Ecological Movement Transformative Music

Big Yellow Taxi

Joni Mitchell, 1970

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see 'em
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away the D.D.T. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard my screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

I said don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"

Written by Joni Mitchell, this song is about the encroachment of development on nature. The song is an example of valuing the devalued where the nature is given a greater value than the utility and economic gains of a parking lot. Mitchell also criticizes the use of DDT, which Rachel Carson had exposed for damaging the environment in her book Silent Spring eight years before the song was released.

Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)

Marvin Gaye, 1971, Soul

"Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east
Woo mercy, mercy me, mercy father
Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas, fish full of mercury
Ah, oh mercy, mercy me
Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no
Radiation underground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me
Ah, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land
How much more abuse from man can she stand?"

It seems like most of the heavily environmental songs are from at least 20 years ago. "Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)" was one of the most mainstream and well known of these songs. In it, Gaye talks about how much has changed recently, and all the terrible side effects of human pollution. In essence, he is Questioning the destructive methods of humans and how long the environment can take. The somber tone is shown musically especially at the end, with the long, minor chords, chorus and sparse piano.

One Sweet World

Dave Matthews, 1993, Rock

"Nine planets round the sun
Only one does the sun embrace
Upon this watered one
So much we take for granted
So let us sleep outside tonight
Lay down in our mother's arms
For here we can rest safely

If green should slip to grey
Would our hearts still bloody be
And if mountains crumble away
And the river dry
Would it stop the stepping feet

Take all that we can get
When it's done
Nobody left to bury here
Nobody left to dig the holes
And here we can rest safely

One sweet world
Around a star is spinning
One sweet world
And in her breath I'm swimming
And here we will rest in peace"

This questioning/envisioning song shows the Dave Matthews Band's commitment to spreading awareness and concern of environmental issues. It begins by establishing the idea of nature as a generous mother who has given us everything we have. This concept has been changed in history to a dynamic of man conquering nature, and the song points out how we now take our resources for granted. It foresees a grim future where rampant consumerism has drained the Earth's resources, and makes the point that we will still be a part of Earth after we have taken everything away from it. Once we've destroyed mother nature, we will also have destroyed ourselves.

The Three R's

Jack Johnson, 2006, Children's

"If you're going to the market to buy some juice
You've got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister's got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we've got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R's don't work out
And if you've got to make some trash
Don't throw it out
Recycle, we've got to learn to recycle,
We've got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle"

This simple tune goes through each of the R's (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) in an easy way for children. This is a form of Discernment, because by now we have realized that we need to change our habits.

This page was created in November 2010 with analytical content written by Aileen Patimeteeporn, Heidi Wang, Naomi Takaki, Esther Gonzalez, Cynthia Lee, and Shannon Coyne. The website pages were created by Heidi Wang and Shannon Coyne. The layout template was provided by Professor Matthaei.