Eco-communities as a social vision

Eco-communities as a social vision
Egalitarian and ecological communities, like the pictured East Wind (www.eastwind.org), are very close to our vision of an ecological society

26 February, 2009

“PIECE OF GREEN” by Minimal Compact, album: The Figure One Cuts (1987)


I can't take you swimming the Rhein
Gas escapes... Bad air... Dying grass
Places out of bounds
Red sign tells you

Take me to the round around around
All across the universe it is spreading no reverse
Can we find a better place- more clean- more green

I can't take you out in this town
Foggy poison hunts people down
Places out of bounds
Red sign tells you

Take me to the round around around
All across the universe it is spreading no reverse
Can we find a better place- more clean- more green


Thanks to our friend MpinelikoMistress we present a beautiful song about environmental pollution from Minimal Compact. Small everyday pieces of joy were lost forever in a highly polluted urban environment. Once, when cities were smaller, rivers and countryside were clean for swimming and walking, now are heavy polluted making people depressed like prisoners with a strong feeling for escaping as far as they can from this situation.

You can hear some songs in myspace and youtube

16 February, 2009

“Do The Evolution” by Pearl Jam, Album: Yield (1998)


Woo..
I'm ahead, I'm a man
I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in God I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby

I'm at piece, I'm the man
Buying stocks on the day of the crash
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills, I'll flatten 'em out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh
It's evolution, baby

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby

I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir:
(hallelujah, hallelujah)

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, admire my clones
'Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast
Those ignorant Indians got nothin' on me
Nothin', why?
Because... it's evolution, baby!

I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher
2010, watch it go to fire
It's evolution, baby
Do the evolution
Come on, come on, come on


A song sarcasm to the silly feelings of superiority through a linear perception of evolution towards more wiser forms of life. That’s why we humanoids named ourselves Homo sapiens. But the reality seems to be the opposite as Pearl Jam sing and show in their video clip.

You can hear this song and see the cartoonish videoclip in youtube

13 February, 2009

“Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver, Album: Rocky Mountain High (1972)


He was born in the summer of his 27th year,
coming home to a place he'd never been before.
He left yesterday behind him
you might say he was born again,
might say he found a key for every door.

When he first came to the mountains
His life was far away
on the road and hanging by a song.
But the strings already broken
and he doesn't really care,
it keeps changin' fast, and it don't last for long.

It's a Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
The shadows from the starlight are softer than a lullabye.
Rocky Mountain High, ...in Colorado....
Rocky Mountain High.

He climbed cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below,
saw everything as far as you can see.
And they say that he got crazy once and that he
tried to touch the sun,
and he lost a friend, but kept the memory.

Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the stream,
seeking grace in every step he takes,
his sight is turned inside himself, to try and
understand, the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake.

And the Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply.
Rocky Mountain High, ....in Colorado....
Rocky Mountain High.

Now his life is full of wonder,
but his heart still knows some fear,
of the simple things he can not comprehend.
Why they try to tear the mountains down
to bring in a couple more.
More people, more scars upon the land.

It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I've seen it raining fire in the sky
I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an Eagle fly
Rocky mountain high
It's the Colorado Rocky Mountain High,
I've seen it raining fire in the sky.
Friend around the camp fire and everybody's high....
Rocky Mountain High, Rocky Mountain High,


A song about a man who goes to live in nature and especially in a mountainous area, where he lives a new spiritual condition: the relation with nature, but he realizes that humans not only cause destruction to this wildlife, but even as tourists and visitors. More people, more scars upon the land. A similar view is expressed in his similar song we have already presented Rocky Mountain Suite.

You can hear this song in youtube

10 February, 2009

Album: “Elements” by Atheist (1993)


Green

Suddenly all turns to green!!
(whisper) And a forest cracks a smile
A seed conceals an important part
Of the way we see, the world is ought to be
Plants and trees, initiate the air we breathe
And give us more than they receive
Often times, rooting their stability
The way that they ought to be
But sometimes cut down!

In recent years, the peace upon the greenery
Has fallen to machinery
Tree sap tears, dried upon the slaughtered
Bark,
Yes man has really made his mark
It's plain to see, the land as it used to be
Is gone for eternity
The cypress cries loud!!
Beauty bears the colour green!!



