Earth Song
Earth Song
Earth is that your voice I hear?
Are you whispering to me?
Do I feel your soul in mine?
Is your mind in my mind?
I sense your wide expanse
Your molten heart
Your halo of air
Your oceans, mountains and life
You sing to me of ancient times
You revolve in giddy joy
But you know you are fading fast
You know things have to change
You gave birth to us
You nurtured us on our way
But now we’re a rash on your face
We are slowly taking your life
You don’t want to die I know
You don’t want to be a barren place
You want to stay green and blue
You want to enjoy what you made
But now we have turned on you
We have fouled our only home
We have poisoned the sky
We have left you to wither and die
Earth is that your voice I hear?
Do I feel your soft touch on my face?
You speak to me of hope and fear
You want me to know my place
(Musical break)
Oh Earth I think I love you!
You twirling bright orb in space
At last I’ve found my love for you
I only hope it’s not too late
I hope I can ease your pain
I want to make bright your days
I don’t want to see you curl up and die
And leave a void in your place
Earth can you ever forgive me?
I know I have done you wrong
Please come back to help me
I promise I won’t destroy you again
A lot of lyrics in song-writing seem to have no especial communicative intent, just an expression of experience or feeling. Much the same could be said for all artistic expression. But I don’t believe it. If there is no motivation or impulse to communicate, than why should one express oneself at all. Burping and farting are perhaps the exceptions,
This song of mine is expressly designed to communicate a political message.
Some nice lines in this. In the first verse we can see that the philosopher is still there “is your mind in my mind?” again “you sing to me of ancient times” – this speaks to me.
I have written a number of political songs myself.I have learned that they can have a tendancy to unambiguity as, of course, your intention is to get a clear message across, but this risks fighting against the artistic elements. The listener should, imo, have to use their imagination even just a little, they have to unlock it to get something from it – or just to entertain them in itself. There should be a song there first and foremost. I am not saying that you haven’t done this, just saying that it can be a difficult balancing act.
The only other alternative I reckon is to go to the other end of the spectrum and go extreme – strong emotions- smash their faces in – ideally with humour or exploding, acid soaked, woodchipper sarcasm – bludgeon the listener to sneak a message past (imagine you’re reviewing a particularly bad philosopher).
Saving the planet shouldn’t be a controversial subject, but we are in the era of “Don’t Look Up!” and for all those who agree there will be just as many who want to put up that proverbial parking lot. So you’re preaching to the converted, the unpersuadable and more likely – the indifferent. Think outside the box or just recycle it. It’s a hard job to change the world.
It’s intended as an anthem for the converted. It personalizes the issue. It goes for the emotional jugular. It’s extreme. But sometimes I just write an Eddie Cochran-style rock song about girls and cars.
And that withering response is exactly what I’m talking about 😉
The wretched old acoustic guitar I’ve been playing for over 25 years has finally begun to cloy. I’m going to treat myself to a spanking new beauty (compliments of a credit card, ofcourse). Poor James, my neighbor, with whom I used to play, recently passed on of cancer. There was a look in his eye, the last time we played. He sang and nailed Neil Young’s, “Powderfinger”. I tried to keep up but he was in a zone.
You should buy an electric; they are easier to play and more fun.
I love the message. A little challenging for me to hear it as a song. I don’t play an instrument or sing. There’s no chorus or chorus-like repetition of sound. Not as much rhyme as I’m accustomed to hearing in a song. A quick google search points to Alanis Morisettee’s “Hand in My Pocket” as a really fine example of a song without much rhyming going on. That search also led me to SteveSongs’ “Song Without Rhyme,” which had me laughing my head off. Back to Earth Song, I absolutely love the message. Just one suggestion. That last line. Hmmm. I don’t know. I might instead suggest going with a crescendo: “Please, please, pleeease!” / and this finale: “Give us another chance.” Thanks so much for sharing. You really made my day!
Actually there are two versions of the song; the other version repeats the first verse as a chorus. My partner, Nicole, sang the first version beautifully, giving it an air of seriousness. Usually my lyrics are sketches that need to be altered or filled out once the arrangment and melody are added.
Interesting. That also gives me an idea for another song you might want to try composing. A duet. The female voice is Gaia. The male voice is mankind.
Nicole could be Earth and I could be Mankind.
Been reading a bunch of back-issues of Rolling Stone magazine lately. What a load of tin-eared fools were writing for that rag in the 70’s’. One, John Mendelsohn, reviewed Neil Young’s, “Harvest”, album in 72. He did his New York smart-ass best to demolish it, but had to swallow his words years later when it was generally recognized as a work of genius in the genre. I’ve not much cared for Neil’s stuff after, say, 1982, but so what?
I’ve never read Rolling Stone but it always struck me as vaguely fake. Too much pseudo-intellectual posturing, no real grasp of what makes popular music good when it is good. Neil Young is obviously talented but his music never really appealed to me.