"Society" by Jerry Hannan, performed by Eddie Vedder (2007)

It's a mistery to me
we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won't be free

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
'cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

there's those thinking more or less less is more
but if less is more how you're keeping score?
Means for every point you make
your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can't do that...

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you're not angry if I disagree
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

A song criticism to the passion of consumerism, a passion that characterizes our society. This feeling of incompleteness when we have anything we want and we are not satisfied. It’s a substancial thing of our social values. The song is included in the soundtrack of the 2007 movie “Into the Wild” about the true story of a young boy Christopher McCandless, who disgusted by these social values, left his in trouble family and his bright academic career and went to live alone in the wild, but unfortunately died by the unpredicted forces of nature.

We also read in another song (Far Behind) from this soundtrack
Empty pockets will allow
a greater sense of wealth
a common philosophy about the differences between the terms "I Need" and "I Want"

You can hear this song, performed by Pearl Jam’s frontman Eddie Vedder who wrote the music of this soundtrack, in youtube and Far Behind

“To the wild country” by John Denver, Album: I Want To Live (1977)

There are times I fear I lose myself
I don’t know who I am
I get caught up in the struggle and the strain
With my back against a stonewall
My finger in the dam
Losin’ strength and goin’ down again

And I take a look around me
My eyes can’t find the sun
There’s nothing wild as far as I can see
Then my heart turns to Alaska
And freedom on the run
I can hear her spirit callin’ me

To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I’ll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong

Oh, I know some times I worry
On worldly ways and means
And I can see the future killing me
On a misbegotten highway
Of prophecies and dreams
A road to nowhere and eternity

And I know it’s just changes
Yes, and mankind marchin’ on
I know we can’t live in yesterday
But compared to what were losin’
And what it means to me
I’d give my life and throw the rest away

To the mountains, I can rest there
To the rivers, I will be strong
To the forest, I’ll find peace there
To the wild country, where I belong
To the wild country, where I belong

A song written for Alaskan landscape. It's a vision of ecsaping from the frustrating every day life.

You can hear this song in youtube and live here

“Green, green” by New Christy Minstrels, Album: Ramblin' (1963)

Green, green, it's green they say
On the farside of the hill
Green, green, I'm going away
To where the grass is greener still.

Well, I told my mama on the day I was born
Don't you cry when you see I'm gone
You know there ain't no woman gonna settle me down
I just gotta be travelin' on.

Green, green, it's green they say
On the farside of the hill
Green, green, I'm going away
To where the grass is greener still.

Oh, there ain't nobody in this whole wide world
Gonna tell me how to spend my time
I'm just a good lovin' ramblin' man
Say buddy, could you spare me a dime.

Green green it's green they say
On the farside of the hill
Green, green, I'm going away
To where the grass is greener still.

Well, I don't care when the sun goes down
Where I can lay my weary head
Green, green valley or rocky road
It's where I'm gonna make my bed.

Green green it's green they say
On the farside of the hill
Green, green, I'm going away
To where the grass is greener still.

To where the grass is greener still.
To where the grass is greener still...

An escaping to nature song written by Barry McGuire when in his early career was a member of folk band New Christy Minstrels.

You can hear this song in youtube

Album: “Shine” by Joni Mitchell (2007) part 2

If I Had A Heart

Holy war
Genocide
Suicide
Hate and cruelty...
How can this be holy?
If I had a heart I'd cry.

These ancient tales...
The good go to heaven
And the wicked ones burn in hell...
Ring the funeral bells!
If I had a heart I'd cry.

There's just too many people now
Too little land
Much too much desire
You feel so feeble now
It's so out of hand
Big bombs and barbed wire
We've set our lovely sky
Our lovely sky
On fire!

There's just too many people now
And too little land
Too much rage and desire
It makes you feel so feeble now
It's so out of hand-
Big bombs and barbed wire...
Can't you see
Our destiny?
We are making this Earth
Our funeral pyre!

Holy Earth
How can we heal you?
We cover you like a blight...
Strange birds of appetite...
If I had a heart I'd cry.


Earth and humanity suffered from war, hate and overpopulation. We read in wikipedia about this song:

"If I Had a Heart, I'd Cry" is a reaction to the state of the environment and what Mitchell called the current "holy war." In February 2007, The New York Times described the song as "one of the most haunting melodies she has ever written." Of the impetus that inspired her to write the song, Mitchell explained, "My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species. I can't cry about it. In a way I'm inoculated. I've suffered this pain for so long. …The West has packed the whole world on a runaway train. We are on the road to extincting ourselves as a species."

Shine

Oh let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on Wall Street and Vegas
Place your bets
Shine on the fishermen
With nothing in their nets
Shine on rising oceans and evaporating seas
Shine on our Frankenstein technologies
Shine on science
With its tunnel vision
Shine on fertile farmland
Buried under subdivisions

Let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on the dazzling darkness
That restores us in deep sleep
Shine on what we throw away
And what we keep

Shine on Reverend Pearson
Who threw away
The vain old God
kept Dickens and Rembrandt and Beethoven
And fresh plowed sod
Shine on good earth, good air, good water
And a safe place
For kids to play
Shine on bombs exploding
Half a mile away

Let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on world-wide traffic jams
Honking day and night
Shine on another asshole
Passing on the right!
Shine on the red light runners
Busy talking on their cell phones
Shine on the Catholic Church
And the prisons that it owns
Shine on all the Churches
They all love less and less
Shine on a hopeful girl
In a dreamy dress

Let your little light shine
Let your little light shine
Shine on good humor
Shine on good will
Shine on lousy leadership
Licensed to kill
Shine on dying soldiers
In patriotic pain
Shine on mass destruction
In some God's name!
Shine on the pioneers
Those seekers of mental health
Craving simplicity
They traveled inward
Past themselves...
May all their little lights shine

An overall wish for light as beauty, peace, compassion , logic and environmental awareness to shine to everyone of us. There is a mentioning to the GMO technology, a wish for the involving scientists to realize with what Frankenstein issues they deal with.

