This is a challenging subject to tackle as far as music goes. You’ll find songs here with various messages but with similar themes that make a statement. Most evoke environmental awareness or aim to inspire action. You’ll also find those that chronicle environmental ravages and ruins. On the other hand a few in this list will simply celebrate the beauty, wonder and regenerative capacity of nature. This is definitely music that has a message or packs a punch to wake people up before it’s too late or claim it may already be too late.
So I present to you 50+ songs that may be considered environmental songs from the last few decades and a handful of more recent releases that make a statement about the plight of our precious planet (of which we only have one).
Now you can go ahead and create a CD mix or mp3 playlist to inspire, reflect and enjoy during your next Earth Day celebration event or, for that matter, year round action. You just might wanna make sure your CD player is running on solar power or perhaps connected to a windmill for turbine power. 😛
Songs About The Earth, Ecology & The Environment
- American Child – John Denver
- Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
- Black Moon – Emerson Lake & Palmer
- Calypso – John Denver
- Carbon Monoxide – Cake
- Countdown To Extinction – Megadeth
- Conviction of The Heart – Kenny Loggins
- Death of Mother Nature Suite – Kansas
- Don’t Go Near The Water – The Beach Boys
- Don’t Go Near The Water – Johnny Cash (entirely different song than above)
- Earth Anthem – The Turtles, Dan Fogelberg
- Earth Day Every Day (Celebrate) – John Denver
- Earth Song – Michael Jackson
- Ecology Song – Stephen Stills
- Garden of Eden – New Riders of The Purple Sage
- Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
- Gone – Jack Johnson
- Good Planets Are Hard To Find – Steve Forbert
- Goodbye To A River – Don Henley
- Hands All Over – Soundgarden
- Heal The World – Michael Jackson
- I Remember California – REM
- I’d Love To Change The World – Ten Years After
- If A Tree Falls – Bruce Cockburn
- In The Year 2525 – Zager & Evans
- Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology Song) – Marvin Gaye
- Monkey Gone To Heaven – The Pixies
- Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) – Neil Young
- My City Was Gone – The Pretenders
- Nature’s Way – Spirit
- (Nothing But) Flowers – Talking Heads
- One Sweet World – Dave Matthews Band
- Only A Dream – Adrian Belew
- Paradise – John Prine
- Pass It On Down – Alabama
- Plan It Earth – Richard Sinclair
- Pollution – Tom Lehrer
- Rain On The Scarecrow – John Cougar Mellencamp
- Shapes of Things – The Yardbirds
- Song For A Dying Planet – Joe Walsh
- Subdivisions – Rush
- Supernova – Liquid Blue
- The 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuses & Recycle) – Jack Johnson
- The Last Resort – The Eagles
- The Sun Is Burning – Simon & Garfunkel
- The Trees – Rush
- To The Last Whale: A Critical Mass/Wind On The Water – David Crosby & Graham Nash
- Traffic Jam – James Taylor
- We Bought It – Brother Tree
- Winds of Change – Jefferson Starship
- Windsong – John Denver
- Wond’ring Again – Jethro Tull
- Zone 804 – Peter Schilling
Filed under: Song Lists | Tagged: social conscience songs, songs about Ecology, songs about making the world a better place, songs about the Earth, songs about the Environment |
Great list for earth day! I heard this too if you are looking for more….