There are different types of music created to cater to the different tastes and moods of people of all ages.
Every good movement does require music to convey the message very clearly. A good number of populations across the globe love to hear music.
Environmental activists have been trying to make their voices heard by the global leaders and the citizens of the countries spread across the world about growing environmental concerns.
There are hundreds of songs about nature produced from time immemorial.
The below-given playlist does highlights the importance of nature and the environment. Each one showcases the need for immediate action to be taken to undo the wrongdoings to nature by the human being as a whole.
The list comprises of songs about nature, the environment, and ecology and does cut across different musical generations and genres. The songs produced do mean a lot to those who do care for the environment.
Table of Contents
Top 16 songs about nature
OneRepublic – ‘Truth to Power’
This pop song created in 2017 is quite beautiful. You should listen to it right now. This song depicts our heart, showcasing human-like terms. Here, the aging loved one offers a reminder through his song of her being in an increasingly weak and frail state, vulnerable towards assaults of humanity. Before it gets extremely late, our Earth does seek immediate action to change for the better.
Marvin Gaye – ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ – The Ecology
The narrator in this R&B song dating back to 1971 years for simpler, pure time. He laments about the damage caused by human beings to our dear Earth. He stresses poisoned air, radiation, overcrowding and oil spills. He also wonders what exactly have we committed and how much the Earth is still to withstand.
Michael Jackson – ‘Earth Song’
This is among the popular songs about nature, where the narrator depicts a crying Earth and heavens falling. It was regarded to be the international chart-topper in 1995.
The earth is affected severely by war, environmental devastation and pollution taking its toll. He wonders if there is sufficient time left to undo whatever destructive course we have undertaken. The song is socially conscious and is considered to be Michael Jackson’s last song that he sang before his death in 2009.
Counting Crows ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ featuring Vanessa Carlton
It is among the most listened songs about nature, where the narrator clearly states that people will not know about the beautiful Earth’s destruction until it is gone forever. This is indeed the sad truth about nature.
Originally, the song was recorded by Joni Mitchell, the folk singer in 1970. Later, in 2003, it was revived and became a sensational, international hit.
The song depicts how a plot of land that appeared like a paradise got paved in course of time for the progress of mankind, only to become a pink hotel, parking lot, night club and boutique. Farmers are also asked to not use DDT since the narrator prefers to have imperfect apples to satisfy his hunger rather than having poisoned ones.
Alabama – ‘Pass It Down’
The Alabama country group in these 1990 songs about nature depicts that humans have just borrowed the environment until it is passed on to the next generation. Hence, it is our moral responsibility and duty to protect and preserve the oceans, forests and air, allowing our children and future generations to enjoy them.
At the same time, the song also emphasizes the detrimental effect that may be resulted from unsafe drinking water, acid rain, deforestation, ocean trash and hole created in the ozone layer. Through the song, the narrator tries to motivate all human beings to act immediately without any further delay to protect the beautiful Earth.
Gotye – ‘Eyes Wide Open’
This is one of the popular songs about nature, where the narrator asks listeners if they are ready to contribute towards making necessary changes, to protect the world from disaster.
This pop song created in 2015 is ironically catchy. It provides a warning message to us, humans, about Earth’s destruction. The song also points towards the end of civilization, indicating it is humans, who are the main cause for their own self-destruction, doing wrong things and carrying out harmful activities with eyes wide open.
Madonna – ‘4 Minutes’ featuring Timbaland and Justin Timberlake
It is one of the popular dance-pop songs about nature created in 2008 having little lyrical depth. The message depicted through this song is quite clear and not much time is left for saving the world. Urgency is created in this song to take immediate action to encourage us to take proper and correct action without any further delay.
Jackson Browne – ‘Doctor My Eyes’
This pop song was produced way back in 1972, where the narrator depicts a sad person. Some believe that it was the totality of living and others state that it to be the effects of war. Whatever be it, he has witnessed destruction and evil that persists in the world, wrecking his idealism. In this song, he takes the help of a doctor but realizes that he has only become hardened, thus leaving him to accept his fate. The narrator states why to be this guy! You need to get busy and survive.
Joe Jonas & Demi Lovato – ‘Make Little Wave’
This song was produced in 2009 and is about social activism. The song emphasizes the activities that can be undertaken by a determined person, introducing small changes, which is likely to impact the world including those in it. Young Disney stars had taken an initiative to come up with this tune to benefit wildlife organizations and environmental conservation.
John Denver – ‘Rocky Mountain High’
The kind of thrill that can be derived on the Rockies is best understood by those who have already ventured to this place. This soft rock tune was produced in 1972 and is among the two-state official songs of Colorado! It describes beautifully the stunning mountains while lamenting the kind of destruction that economic development in the region had brought about. Presently. Tourism forms the major industry here in Colorado and is known to generate $80+ billion annually in revenue, which is rather termed to be a curse & blessing alike.
R.E.M – ‘Fall on Me’
Produced in 1986, this was one of the early songs of R.E.M and was about impacts caused due to acid rain and about environmentalism. The result of acid rain and pollutants tends to damage infrastructure, aquatic life, freshwater and forests. Even pains are peeled, stone statues get eroded and steel bridges get corroded.
Imagine Dragons – ‘Radioactive’
Nature is likely to cease being what it is if we do not take care and continue the harm that we are doing to it. This electro-rock song was produced in 2012 and depicts a message of human beings causing harm to the environment, resulting in destruction, which leaves behind a radioactive wasteland. The song further depicts an image of the post-apocalyptic world, which is surrounded by dust and ash, where people and animals alike are breathing in dangerous, toxic chemicals.
John Anderson – ‘Seminole Wind’
The sunshine state presently is a tourist hot spot. But once it was the home for Seminole Indians. The song was produced in 1992 and bemoans draining of Florida Everglades. It also laments of the native Indians who were removed forcibly from their lands on the pretext of economic development and flood control. The song does compel you to think about bygone mistakes committed and losses that were suffered in the region.
The Cranberries – ‘Time Ticking Out’
It is important on our part to realize the kind of impact on the environment on a global scale caused by our harmful actions before there is no point of return. The indie-rock song produced in 2002 depicts a sense of urgency, providing a reference to the hole created in the ozone layer, radiation, and Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The song further blames the inaction of politicians in taking adequate and timely steps and human gluttony. The narrator also fears that our children will be forced to survive in an environment that is already ravaged due to pollution.
Metallica – ‘Blackened’
Even Metal Rockers are concerned about our environment. This metal song was produced in 1991, personifying the planet, featuring the painful death of our planet Earth due to our callousness. It is our selfish, unrestricted actions that tend to catapult our planet towards blistering obscurity, thereby obliterating life in it.
Dave Matthews Band – ‘Don’t Drink Water’
Being among the popular songs about nature, this rock song was produced in 1998. It is considered to be a tribute to America’s native people. The encroaching European colonists had devastated and persecuted the entire community from their land. The non-native narrator looks forwards to relocate the current buildings and inhabitants which stand tall on this once-sacred land. Being filled with greed, hatred including an insatiable appetite for more expansion, the narrator feels that the land is not his and water is filled with their blood.
Besides the above list, there are also more songs about nature that you can get to hear that show concerns for Earth and the future of human beings.