You can hear songs from this album in youtube:
If I had a Heart
Shine

“Flight of Icarus” by Iron Maiden, album: Piece of Mind (1983)

Dedicated to the (murdered by authority) Greek teenagers

As the sun breaks above the ground
An old man stands on the hill
As the ground warms to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still

His eyes are ablaze
See the madman in his gaze

Fly on your way like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your wings like an eagle
Fly and touch the sun

Now the crowd breaks and a young boy appears
Look the old man in his eyes
As he spreads his wings and shouts at the crowd
In the name of God my father I fly

His eyes seem so glazed
As he flies on the wings of a dream
Now he knows his father betrayed
Now his wings burn to ashes to ashes his grave

Fly on your way like an eagle
Fly as high as the sun
On your wings like an eagle
Fly and touch the sun

A song loosely based on the Greek Myth of inventor Daedalus and his son Icarus. The myth is about their escape by flying with wings manufactured by them and glued with wax on their bodies, when they were captives in Minoan palace in ancient Crete. Icarus enjoyed flying and made dangerous uprisings and manoeuvres towards the sun, ignoring his father’s warnings about the danger of melting the wax by sun heat. Thus, his childish disobedience to his father’s wisdom became fatal for him: his wings were destroyed and he fell and plunged into the sea.

But the song does a creative violation of the original narration and a reversal of its moral in order to become an allegory for the teenager’s demand for independence from the parental bonds and authority, the last, feeling unbearable envy for such disobedience, sabotaged his son’s wings to send him to certain death.

We also notice that besides the reversal of the moral of the myth, there is also the presentation of the sun, not as a dangerous burning factor, (from the ancient perception of universe where the sun is only some thousands meters above us, completely false today, because the higher you fly, the colder you feel) but in fact as life supporter (first verse) and an imaginative object of desire (fly, touch the sun)

It worths mentioning another myth about Daedalus, where his envy for his very clever inventor nephew, named Perdix or Talos, prompted him to kill his nephew by pushing him off a very tall tower, but Goddess Athena saved the child by transforming him to the bird partridge.

So, Iron Maiden made a combination of these two myths of Deadalus in order to dramatize the teenagers’ disappointment for their wings of independence, nature has offered to them, being broken by their authorities (parents, teachers, state, etc)

You can hear this song in youtube

For the Outraged Greek Youth (klik on lyrics to hear the song)

When there's no future how can there be sin
We're the flowers in the dustbin
We're the poison in your human machine
We're the future your future
Sex Pistols



Revolution in their minds - the children start to march
Against the world in which they have to live
And all the hate that's in their hearts
Theyre tired of being pushed around
And told just what to do
They'll fight the world until they'll win
And love comes flowing through
Children of tomorrow live in the tears that fall today
Will the sun rise up tomorrow bringing peace in any way?
Black Sabbath



But don't play with me, 'cause you're playing with fire
Rolling Stones



Natural child, terrible child
Not your mother's or your father's child
Your our child, screamin' wild
Doors



Μα εγώ θα ζήσω μέσα στη μέρα,
θέλω τα χέρια να σηκώνω στον αέρα
Θέλω τον ήλιο και οξυγόνο
κι αυτό το μέλλον με ελπίδα ανταμώνω
Θέλω οξυγόνο, θέλω να ζήσω,
θέλω να ζήσω, ΘΕΛΩ ΝΑ ΖΗΣΩ!
Κι άμα τα πάρω, θα πάρω φόρα,
θα σας ρημάξω στις κλωτσιές στην ανηφόρα
Άμα τα πάρω δε θα μπορέσουν
δυο διμοιρίες από ΜΑΤ να με βολέψουν
Κίτρινα Ποδήλατα

translation of the last lyrics:
But I want to live in the open sunlight
I want to hold my hands to the sky
I want the sun, the oxygen
And welcoming my future with hope
I need oxygen, I want to live
I want to live, I WANT TO LIVE!
And if I’m pissed off, I’ll take run up
I’ll kick up a fuss and kick your ass
And if I’m pissed off, two squads
of riot police are not enough to repress me
Yellow Bicycles

Album: “Shine” by Joni Mitchell (2007) part 1

This place

Sparkle on the ocean
Eagle at the top of a tree
Those crazy crows always making a commotion
This land is home to me.

I was talking to my neighbour
He said, "When I get to heaven, if it is not like this,
I'll just hop a cloud and I'm coming right back down here
Back to this heavenly bliss."

You see those lovely hills
They won't be there for long
They're gonna tear 'em down
And sell them to California
Here come the toxic spills
Miners poking all around
When this place looks like a moonscape
Don't say I didn't warn ya...

Money, money, money...
Money makes the trees come down
It makes mountains into molehills
Big money kicks the wide wide world around.

Black bear in the orchard
At night he's in my garbage cans
He's getting so bold but no one wants to shoot him
He's got a right to roam this land.

I feel like Geronimo
I used to be as trusting as Cochise
But the white eyes lies
He's out of whack with nature
And look how far his weapons reach!

Spirit of the water
Give us all the courage and the grace
To make genius of this tragedy unfolding
The genius to save this place.

An awareness for the fate of home nature (beautiful like-heaven landscapes are destined to be eradicated for strip mining, or conversion into building land) by an over-development driven by money and greed. Great song and album by the performer of one of our favourite eco-songs “Big Yellow Taxi”. This song is also included in this album in a more dark version, expressing Mitchell’s disappointment about Nature’s maltreatment all these years after its original release in 1970. Joni Mitchell stated: this song is inspired when they decided to whittle down this mountain behind my sanctuary and sell it to California as gravel for McMansions


Bad Dreams

The cats are in the flower bed
A red hawk rides the sky
I guess I should be happy
Just to be alive...
But we have poisoned everything
And oblivious to it all
The cell phone zombies babble
Through the shopping malls
While condors fall from Indian skies
Whales beach and die in sand...
Bad dreams are good
In the great plan.

You cannot be trusted
Do you even know you're lying
It's dangerous to kid yourself
You go deaf and dumb and blind.
You take with such entitlement.
You give bad attitude.
You have no grace
No empathy
No gratitude

You have no sense of consequence
Oh my head is in my hands...
Bad dreams are good
In the great plan.

Before that altering apple
We were one with everything
No sense of self and other
No self-consciousness.
But now we have to grapple
With our man-made world backfiring
Keeping one eye on our brother's deadly selfishness.

And everyone's a victim!
Nobody's hands are clean.
There's so very little left of wild Eden Earth
So near the jaws of our machines.
We live in these electric scabs.
These lesions once were lakes.
No one knows how to shoulder the blame
Or learn from past mistakes...
So who will come to save the day?
Mighty Mouse?
Superman?
Bad dreams are good in the great plan.


