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  

 

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13 replies
  1. jgkess@cfl.rr.com
    jgkess@cfl.rr.com says:

    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,

    Reply
  2. Mark L
    Mark L says:

    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.

    Reply
  3. jgkess@cfl.rr.com
    jgkess@cfl.rr.com says:

    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.

    Reply
  4. paul reinicke
    paul reinicke says:

    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!

    Reply
  5. jgkess@cfl.rr.com
    jgkess@cfl.rr.com says:

    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?

    Reply
    • Colin McGinn
      Colin McGinn says:

      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.

      Reply

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