Nature is the muse for poet, musician, every person, animal, bird, fish, or bug.
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To be in our nature we must move, and movement with nature carries a varied beat. these tunes all help us find empowerment in support of our dance with nature.
Nature inspires all levels of creativity. We share this bond not only with all people, but with all life for natural inspiration.
Eco-warriors can be minstrels and bards. Take a walk with me through this forest of environmentally motivated music. Some of the trees we see might be familiar, other not so much, and one or two could just surprise you.
Jackson Browne – “Doctor My Eyes “
Jackson is a visible anti-nuclear environmental activist. “Doctor My Eyes” may not speak directly of the enivronmental struggle, but it speaks to those who struggle to protect the earth. An upbeat tune with a down beat message. “Doctor My Eyes” gives us a bit more strength to keep going.
Filastine – “Colony Collapse”
This song is one of those new sounds that is hard to find a comparison, you just have to listen, dude! Where is our world going, how are we in it, pollution, accumulation, material pursuit loops? The trapped feeling we all experience in sight and sound and stimulation of cityscape. Filistine combines tech sound and Gamalan to pose the big environmental question we all face. Will we collapse?
Marvin Gaye – “Mercy Mercy Me/What´s Going On”
“Woo ah, mercy mercy me
Ah 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”
The opening lyrics leave no doubt as to what Marvin was singing about. His ever smooth delivery causes us to get lost in the thoughts of our world and ourselves, but we still feel pretty OK about it when the horns kick in.
Eddie Vedder – “Society”
Greed, the craze of material pursuit, and unsatisfied desire put Eddie Vedder in a slow melancholic mood. This is one for slow dances in the late days of love after long nights of planning the protection of this rock of a planet we call home.
Rise Against – “Ready To Fall”
“Take a step” screams out the enraged compassionate voice. We are all standing on that same rooftop ready to fall. Rise Against keeps it punk by putting the destruction of nature right in our face and putting us on the edge. Right there with everyone. This is the rage that can empower.
Save the Ocean – “Schoolhouse Rock! Earth”
Call in the kids and have a little free play improv dance time to a snappy tune that makes us rise to the challenge of oceanic defence.
Metallica – “Blackened”
“Death of Mother Earth
Never a rebirth
Evolution’s end
Never will it mend”
Maybe not the most reassuring lyrics about the future, but metal has always been about confrontation. Metallica weighs in heavy with a strong prophetic vision of potential environmental chaos. The sheer energy of the music can help drive us forward against the nemesis of eco-decline.
Mos Def – “New World Water”
How long can we go without water, not much time at all as we all know. Mos Def hits us with the hip hop perspective that the time has well passed for basic human water rights. Hit play on this track and get ready to test out those new freestyle steps.
Dr.Octagon – “Trees”
The Doctor is used to coming from out of nowhere, and here he is again. The groove is set to infect, and the rap is repeated to drill the message that we can’t deny. The whole package comes together with odd ball C.G.I. and we got some conscientious fun.
dEpEchE modE- “The Landscape Is Changing”
Always out there able to help us feel our emotions better, these guys had the electro beat programmed for slick success. “Just take good care of the world” sounds simple enough when sung together on the dance floor. Step it down a notch and hold the life we live tight in your slow dance embrace.
Talking Heads – (“Nothing But) Flowers”
Innovation is the driving force behind Talking Heads. The power of nature to prevail, as we have been seeing even in places as ravaged as Chernobyl, is shown in this song. In time, without the human factor, nature returns and prevails. The future could be “Nothing But Flowers” after all, and the song makes it seem not so bad.
Pixies – “Monkey Gone To Heaven”
The unbeatable bass line drives a core right through this testament to humanity and a whole burned right through the sky. The swirling guitar makes the mood just right to get lost in the imagery and escape the race for a moment of movement.
X Ray Spex – “World Turned Day-Glo”
Poly Styrene (Somali/British) zaps stereotypes with her trained avant screech. Early punk rock roots envision a futuristic planet tainted by the Day-Glo of toxicity. The perfect song for a pogo or to scream out off key along with Poly!
Woody Guthrie – “So Long it’s Been Good to Know You”
I guess since surveys are showing a time dryer now than in the 1930’s, we should pay a bit more attention to the winds of dust that Woody sang about to us. Early industrial agriculture wasn’t too good for the Dust Bowl of the USA, and I don’t think industrial agriculture is doing us any better now.
Pete Seeger – “There’ll Come a Time”
Always on the cutting edge of activism, Pete Seeger sung the songs of the American Cultural Revolution of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. In “There’ll Come a Time,” he isn’t too far off the mark from the crisis we currently face. RIP Pete.
John Prine – “Paradise”
John Prine has deep roots in pure American Folk. In “Paradise” he takes us on a personal journey in a life’s experience with the destruction of nature at the hands of corporate greed. Get your boots on and be ready to scoot a slow two step while John takes us on a journey upstream into a lost past.
John Denver – “Rocky Mountain High”
John Denver coined the anthem of nature lovers across the continent. Any child of the 1970’s knows the tune for sure and has probably sung it around at least one campfire, or hummed it on their way up a precarious precipice somewhere on a mountain high.
Coldcut – “Timber”
Get your robot dance ready for the dance floor when Coldcut lays down some repetitive techno beats. The force of hunger the world has for devouring wood pulp is delivered in the imagery, while the loops remind us of the mechanised logging operations that consume hectares of forest in afternoons.
The Irresistible Force – “Global Chillage”
Two decades ago The Irresistibale Force laid down a bit over an hour’s worth of chill grooves. A complete statement on the state of the environment in sonic form. This a great mix for thoughtful background music. The delicately woven layers of soundscape help us drift away in thought and can elevate us to trance inducing movement play.
Bill Miller – “Ghost Dance”
The living Earth sings through Bill Miller. He combines so many possible rhythms together that any dancer can catch as beat to move inside. Bill can give inspiration and strength to push past the past and move into at least a dream of a balanced future.
Good addition to the list for sure!
Great music no no age limit.
Very nice set. I would add a few, however. How about “Big Yellow Taxi”by Joni Mitchell? “Indian Summer” by Poco. “Hazy Shade of Winter” by Simon & Garfunkel. The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin”…
lastly, “In the Beginning” – Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Pardon me if I blush, my age is showing!