Pollution threatens humans, animal life and landscapes, but nobody seems to care, about our future, about our mistakes in the past,...


Strong and wrong

Strong and wrong you win--
Only because
That's the way its always been.
Men love war!
That's what history' s for.
History...
A mass--murder mystery...
His story

Strong and wrong
You lose everything
Without the heart
You need
To hear a robin sing
Where have all the songbirds gone?
Gone!
All I hear are crows in flight
Singing might is right
Might is right!

Oh the dawn of man comes slow
Thousands of years
And here we are...
Still worshiping
Our own ego

Strong and wrong
What is God's will?
Onward Christian soldiers...
Or thou shall not kill...
Men love war!
Is that what God is for?
Just a Rabbit's foot?
Just a lucky paw
For shock and awe?
Shock and awe!

The dawn of man comes slow
Thousands of years
Here we are
Still worshiping
Our own ego
Strong and Wrong!
Strong and Wrong!

Worship of power, domination, war and violence are mainly masculine traits, imposed by patrist cultures and spread all over the world. History is full of masculine war narrations by putting aside feminine peaceful ones.

You can hear songs from this album in youtube:

This place
Big Yellow Taxi (remake)
Bad Dreams

"If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" by Manic Street Preachers, Album: This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours (1998)

The future teaches you to be alone
The present to be afraid and cold
So if I can shoot rabbits
Then I can shoot fascists

Bullets for your brain today
But we'll forget it all again
Monuments put from pen to paper
Turns me into a gutless wonder

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next, Will be next,...

Gravity keeps my head down
Or is it maybe shame
At being so young and being so vain

Holes in your head today
But I'm a pacifist
I've walked La Ramblas
But not with real intent

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next, Will be next,...

And on the street tonight an old man plays
With newspaper cuttings of his glory days

And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
And if you tolerate this
Then your children will be next
Will be next, Will be next,...

In memory of the two teenagers in Greece, brutaly murdered by the police.

Michalis Kaltezas, fifteen, shot dead on 17/11/1985.

Alexis Gregoropoulos, sixteen, shot dead on 6/12/2008.

The song is refered to Spanish Civil War in 1936 and its title was the logo of a Spanish Republican poster against Franco's atrocities for bombarding cities and killing many children among civilian population (pictured above, read its history here). The military practice of the (Franco's) rebels, the military practice of Greek cops. Parallel practices.

Greek youth got pissed off and showed these days of extensive riots that they don't tolerate anymore such fascistic brutality by police which is responsible for at least 100 civilians' deaths or tortures, either native or immigrants, after Greek Junta fall in 1974 and alleged Democracy had been restored. No more lies on TV, no more hypocrisy and crocodile tears by the responsible governments.

You can hear this song in youtube

Sixteen years old teenager was shot dead by police in Athens-Greece

A 16 year old boy was shot dead by the cops in downtown Athens on Saturday December 06th 2008

The highly corrupted greek government wastes also human lives beside natural and economical sources. When a cop can take a child’s life so easily and coldbloodedly with a gun that was given by authority in order to protect citizen’s life, then the social crisis is much more deeper, it’s a general crisis of social and human values…

Highly responsible for this tragic event is the police authority by letting loose poorly trained to respect fundamental human rights personnel, like respect of human life. Highly responsible is also the government being indifferent to train police personnel in non violent methods of crises or conflicts solutions and avoiding use of weapons. On the contrary, it is obvious that these cops make use of weapons in order to demonstrate their power towards unarmed citizens, teenagers, immigrants and sometimes towards their family (many policemen in Greece shot with their official guns their wives or their girlfriends for jealousy). The impunity or the provocative light penalties of such criminal police actions resulted to cop’s abuse of power and easy resort to use of guns.

The murder:
The police says that a police car at Exarchia was attacked by anarchists with rocks and bats and one of the cops shoot in the air (or ground) to scare them off and the bullet hit somewhere, changed course and hit the boy on the chest. However there are eye witnesses that state that there was no attack, only shouts against the cops and that the cop took a straight shot on the boy. The media also mentioned that there are leaks from inside the police verifying the eye witnesses but the official police statement denies that.

The aftermath:
After the murder of the 16 year old boy thousands of people filled with rage gathered and demonstrated in various places in Athens and other greek cities and started rioting and clashing with the police. There are reports about thousands anarchists, leftists and others that took the streets, also about tens of police departments attacked and hundreds of banks, cars, governmental buildings and shops smashed and set on fire. The clashes kept on until the early hours of Sunday morning.
Tomorrow, Sunday, demonstrations are taking place in tenths of greek cities and in some other European cities.

The history:
In 1985 also at Exarchia in central Athens, a 16 year old boy, Michalis Kaltezas, was shot dead by a cop, this time with a bullet in the back of his head. Again back then the reaction was very strong by the anarchists, the leftists and plain people disgusted but the police brutality. The classes with the police lasted for days.

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Killing_of_a_15_year_old_student_in_Greece
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/414458.html
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/414470.html?c=on#comments
http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=en&article_id=933218
and it also in all the major corporate news sites.

Hún Jörð (Mother Earth) by Sigur Ros, album: Von (1997)

Hún Jörð

Móðir vor sem ert á jörðu,
Heilagt veri nafn þitt.
Komi ríki þitt,
Og veri vilji þinn framkvæmd ur í oss,
Eins og han er í þér.
Eins og þú.
Sendir hvern dag þína engla
Sendu þá einnig til oss.
Fyrirgefið oss vorar syndir,
Eins og vér bætum fyrir
Allar vorar syndir gagn- vart þér.
Og leið oss eigi til sjúkleika,
Heldur fær oss frá öllu illu,
því þín er jörðin
Líkaminn og heilsan.
Amen

Translation:

Mother earth

Our Mother, who art in Earth,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
On us as it is in you.
As you send Thy angels every day,
Send them to us as well
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those
Who trespass against you.
And lead us not into sickness,
But deliver us from evil,
Because yours is the earth
And the body
And the health
Amen.

From the debut album by the Islandic post rock band, this song is a paraphrase of the Christian prayer “Our Father” directed to Mother Earth.