Air

The air stirs up the galaxy!
Be!!!.........
The crosswinds of forever become me and place me on
The porch of the breeze
Without my sounds would be silent
No gullible gusts through the trees
Carrying seasons to bring us
The atmosphere we all can enjoy and we destroy

The blur on the horizon disturbs me
It casts a disguise on the sun
In the end it's the wind that will weaken
And the human goes from billions to none
The wind will regain all its motion
And clear the air for the following to...(breathe)
(spoken) The breeze of; a new creation
Moving clouds, from everywhere
Sensing a rainy stare
Smelling the moisture in the air
In the air.

The weather can be deemed as deceiving
To predict the unpredictability
The passion that it peels for the ocean
Air and water sharing laughter
A bond between two forces of nature
All to live and breathe
The breeze of a new creation
Breathe
The breeze of a new creation.


Earth

A bounded sphere of wisdom
Spinning to create the now
Upon it all will wonder who, what, where, and how
Liquid covers most of her features
Sunlight covers one site at a time
Breathes in to keep everything closer
So it's never far away from
"Earth"!!! That little planet on the hill
Turning out days to guide by
Each with its own display
Some with voltage spinning from the skytop
Some with light in a peaceful way
An appearance second to no other
Such a magnificent face
So broad and full of perspective
Known to everyone as...
"Earth"!!! That little planet on the hill
Seems Earth could last forever
But for us it's not the same
The neglect to protect the creation
Leaves us little chance to remain
All in all it seems to go around in circles
Like the path followed by the moon
Enhanced by the human evolution
The wisdom of the
"Earth"!!! That little planet on the hill


Elements

I tip my hat to the creation
And its rewarding disposition
Formed by something
Lacking nothing here
Something so divine
A spectacle of "Elements"
Enjoying all the warmth of fire
Longing for the breeze of morning air
Douse myself with the purest water
Something so divine
The spectacle of Elements

As storms approach the mineral
Bringing the nutrients for the green
They feed the lakes of our mother Earth
Sharing forces for the living
Yes the caption seems to be complete
Our gratitude lacks sincerity

We filter our pollution through the selfish
Declaration of only our independence,
Not concerned about the Elements!


An album dedicated to the four elements of Nature, and other natural features like Animal and plant life, minerals, etc as life supporters. In many songs the destructive intervention of humans in nature is pointed.

You can hear some songs from this album in youtube:
Green
Animal
Air
Elements

06 February, 2009

"World On Fire" by Sarah McLachlan, Album: Afterglow (2003)

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in, yeah I'll try to hold it in

The world's on fire and
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
(Try and bring my share)
I try to bring more
More than I can handle
(Bring it to the table)
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take, the less we become
The fortune of one that means less for some


A melancholic song about world situation. It was performed in a very interesting video clip with a clever message about our consuming expenses, usually spending large amounts for useless things. We read in wikipedia about this video clip:

The video for "World on Fire" opens with the claim of having cost $150,000, despite the ensuing low-quality footage of McLachlan in a plain room playing her guitar. The video continues to reveal it actually cost $15, then tracking (in animated and videotaped segments) how the remainder went to enriching lives all around the globe through charity donations.
The eleven charitable organizations McLachlan chose to donate the production costs of the World On Fire are Carolina for Kibera, Comic Relief, CARE USA, DORCAS, Engineers Without Borders (Canada), Help the Aged, Film Aid, War Child, Heifer International, ITDG, and Action Aid.
The video was inspired by a letter from an Engineers Without Borders (Canada) volunteer.
You can see this video clip and hear the song in youtube

03 February, 2009

“Walk On” by U2, Album: All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)


And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring...
And love is not the easy thing...
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got, they can't steal it
No they can't even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight...

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can't deny it
Can't sell it or buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches
And your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Home...hard to know what it is if you never had one
Home...I can't say where it is but I know I'm going home
That's where the heart is

I know it aches
How your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on, walk on

Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme...


Another song by U2 that is dedicated to another non-violent hero, Burmanese politician Aung San Suu Kyi, “a pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy , and a noted prisoner of conscience and advocate of nonviolent resistance”. She has been kept home prisoned since 1989, after many persecutions and detentions by military Junta in Myanmar, and prohibitions of seeing her close relatives. We read about this song in wikipedia:

The song was written about and dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi. It is written in the form of a supporting, uplifting anthem, praising her for her activism and fighting for freedom in Burma. She has been intermittently under house arrest since 1989 for her efforts. Due to the political tribute of this album, those in Burma caught with possession of either the single for this song or the album All That You Can't Leave Behind could face a prison sentence lasting between three and twenty years.
You can hear this song in youtube, HERE and HERE