32 Earth Day Tunes to Celebrate the Planet
By phoebe david
April 22, 2020
Earth Day was founded in 1970 as a day of education about environmental issues. Due to the current pandemic, we won’t be able to celebrate this one in the great outdoors. Nevertheless, social-distancing has made a positive impact on the planet from cleaner beaches to less air pollution.
Although we can’t pay respect to Mother Nature in person, we can honor her from our homes. In celebration, we’ve gathered 32 songs to listen to on Earth Day!
1. "Earth Day Every Day" by John Denver
''Celebrate Earth Day, Every Day''
2. "What A Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong
'‘I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom, for me and you. And I think to myself what a wonderful world''
3. "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell
“Hey farmer, farmer, put away the DDT now. Give me spots on my apples but leave me the birds and the bees, please”
4. "Sunshine on My Shoulders" by John Denver
'‘Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry, Sunshine on the water looks so lovely''
5. "Man Walks Among Us" by Jonathan Richman
''Soon will be gone all the desert. Cities will cover each hill. Today will just be a sad memory.''
6. "Gaia" by James Taylor
'‘Pray for the forest, pray for the tree, pray for the fish in the deep blue sea’'
7. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by Marvin Gaye
''Things ain’t what the used to be, no no, where did all the blue skies go?’'
8. "We Can Run" by The Grateful Dead
'‘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’'
9. "Paradise" by John Prine
'‘And daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where Paradise lay’'
10. "Where do the Children Play" by Cat Stevens
'‘We’re changing day to day, but tell me, where do the children play?’'
11. "Mother Nature’s Son" by The Beatles
'‘Find me in my field of grass, Mother Nature’s son, Swaying daisies sing a lazy song beneath the sun’'
12. "Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel
'‘We hear the birds sing in the tree, The land will be looked after, We send the seeds out in the breeze’'
13. "(Nothing but) Flowers" by Talking Heads
'‘This was a pizza hut now it’s all covered with daises’'
14. "Don’t Go Near The Water" by Johnny Cash
''There was a time the air was clean and you could see forever ‘cross the plains, The wind was sweet as honey and no one had ever heard of acid rain’'
15. "Don’t Go Near The Water" by The Beach Boys
'‘Let’s all help the water right away, Do what we can and ought to, Let’s start today’'
16. "Quick Escape" by Pearl Jam
'‘And we think about the old days, Of green grass, sky and red wine’'
17. "Every Age" by Jose Gonzalez
'‘Take this dream of a better land, take your time, build a home, build a place where we can all belong”
18. "Saltwater" by Julian Lennon
'‘we climb the highest mountain, we’ll make the desert bloom, we’re so ingenious, we can walk on the moon, but when I hear of how, the forests have died, saltwater wells in my eyes’'
19. "Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth" by Sparks
'‘I’ll admit I was unfaithful, but from now on I’ll be more faithful, never turn your back on mother, never turn your back on mother, never turn your back on mother earth’'
20. "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer
'‘It’s hard to beat the system when we’re standing at a distance, so we keep waiting, waiting on the world to change’'
21. "Kids" by MGMT
'‘Control yourself, take only what you need from it’'
22. "Out in the Country" by Three Dog Night
'‘Before the breathin’ air is gone, before the sun is just a bright spot in the nighttime, out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone and take back somethin’ worth remembering''
23. "The Landscape is Changing" by Depeche Mode
'‘Cause i don’t care if you’re going nowhere, just take good care of the world’'
24. "Don’t Panic" by Coldplay
'‘We live in a beautiful world, yeah, we do, yeah, we do’'
25. "Conviction of the Heart" by Kenny Loggins
'‘One with the earth, with the sky, one with everything in life, I believe we’ll survive, if only we try’'
26. "The 3 R's" by Jack Johnson
''We've got to learn to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle''
27. "Apeman" by The Kinks
'‘I look out my window, but I can’t see the sky ‘cause the air pollution is a-fogging up my eyes. I want to get out of this city alive and make like an Ape man’'
28. "Keep Texas Beautiful" by Jerry Jeff Walker
'‘Keep her wild and natural, just the way she ought to be’'
29. "Cowboy Take Me Away" by Dixie Chicks
''I said I wanna touch the earth, I wanna break it in my hands, I wanna grow something wild and unruly’'
30. "Mother Earth" by Neil Young & Promise of the Real
'‘How long can you give and not receive and feed this world ruled by greed’'
31. "Our Planet" by Ellie Goulding and Steven Price
''The sun will rise, but this time it's so bright, And all I have left is my faith that we could change''
32. "Oh, What A World" by Kacey Musgraves
''Northern lights in our skies, Plants that grow and open your mind, Things that swim with a neon glow, How we all got here, nobody knows''
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