You can hear this song in youtube

D. D. T. on My Brain by Malvina Reynolds (1969)

I don't need your LSD,
Head to toe I'm DDT,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

Can't think like I used to do,
Still I know it's not good for you,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

They spray the wheat the chickens eat,
It's in my eggs, it's in my meat,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

It kills the bugs in the apple tree,
I eat the pie and it's killing me,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

All the farms they get that spray,
It washes down into my Bay,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

It kills the crabs, it kills the fish,
It shines up from my supper dish,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

Falcon's flying wild and free,
His babies die of the DDT,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

Chemical stocks are riding high,
Farm field workers spray and die,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

Bring back the bugs in my apple tree,
Don't lay that poison spray on me,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

I don't need your LSD,
DDT is killing me,
DDT on my brain, on my brain.

A song that tells in brief all about the DDT impacts to nature, food chain, human and animal health. Once considered a blessing and salvation for malaria quickly it shows that it was a curse that came to stay. Even today, after the mass production and use in 40s-50s and the banning afterwards, DDT is present even in arctic areas through atmospheric circulation and animal migration. We read in wikipedia:

In 1962, "Silent Spring" by American biologist Rachel Carson was published. The book catalogued the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the US and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects on ecology or human health. The book suggested that DDT and other pesticides may cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife, particularly birds. Its publication was one of the signature events in the birth of the environmental movement. Silent Spring resulted in a large public outcry that eventually led to most uses of DDT being banned in the US in 1972.
DDT was subsequently banned for agricultural use worldwide under the Stockholm Convention, but its limited use in disease vector control continues to this day in certain parts of the world and remains controversial. Along with the passage of the Endangered Species Act, the US ban on DDT is cited by scientists as a major factor in the comeback of the bald eagle in the contiguous US.

DDT is a persistent organic pollutant that is extremely hydrophobic and strongly absorbed by soils. Depending on conditions, its soil half life can range from 22 days to 30 years. When applied to aquatic ecosystems it is quickly absorbed by organisms and by soil or it evaporates, leaving little DDT dissolved in the water itself. Its breakdown products and metabolites, DDE and DDD, are also highly persistent and have similar chemical and physical properties.These products together are known as "total DDT". DDT and its breakdown products are transported from warmer regions of the world to the Arctic by the phenomenon of global distillation, where they then accumulate in the region's food web.
DDT, DDE, and DDD magnify through the food chain, with apex predators such as raptors having a higher concentration of the chemicals than other animals sharing the same environment. They are stored mainly in body fat. In the United States, human blood and fat tissue samples collected in the early 1970s showed detectable levels in all samples. A study conducted in the late 1970s after the U.S. DDT ban found that blood levels were declining, but DDT or metabolites were still found in a high proportion of samples. Biomonitoring conducted by the Centers for Disease Control as recently as 2002 shows that more than half of subjects tested had detectable levels of DDT or metabolites in their blood,and of the 700+ milk samples tested by the USDA in 2005, 85% had detectable levels of DDE.

DDT was a major reason for the decline of the bald eagle in North America in the 1950s and 1960s as well as the brown pelican and the peregrine falcon. DDT and its breakdown products are toxic to embryos and disrupts calcium absorption, thereby impairing eggshell quality. DDT is also highly toxic to aquatic life, including crayfish, daphnids, sea shrimp and many species of fish.

You can hear a Malvina's song (No hole in my hand)in youtube

“Politik” by Coldplay, Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002)

Look at the earth from outer space
Everyone must find a place
Give me time and give me space
Give me real don't give me fake
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Give me time, give us a kiss
Tell me your own politik

And open up your eyes, open up your eyes,
open up your eyes, open up your eyes

Give me one 'cause one is best
In confusion, confidence
Give me peace of mind and trust
Don't forget the rest us
Give me strength, reserve control
Give me heart and give me soul
Wounds that heal and cracks that fix
Tell me your own politik

And open up your eyes, open up your eyes,
open up your eyes, open up your eyes
Just open up your eyes

But give me love over, love over, love over this

A call to politicians to rule with wisdom, compassion and clear vision about global human needs. This song is also heard in the credits titles of the Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental documentary film “The 11th Hour”

You can hear this song in youtube

”I Breathe” by Vacuum, Album: Plutonium Cathedral (1997)

I breathe, clouds beneath my window
I see rockets in the sky
I feel satellites in Limbo
I breathe, oxygen up high
I load lead inside my engine
Lead and alcohol
On the radio depending
I sign the protocol
Hail the audience the media
People everywhere
In the hours ahead I'll see your

Green biosphere
Clean biosphere
Castles in the air
Climbing the stair
Way to heaven
When...

I breathe, clouds beneath my window
I see rockets in the sky
I feel satellites in Limbo
I breathe, oxygen up high
I've been trained to navigate
My futurist balloon
After years a week will see me
Landing on the moon
Raise a banner on the planets
Life grows everywhere
In the manner of the mission

Green biosphere
Clean biosphere
Castles in the air
Climbing the stair
Way to heaven
When...

Obscured surrealistic descriptions of ecological thematology

You can hear this song in youtube

"Rocky mountains suite" by John Denver Album: Farewell Andromeda (1973)

Up in a meadow in Jasper Alberta
Two men and four ponies on a long lonesome ride
To see the high country and learn of her people
The ways that they lived there the ways that they died

And one is a teacher one a beginner
Just wanting to be there and wanting to know
And together they're trying to tell us a story
That should have been listened to long long ago

Now the life in the mountains is living in danger
From too many people too many machines
And the time is upon us today is forever
Tomorrow is just one of yesterday's dreams

Cold nights in Canada and icy blue winds
The man and the mountains are brothers again
Clear waters are laughing they sing to the sky
The Rockies are living they never will die

Up in a meadow in Jasper Alberta
Two men and four ponies on a long lonesome ride

An hymn for the mountains and their wilderness, but there is also a warning for the dangers by touristic development, construction of accomodations and presence of too much people, pressures that sensitive mountainous ecosystems can't withstand.

