Songs about climate change or a deteriorating environment

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Roisin Murphy - dear Miami
St Vincent - fear the future

Melt banana - cracked plaster cast

“An earth sized trash can, where can I get one?”

after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:09 (seven years ago)

Anohni - 4 Degrees

i'm surprised to see your screwface at the door (NickB), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:18 (seven years ago)

Canned Heat, "So Sad (The World's In A Tangle)"

(Henry) Green container bin with face (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:19 (seven years ago)

Going back a bit, there are lots of Earth Day-era songs highlighting polluted creeks and so on - e.g. Jean Ritchie's "Black Waters," or R.E.M.'s later "Cuyahoga." Or are you looking for more contemporary things focused on our ongoing global disaster situation? Father John Misty's "Now I'm Learning To Love The War" is about the anxieties/burdens of fossil fuel consumption...

explosion from DOOM courtesy of id software (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:20 (seven years ago)

Yes, lots of hippie era ecological warning songs, like the Canned Heat one.

(Henry) Green container bin with face (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:21 (seven years ago)

Helena Tulve - Sula (Estonian for 'thaw'):

https://soundcloud.com/helena_tulve/helena-tulve-sula-thaw

A gradually, cataclysmically melting glacier embodied by the orchestra. The composer made the connection with climate change explicit in her program notes.

pomenitul, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:25 (seven years ago)

Marvin Gaye - 'Mercy Mercy Me'
Led Zeppelin - 'That's the Way'

Across the You Never Her (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:31 (seven years ago)

Whole album of such stuff : Earth Rot by David Axelrod.

mark e, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:37 (seven years ago)

I think the latest Gary Numan is about this

frogbs, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:38 (seven years ago)

Tree - "Whales"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbtoZdA0vBI

Plant a tree or die, peckahead!

Mungolian Jerryset (bendy), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:40 (seven years ago)

Spirit, "Nature's Way"

(Henry) Green container bin with face (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:41 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQUvbDY8fuw

Heavy Messages (jed_), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 17:55 (seven years ago)

Metallica - Blackened

how's life, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:10 (seven years ago)

Doctor - feel free to add those, basically any songs that talk about a corroded environment past or present are good too

after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:13 (seven years ago)

Doctor - feel free to add those, basically any songs that talk about a corroded environment past or present are good too

after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:13 (seven years ago)

Sorry for the double post

after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:14 (seven years ago)

Captain Beefheart, "Blabber 'n' Smoke"

(Henry) Green container bin with face (Tom D.), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:16 (seven years ago)

Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-hot-in-herre-became-a-climate-change-anthem

Philip Nunez, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:19 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJchayYlr-c

Tiny Tim - The Ice Caps Are Melting

Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:31 (seven years ago)

eh sorry thats a weird remix

Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:32 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DEoOdcYKbc

Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:32 (seven years ago)

the day after tomorrow by tom waits

flappy bird, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:35 (seven years ago)

Ænema by tool

flappy bird, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:36 (seven years ago)

The entire recorded output of Renaissance

imago, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 18:37 (seven years ago)

Spirit, "Nature's Way"

Yes, my favorite.

kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:17 (seven years ago)

Randy Newman - Burn On

kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:18 (seven years ago)

Michel Berger - 'Le paradis blanc'

pomenitul, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:39 (seven years ago)

Talk Talk's music videos always give me this vibe but the lyrics themselves don't really bear it out all that much.

pomenitul, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:43 (seven years ago)

Deee-Lite - I Had a Dream I Was Falling Through a Hole in the Ozone Layer
Dramarama - What Are We Gonna Do?

how's life, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:45 (seven years ago)

Massive Attack - "Hymn of the Big Wheel"

Meme Imfurst (Leee), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:46 (seven years ago)

Swamp Dogg's 'The World Beyond' is kinda generally post-apocalyptic. Hints of environmental disaster but just a general sense of the world being beyond fucked.

Across the You Never Her (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 19:57 (seven years ago)

sorry to be the guy who posts a radiohead song, but "in bloom"

map, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 20:55 (seven years ago)

And 'The Numbers', maybe?

pomenitul, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 21:03 (seven years ago)

Pixies “Monkey Gone to Heaven”

startled macropod (MatthewK), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 21:07 (seven years ago)

three hours in and no-one's said depeche mode yet - did i just log into fake ilx or something?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0B_j7d6nmA

i'm surprised to see your screwface at the door (NickB), Wednesday, 18 April 2018 21:09 (seven years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esFrzK7tAJs

90s hip house spells it out for you...with claymation sperm.

Siegbran, Wednesday, 18 April 2018 21:44 (seven years ago)

the entirety of "tomorrow's harvest" by boards of canada

a whole slew of generally not-very-good songs by the beach boys

ziggy the ginhead (rushomancy), Thursday, 19 April 2018 00:01 (seven years ago)

Joni's "Big Yellow Taxi", of course.

