “Americana” feel to this original Country song about the environment. Abbott laments, “Trees and rivers are going down… I can’t see the sunshine for the gray skies ap above, there’s smoke and smog from the factories, does no one really care?” His plea is the question: “Tel me how do we turn this thing around?”
  • “Use It Up” by The Limeliters on their album, Global Carnival (1992. West Knoll Records), and Until We Get it Right (forthcoming) – A satire – “Plenty more where that came from…”
  • “Voice Calling in the Wilderness” by Ken Skeens, from his 2003 album Florida Spirit. Calls upon us to “take our voice to those who make the choices to save the Earth so all of us can live.”
  • “The Web of LIfe” by Walkin’ Jim Stoltz
  • “We Can Run” by Grateful Dead. Lyrics By: John Barlow; Music By: Brent Mydland – “We can run but we can’t hide from it | Of all possible worlds we only got one, we gotta ride on it |
    Whatever we’ve done we’ll never get far from what we leave behind.” Buy the Mp3 of We Can Run.
  • “We Did It” by Nancy Schimmel. A great song about how we can solve global warming. Nancy says, “I agree that the world is going to hell in a handbasket, but I also think we need optimism of the heart as well as pessimism of the mind to be of any use.”
  • “We’re Connected to the Oceans” by Remy Rodden. Tthis song reminds us of our integral relationship with all life on the planet, including the oceans… and that we all have a part to play in protecting the ecosystems that support us all.If you’re a guitar player and singer, here are the lyrics and chords.
  • “What Will It Take” by Karen Lehner, on her 1991 album Still Waters.
  • “When Fall Comes to New England” by Cheryl Wheeler – from her album, Driving Home (1995, Philo) – A beautiful song! A favorite
  • “When the North Pole Melts” by Captain Sea Level . A satirical song about global warming, addressing the question of what will Santa do when the North Pole melts. A grim question, conveyed in a most humorous Beach Boys-style harmony! You can also download words, chords for two guitars, or the sheet music for the five voices on the recording. Originally recorded in 1988, it was re-released in 2004 because its message is even more relevant today.
  • “Whose Garden Was This” by Tom Paxton A favorite This song sends shivers up and down my spine. It has been recorded by many artists, including John Denver, Tom Paxton, and others.
  • “Wild Country” by Bear Dyken – on Clan Dyken’s album, Family Values (1989, Dyken Music, BMI, Forward Productions)
  • “The Wilderness – in Memory of John Muir” (Intro and Song on YouTube) (Copyright 1975) by Tom Shindler “This is where the earth is wild – makes you wonder like a child, this is where your spirit learns to fly.” This song combines Wilderness imagery, emotion, and philosophy with some of John Muir’s writings. This is an original song written and performed by Tom Shindler. The video includes an introduction with background on how the song came to be. Lyrics, chords and a lead sheet are available on TomsSongsLive.com, along with links to Tom’s other songs, many of which celebrate wilderness and nature. (All songs and lyrics copyright 1975 by Tom Shindler.)
  • “Wilderness” by Eric Bogle, – on Voices in the Wilderness,1990.
    Includes the stirring refrain, “Save the Wilderness! It’s a part of us, the part that sets us free!”
  • “Wind on the Water” by Graham Nash
    This “save the whales” song may be heard on the album, MFQ LIve in Japan by the Modern Folk Quartet
  • “Windsong” by John Denver. You can hear John Denver sound clips, including Windsong, or buy the album from Amazon.com.
  •  “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell, popularly performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. – Joni Mitchell’s song tells us that “we are stardust” and billion-year-old carbon.  These lyrics capture the essence of insights that science can now confirm, although most of our carbon is actually much older than that, while some of it is only a few weeks or months old. While titularly about the famous music festival in 1969, the song can be understood as a celebration of Carl Sagan’s teaching us that we are indeed “made of star-stuff,” and also as a song advocating living in harmony with the Earth (“And we got to get ourselves back to the garden….” while simultaneously advocating for world peace, with the lyrics toward the end: “And I dreamed I saw the bomber death planes / Riding shotgun in the sky, / Turning into butterflies / Above our nation.”
  • “You Can’t Clearcut Your Way to Heaven” by Darryl Cherney from his album They Sure Don’t Make Hippies Like They Used To!”

“Keep your sense of humor. There is a 50 – 50 chance that the world can be saved. You – yes you – might be the grain of sand that tips the scales the right way.” – Pete Seeger