We read about this song in cdciao:

Rocky Mountain Suite (cold nights in Canada) is a warning of the danger of the ever-expanding population, urbanisation and industrialisation. It was written for a documentary in which John and Canadian Mounty, Tommy Tompkins went in search of the lost herds of bighorn sheep, “living in danger from too many people, too many machines”. Rocky Mountain relays a similar message by emphasizing the natural qualities of the mountains “more people, more scars upon the land”

You can hear this song in youtube

Album: “Όλα από χέρι καμένα” (All burned by the hand) (1988) Lyrics:Kostas Tripolitis, Music:Thanos Mikroutsikos, Performer:Vasilis Papakonstantinou

Twenty years before, three great greek artists joined together to produce this unconventional and under-appreciated album that no matter it passed unnoticed in our country and generally received negative reviews mainly for its pessimistic or brutal and nasty language of its lyrics, it has many ardent followers and is considered a classic work in modern greek rock music. We present two songs from this album:

Μπουμ

Έπειτα απ' το μεγάλο μπουμ
χίλιοι φακοί να κάνουν ζουμ,
πλάνα ωραία της καταστροφής
με φωτιές και σάρκες να τραφείς
όταν η αράχνη θα νοιώθει ευφυής
στριμωγμένη στο μπετόν της οροφής.

Είχες πει χρειάζεται καιρός
να φτιαχτούν σκουπίδια ένας σωρός
να σκεπαστούνε φεγγίτες και φωταγωγοί
να συμβούνε θάνατοι αργοί
να γεννηθούνε καινούργιοι πυροτεχνουργοί
για να αξίζει να επιστρέψεις στον πλανήτη γη.

Τη ζωή που σκότωσα εγώ
είναι η ζωή που νοσταλγώ
με τα σκεπάσματά σου έχω σκεπαστεί
το κορμί σου έχω αφουγκραστεί
η ύπαρξή σου καράβι που έχει βυθιστεί
με φωνάζεις τελευταίο ασυρματιστή.

Μπαίνοντας πρωί σε ένα ταξί
καίγομαι μέσα στο οξύ
βλέπω στα μάτια των περαστικών
ξυραφιές ονείρων χθεσινών
σου κοκκινίζει τα νύχια το μανόν
και είσαι θύτης μα και το θύμα συνθηκών.

Translation:

Boom

After the Great Boom
millions of lenses making zoom
Beautiful views of the destruction
Flesh and fire to feed yourself
When the spider will feel genius
Living squeezed in a crack of a concrete roof

You’ve said it will take time
for litters to become a pile
and to cover buildings up to roofs
to die with slow deaths
for new pyrotechnists to be born
to worth to return to planet earth

The life that I killed by myself
is the life that I’m longing for
I am covered with your blankets
I have strained my ears to your body
Your existence is like a sunken ship
You call me last radio operator

In the morning, when calling a taxi
I feel burned in an acid
In the passers-by eyes I saw
razor slashes of yesterday dreams
Your nails are bright red by the manon
You’re the culprit and the victim of conditions

A post-apocalyptic song about a dystopian society after a nuclear or environmental holocaust, about the terrible Now, about the warnings in the Past, and about the continuing indifference, cynism or vanity in a harsh environment (Spectaculation of the disaster, beautification in every day sick atmosphere)

Όλα από χέρι καμένα

Ήρωες, μίξερ, μανταλάκια, σερβιέτες,
λάβαρα, κόμιξ, σούπερ-μάρκετ, ηγέτες,
ρήτορες, μπλέντερ, βιταμίνες, μονώσεις,
κι ότι σου τάζουνε για να καυλώσεις.

Κίνημα, χάπια, σελοτέιπ, πτυχία,
άγιοι, σέρβις, μπόντυ μπίλντινγκ, ηχεία,
κάμερες, γκέι, φουστανέλες, ψυχώσεις,
κι ότι σου δίνουνε για να καυλώσεις.

Όλα από χέρι καμένα
και τα σπίρτα μας βρεγμένα
Λείψανα ,κέικ, χορωδίες, μουστάρδες,
βίζιτες, χύτρες, ινστιτούτα, κονκάρδες,
κόλλυβα , πόστερ, after-shave, διαγνώσεις,
κι ότι σου τάζουνε για να τα χώσεις.

Κλίσματα, σέντρες, γκομενάκια, πακέτα,
άγγελοι, telex, ανθοδέσμες, κουφέτα,
πρόεδροι, κέτσαπ, βαλβολίνες, ενέσεις,
κι ότι σου υπόσχονται για να τη πέσεις.

Όλα από χέρι καμένα
και τα σπίρτα μας βρεγμένα

Έρανοι, άλμπουμ, ονειράκια, πατέντες,
κάψουλες, μπόνους, φωτοκόπιες, κουβέντες,
κίναιδοι, τίτλοι, wind-surfing, εκπλήξεις,
κι' ότι σου δίνουνε για να πηδήξεις.

Ήρωες, μίξερ, μανταλάκια, σερβιέτες,
λάβαρα, κόμιξ, σούπερ-μάρκετ, ηγέτες,
ρήτορες, μπλέντερ, βιταμίνες, μονώσεις,
κι ότι σου τάζουνε για να καυλώσεις.

Translation:

All burned by the hand

Heroes, mixers, clothes pegs, sanitary pads,
Banners, comics, supermarkets, leaders
Orators, blenders, vitamins, insulators
And everything they promise you to turn you on

Movements, pills, sellotapes, degrees
Saints, services, bodybuilding, speakers
Cameras, gay, fustanellas*, obsessions
And everything they offer you to turn you on

All burned by the hand
And our matches are wet

Relics, cakes, choirs, mustards,
Fees for a house call, pressure cookers, institutes, badges,
Collyva**, posters, after-shave, diagnoses
And everything they promise you to push them in

Enemas, kickoffs, girlfriends, parcels,
Angels, telex, bouquets, koufeta***,
Presidents, ketchups, valvolins, injections
And everything they promise you to screw up

All burned by the hand
And our matches are wet

Collections, albums, dreams, patents,
Capsules, bonuses, photocopies, chats,
Prostitutes, titles, wind-surfing, suprpises,
And everything they give you to have a real good fuck.

Heroes, mixers, clothes pegs, sanitary pads,
Banners, comics, supermarkets, leaders
Orators, blenders, vitamins, insulators
And everything they promise you to turn you on

All burned by the hand
And our matches are wet

(*) Fustanella: Greek traditional kilt
(**)Collyva: Greek traditional offering in funerals made from boiled wheat
(***)Koufeta: Sugar-coated almonds offered in wedding ceremonies

A song that is a sarcasm to our worship of consumerism by making it a fundamental social value and be trapped by becoming addicted to it. A society that is manipulated by a kits mixture of old fashion traditions and modern fake plastic items and values, and by a salad of things, actions and ideas having an ideological content either of high quality and importance or inferior and unimportant.