Someone has already mentioned Anohni's "4 Degrees" but I'd also add Antony and the Johnsons' "Another World".

ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Thursday, 19 April 2018 08:18 (seven years ago)

a whole slew of generally not-very-good songs by the beach boys

"A Day In The Life Of A Tree" is GREAT !
It breaks my hear everytime...

AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 April 2018 10:01 (seven years ago)

eheh "heart"

AlXTC from Paris, Thursday, 19 April 2018 10:01 (seven years ago)

We got department stores and toilet paper, styrofoam garbage for the ozone layer. Keep on rocking in the free world.

BrianB, Thursday, 19 April 2018 11:52 (seven years ago)

Talking Heads - Nothing but Flowers

afriendlypioneer, Thursday, 19 April 2018 12:09 (seven years ago)

After The Gold Rush - "look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970's"

bhad bhabie...you gon' hurt your bhack (voodoo chili), Thursday, 19 April 2018 12:57 (seven years ago)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - All I Can Do Is Write About It

Did you ever see a she-gator protect her young
Or a fish in a river swimming free
Did you ever see the beauty of the hills of Carolina
Or the sweetness of the grass in Tennessee
And lord I can't make any changes
All I can do is write 'em in a song
I can see the concrete slowly creepin'
Lord take me and mine before that comes

how's life, Thursday, 19 April 2018 12:58 (seven years ago)

three years pass...

Cliff Richard actually had not one but two hit singles in the early 70s about ecological issues, not very big hits admittedly (coincidentally both written by Hank Marvin).

"The Joy of Living" (1970) (An anti-car song and not a great one, but I dig that weird sound at the start and about halfway through, is that you Hank?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMFsU01X6Bg

"Silvery Rain" (1972) (About pesticides! A much better song.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQrz2oaTcf0

Où est Lee Mason de fromage? (Tom D.), Saturday, 16 April 2022 20:20 (three years ago)

And, of course, from 1971, who can forget "Don't Let It Die" by Hurricane Smith!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td217K_Zosw

Où est Lee Mason de fromage? (Tom D.), Saturday, 16 April 2022 20:29 (three years ago)

john mayall's ten tips for preventing ecological disaster:

https://i.discogs.com/inOI-BfqP7rRneJNIcgYykHOB_YmgDNoBFqQwcagEqs/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:599/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIxOTk2/MTUtMTU5NTMyNzY0/MC0yNzc5LmpwZWc.jpeg

no lime tangier, Saturday, 16 April 2022 20:36 (three years ago)

I guess it's more about nuclear war than environmental degradation, but CSN's "Wooden Ships."

immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Saturday, 16 April 2022 20:40 (three years ago)

I'm thinking there were a lot of these songs in the late 60s/early 70s and not that many in the 80s - I suppose they were associated with hippies. The 80s were more about nuclear destruction.

Où est Lee Mason de fromage? (Tom D.), Saturday, 16 April 2022 20:56 (three years ago)

London is drowning and i live by the river...

koogs, Sunday, 17 April 2022 09:29 (three years ago)

Ecosongs

the pinefox, Sunday, 17 April 2022 11:42 (three years ago)

Julian Lennon - Saltwater

Agnes, Agatha, Germaine and Jack (Willl), Sunday, 17 April 2022 13:59 (three years ago)

two years pass...

I'm thinking there were a lot of these songs in the late 60s/early 70s and not that many in the 80s - I suppose they were associated with hippies. The 80s were more about nuclear destruction.

The New Seekers from 1973. Written by Cook & Greenaway who seemed to specialize in repackaging countercultural talking points for variety show audiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU9fI_ORBvI

Please play Lou Reed's irritating guitar sounds (Tom D.), Saturday, 22 March 2025 12:46 (nine months ago)

not specifically about environmental issues, but still quite relevant imo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxrNlBty5BE

chris dedrick ― "brown horizon" (early 1970s)

Constance Mischievous (Austin), Saturday, 22 March 2025 15:46 (nine months ago)

Chills, "Pink Frost" (and others)

Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 22 March 2025 15:57 (nine months ago)

Bruce Cockburn - If a Tree Falls
Adrian Belew - Men in Helicopters
Yes - Don't Kill the Whale

Kim, Saturday, 22 March 2025 20:44 (nine months ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhdiOJ6N7E

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 22 March 2025 22:33 (nine months ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1isL2MgGYhM

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 22 March 2025 22:37 (nine months ago)

every song by Earth Crisis

Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 22 March 2025 22:39 (nine months ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8t8g8lU4ms

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 22 March 2025 22:39 (nine months ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJB1jx27Yi4

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Saturday, 22 March 2025 22:42 (nine months ago)


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