You can hear these songs in youtube
Boom
All burned by the hand

the above photos/artworks were taken from the following pages:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11047054@N08/1012904609/
http://www.artshole.co.uk/siclark.htm

"Now Is The Time" by JIMMY JAMES & THE VAGABONDS, Album: Now (1976)

we just need to open our eyes
Revolution is no solution we ought to realise.

(Now!) Now is the time to set things right

(Now!) Now is the time to see the light
Looking back to see the future
And to rid the age of nuclear
Now is the time to set things right.

Take a look around
what a mess we're living in
God created love
and man
he created sin

Taking from the earth
but never putting in
Now what becomes of man when he has used up everything'

(Now!) Now is the time we should unite. . .

A call for wake up and see our destructive actions towards society, planet and future generations

You can hear this song in youtube

"Sweet Harmony" by Beloved, Album: Conscience (1993)

Is it right or wrong
Try to find a place
We can all belong?
Be as one
Try to get on by
If we unify
We should really try...
All this time
Spinning round and round
Made the same mistakes
That we've always found
Surely now
We could move along
Make a better world?
No it can't be wrong
Let's come together
Right now
Oh yeah
In sweet harmony
Time is running out
Let there be no doubt
We should sort things out
If we care
Like we say we do
Not just empty words
For a week or two
Make the world
Your priority
Try to live your life
Ecologically
Play a part
In a greater scheme
Try to live the dream
On a wider scene
Let's come together
Right now
Oh yeah
In sweet harmony

A call for unity and taking ecological resposibility for our planet.

You can hear this song in youtube

“Silent Revolution” by Grave Digger, album: Liberty or Death (2007)

Don't kneel in the sand, defend your land
The kiss of racism is touching your head
I'm not god, I'm a political man
A leader, a lawyer against tyranny

We're raising our hands against execution
We're heading out for silent revolution
We're trying to resist bloody persecution
We're crying out for silent revolution

Silent revolution
Silent revolution

Spread the words of freedom,
Defend your rights
Our only religion is a peaceful fight
I'm not god, I'm a man of the people
Stand for the children the innocence of life

We're raising our hands against execution
We're heading out for silent revolution
We're trying to resist bloody persecution
We're crying out for silent revolution

Silent revolution
Silent revolution

[Spoken:]
What difference does it make
To the dead, the orphans, and the homeless,
Whether the mad destruction is wrought
Under the name of totalitarianism
Or the holy name of liberty and democracy
And for that I had to died???

A great song, about peaceful revolution or non-violent ways of social resistance. reminding both lyrically and musically 60-70s song styles about freedom and peace. The song is about Mahatma Gandi and his great non-violent revolution, as has been stated by band members.

Also the whole album deals with the struggle for freedom and social justice through human history, overcoming the fear of death and pain that keeps people enslaved in totalitarian regimes. We translate from Greek a Grave Digger’s interview in rockin.gr:

The songs of this album are based on the concept Liberty or Death. It’s all about Historical themes. The homonymous song is about Greek revolt against Ottomans in Crete-Greece. “Ocean of blood” is about Moses and Jews escape from Egypt. “Highland Tears” is about Scottish revolution against England, “Until the last King died” is about French Revolution, “March of the Innocent” is about Jews Holocaust and concentration camps in WW II, “Terrible one” is about the Ivan the terrible, “Silent Revolution” is about Gandhi, “Shadowland” is about America’s fight against Ku-Klux-Klan, “Forecourt to Hell” is about Gladiators and “Massada” is a rock near Israel where a mass suicide took place in ancient times by Zealots rebels in order not to be captured by Roman troops

Είναι βασισμένα στο concept του "Liberty Or Death". Πρόκειται για ιστορικά θέματα. Το "Liberty Or Death" έχει να κάνει με την επανάσταση στην Κρήτη ενάντια στους Τούρκους. Δεν είναι μία ολόκληρη ιστορία, αλλά όλα τα κομμάτια συνδέονται. Όλα τα τραγούδια έχουν, σχετικά, ως θέμα το 'ελευθερία ή θάνατος' (Liberty Or Death). Το "Ocean Of Blood" έχει να κάνει με τον Μωυσή και τη φυγή των Εβραίων από την Αίγυπτο, το "Highland Tears" είναι για τους Σκωτσέζους και τη μάχη τους με τους Άγγλους, το "The Terrible One" σχετίζεται με τον Ivan τον Τρομερό, το "Until The Last King Died" είναι για την Γαλλική επανάσταση, το "March Of The Innocent" είναι για τους Εβραίους και τα στρατόπεδα συγκεντρώσεως, το "Silent Revolution" είναι για τον Gandhi, το "Shadowland" είναι για τους Αμερικανούς που πάλευαν ενάντια στην Ku Klux Klan, το "Forecourt To Hell" είναι για τους Μονομάχους και το "Massada" είναι ένας βράχος κοντά στο Ισραήλ, όπου είχε γίνει μία μαζική αυτοκτονία των Ζηλωτών (μία ειδική ομάδα των ανθρώπων του Ισραήλ) για να μη πέσουν στα χέρια των Ρωμαίων.

Back to comment on the presented song: A mass uprising is much more effective and influential if it is spread with nonviolent means, like that of Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, etc. Every violent revolution in history, when prevailed, has also enstablished repressive status quo or regimes. No one Military National or Social Libertarian Army or Front, or whatever else was called, has ever liberated people! The new boss is same as the old boss! When you break a tree branch in order to make a club for fight you don’t expect it to shoot green again.

You can hear this song in youtube

Album: "Heart of darkness" by Grave Digger (1995)

Dolphin's Cry

Standing on a lonely shore, beauty does unfold
Kissed by the dawning light, the sea is painted gold
Never seen alike before, innocent and pure
We never see, we just destroy, we run this planet down

Living to destroy
Looking with closed eyes
Getting sad - as I understand
I see a dolphin cry

Have you heard, birds greet the day, so full of joy they sing
Remember the smell of forests, the innocence of spring
But we forget and close our eyes, beauty fades away
The big machine must run forever, forget the price we pay.

Everybody makes profit, businesses going well
We buy, we grab, we hold with greed, but how much do we sell
Rich but poor we celebrate, lost the best we've had
I realize but can not change it, getting cold and sad

Pictures of nature in great contrast with human actions of greed, profit and ignorance of what they do to her




Warchild

I'm fighting, I'm killing, just like a man
Sanding, defending, a gun in my hand
Look in my eyes, can't you see they're so cold
I'm a fighter, I'ma warrior, I'm twelve years old
Look like a kid, but I learned how to steal
Play children's games, but my killing is real
Once was a kid, just normal as you were
Then soldiers came, killed and they burned
I lost my home, but I found a gun
I take their livees, just like they have done
You took my dad, you killed, you stole my youth and
Took my mum. You raped. I take your lives now

I'm a little warchild
I kill with an evil smile
I'm a little warchild
I shoot and death you dial

I 'm fighting. I'm killing, just like a man
Standing, defending, a gun in my hand
Once was a kid, just normal as you were
Then Soldiers came, killed and they burned
I lost my home, but found a gun
I take their lives, just like they have done

The tragic fate of children in third world war zones. Never have a happy childhood, once they lost their famillies or they were abducted, they are forced to serve adult interests, by brainwashing their souls using them as premature soldiers full of hatred who are commanded to kill without knowing what they do. We read in wikipedia:

Throughout history and in many cultures, children have been extensively involved in military campaigns even when such practices were supposedly against cultural morals....According to the website of Human Rights Watch as of July 2007:
In over twenty countries around the world, children are direct participants in war. Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers for both rebel groups and government forces in current armed conflicts

You can hear some songs in youtube
Rebellion
The dark of the sun
The last supper

"Dreamer" by Ozzy Osbourne, Album: Down To Earth (2001)

Gazing through the window at the world outside
Wondering if mother earth will survive
Hoping that mankind will stop abusing her, sometime

After all theres just the two of us
And here we are still fighting for our lives
Watching all of history repeat itself, time after time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

I watch the sun go down like everyone of us
Im hoping that the dawn will bring a sign
A better place for those who will come after us this time

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, oh yeah
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days

Your higher power may be God or jesus christ
It doesnt really matter much to me
Without each others help there aint no hope for us
Im living in a dream, a fantasy
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

If only we could just find serenity
It would be nice if we could live as one
When will all this anger, hate and bigotry be gone?

Im just a dreamer, I dream my life away, today
Im just a dreamer, who dreams of better days, ok
Im just a dreamer, whos searching for the way, today
Im just a dreamer, dreaming my life away
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah

A mourning song full of visions and wishes for saving Mother Earth and Humanity from ecological destruction, wars, etc. But such wishes are costless, so do his crocodile tears. If he really wants to do something for the planet he shouldn't have supported George Bush or Margaret Thatcher in 80s.

You can hear this song in youtube

"How many times" by Julian Lennon, Album: Photograph Smile (1998)

How many times must I lead you to water,
how many times must I catch you from grace
and how many times must the lamb go to slaughter,
it seems that things will never change.

How many times can you trust your conviction,
how many times can you feel your own pain
and how many days of your life are prediction,
it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we develop something we've just done
and how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won.

Well, we're always looking, for something new,
but what difference does it make, when there's no point of view,
'cos when you can't even take care of the past,
how do you expect the future to last?

Well, there's people in pain, all over the world,
and if something doesn't change, between man and his world,
say goodbye to all the birds and the bees,
deforestation and the death of the trees,
immunization, as we fall to our knees,
I'm begging you, please! I'm begging you, please!

How many times can we live without loving,
how many times can we choose our own fate
and how many times can we clip the white dove's wing,
it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we sin without savior,
and how many times can we cloud our own truth
and how many times must we judge our own failure,
it seems that things will never change.

How many times can we develop something we've just done
and how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won.

Well, we're always looking, for something new,
but what difference does it make, when there's no point of view,
'cos when you can't even take care of the past,
how do you expect the future to last?

Well, there's people in pain, all over the world,
and if something doesn't change, between man and his world,
say goodbye to all the birds and the bees,
deforestation and the death of the trees,
immunization, as we fall to our knees,
I'm begging you, please! I'm begging you, please!

How many times can we develop something we've just done
and how many times can we re-run the race that we've just won...

A song that wonders how long human will do the same old mistakes, always destructive for himself and environment.

You can hear this song in youtube

“Mother Earth” by Eric Burdon and WAR , Album: Eric Burdon Declares "War" (1970)

Up today, we couldn’t find the lyrics, we think that is about environment, but no matter what it talks about it’s a great song. If anyone can obtain them, please post them as comments


you can hear it live in youtube here

and here with Jimmy Hendrix in guitar

“Closer to the truth” by Tony Joe White, Album: Closer to the Truth (1991)

Strong instinct for survival
Romantically insane
Moving soft along the edge of time
Like a panther in the rain

Manipulated rebels
With a total disregard for the rules
When pride comes tumbling off the great white stallion
You move closer to the truth

And the search continues for the meaning
They build the cathedrals high
But we keep our weapons ready
Looming dark against the sky

They're taking down the rain forest
Changing it to a room without a view
And the big trees fall like dominoes
And we move closer
The eagle watches from the mountain
As the warriors turn into fools
And the dice are thrown on sacred ground
And they move closer to the truth

And who's gonna tell the children
How the rivers used to flow crystal blue
And we keep leaving scars on Mother Earth
And moving closer to the truth

A psychological and philosophical portrait of human beings and their relation and behaviour towards nature. The more they devastate nature the closer they move to the “inconvenient” truth of their declination and extinction.

You can hear this song in youtube

You can hear same songs from this artist in his myspace

"Oh Mother Earth" by Neil Young, album: Raged Glory (1990)

Oh, Mother Earth,
With your fields of green
Once more laid down
by the hungry hand
How long can you
give and not receive
And feed this world
ruled by greed
And feed this world
ruled by greed.

Oh, ball of fire
In the summer sky
Your healing light,
your parade of days
Are they betrayed
by the men of power
Who hold this world
in their changing hands
They hold the world
in their changing hands.

Oh, freedom land
Can you let this go
Down to the streets
where the numbers grow
Respect Mother Earth
and her healing ways
Or trade away
our children's days
Or trade away
our children's days.

Respect Mother Earth
and her healing ways
Or trade away
our children's days.

A call to respect Mother Earth for her beauty, her offerings and for future generations survival and welfare

Neil Young is an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and small farmers, having co-founded in 1985 the benefit concert Farm Aid. We read in wikipedia about his environmental activities and against global poverty:

Farm Aid was organized by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, spurred on by Bob Dylan's comments at Live Aid earlier in that year. (Dylan said, "I hope that some of the money...maybe they can just take a little bit of it, maybe...one or two million, maybe...and use it, say, to pay the mortgages on some of the farms and, the farmers here, owe to the banks....") Nelson and Mellencamp then brought family farmers before Congress to testify about the state of family farming in America. Congress subsequently passed the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to help save family farms from foreclosure.

Today, Farm Aid is an organization that works to increase awareness of the importance of family farms, and puts on an annual concert of country, blues and rock music with a variety of stars. Young's speeches about the environment are a highlight of the annual shows.

Also in wikipedia:

Neil Young, after Buffalo Springfield, solo or together with Crosby, Stills & Nash, used to write lyrics about social issues, like Ohio, Southern Man and Alabama, but also about environmental issues.

You can hear Mother Earth in youtube here and here

“Never turn your back on mother earth” by Sparks, Album: Propaganda (1974)

When she's on her best behaviour
Don't be tempted by her favour
Never turn your back on mother earth

Towns are hurled from a to b
By hands that looked so smooth to me
Never turn your back on mother earth

Grasp at straws that don't want grasping
Gaze at clouds that come down crashing
Never turn your back on mother earth

Three days and two nights away from my friends
Amen to anything that brings a quick return
To my friends
To my friends

Never turn your back on mother earth
I'll admit I was unfaithful
But from now on I'll be more faithful
Never turn your back on mother earth
Never turn your back on mother earth

This song, that has been covered many times since its first release by many artists, is a warning to respect Mother Earth and not to become greedy and exploitative towards her because of her generosity.

You can hear this song in youtube

“The 3 Rs” by Jack Johnson Album: Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies (2006)

Three thats the magic number
yes it is, its a magic number
Two times three is six
and three times six is eighteen
and the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R
There's three Rs we're going to be talking about today

You gotta learn to Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle

If you're going to the market to buy some juice
bring your own bags and you'll learn to reduce your waste
Gotta reduce your waste

And if your brother or your sisters got some cool clothes
try them on before you buy some of those
reuse
you gotta learn to reuse

And if the first two Rs dont work out
and you gotta make some trash, dont throw it out
Recycle
You gotta learn to recycle

You gotta learn to Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle
Reduce Reuse Recycle

'cause three, thats the magic number
yes it is, its a magic number

An educative song for children about the necessity of three Rs (Reduce-Reuse-Rescycle) in our society for environmental protection and sustainable development. We add two more Rs (Restore-Rethink) to complete the R-circle. The whole album is the sountrack of the children's cartoon animated film Curious George

We read about this song from a visitor in the songmeanings site:

JJ played this song at the 1st Kokua Festival and it was cute and catchy. He originally played it for kids at school assemblies. The profits from the 1st festival went to start recycling programs at Oahu schools. I wish I was goin to da 2nd Kokua Festival but all sold out.Somethin interesting: 1% of the profits from his CD, In b/w Dreams, are going to enviro organizations.

You can hear this song in youtube here and here

Album: "Earth songs" by John Denver (1993)

"Earth Day Every Day (Celebrate)"

Celebrate morning—
The cry of a loon on a lake in the night,
The dreams that are born in the dawn's early light . . .
Celebrate morning.

Celebrate living—
The laughter that sings in the heart of a child,
The freedom that flies at the call of the wild . . .
Celebrate living.

Celebrate evening—
The stars that appear in the loss of the sun,
Whispering winds, 'We are one, we are one' . . .

CHORUS
Celebrate Earth Day, every day,
Celebrate Earth Day, every day . . .
Celebrate land and sea,
Celebrate you and me—
Celebrate Earth Day, every day . . .


Ravens child

Ravens child
Is chasing salvation
Black beak turned white
From the crack and the snow
On the streets of despair
The answer is simple
A spoonful of mercy
Can set free the soul

The drug king sits
On his arrogant throne
Away and above and apart
Even children
Are twisted to serve him
And greed has corrupted
What once was a heart

Ravens child
Keeps vigil for freedom
Trades for the arms
That once made her strong
With nuclear warheads
And lasers in heaven
fear does the choosing
Between right and wrong

The arms king sits
On his arrogant throne
Away and above and apart
Bankers assure him
That he neednt care
And greed makes a stone of
What once was a heart

Ravens child
Is washing the water
All of her wing-feathers
Blackened with tar
Prince William shorelines
An unwanted highway
Of asphalt and anger
An elegant scar

The oil king sits
On his arrogant throne
Away and above and apart
Lawyers have warned him
He mustnt speak
And greed has made silent
What once was a heart

You know there are walls
That come tumbling down
For people who yearn to be free
Still there are hearts
That long to be opened
And eyes that are longing to see

Ravens child is our constant companion
Sticks like a shadow
To all that is done
Try as we may
We just cant escape him
The source of our sorrow and shame
We are one

The true King sits
On a heavenly throne
Never away nor above nor apart
With wisdom and mercy
And constant compassion
He lives in the love
That lives in our hearts

These previously unreleased songs were firstly appeared in this compilation album dedicated to environmental protection.

We read about this album in cdciao:

The album is a collection of songs written and performed by John Denver.
Denver performed at the Earth Day celebrations on April 22nd 1990 in Washington. He sang a selection of ecology-themed tunes, which he later recorded for the album Earth Songs. The proceeds from sales went to the National Wildlife Federation. The tracks chosen for the album reflect John Denver’s interest in nature.

John once said of his music, “My purpose in performing is to communicate the joy I experience in living”. His popularity soared and John began to express own feelings more through his songs. He was one of the first artists to share environmental message through his music. In a 1995 interview, Denver stated. "When I write a song, I want to take the personal experience or observation that inspired it and express it in as universal a way as possible. I'm a global citizen. I've created that for myself, and I don't want to step away from it. I want to work in whatever I do…towards a world in balance, a world that creates a better quality of life for all people."

In the same site you can read about the rest of the songs that are included and we have already presented or we are going to present later.

The second song written exactly after Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska)talks about lust for greed and power which is the source of any evil and disaster (drugs, war, environmental disaster, dictatorship, etc) and the only solution is to awake and fight for the right and bring down not only the walls that separate us, but also the images of those who considered the kings of our times.

You can hear these songs in youtube:

Earth day everyday (Celebrate)

Ravens child with a very interesting video that follows the lyrics themes.