In case anyone missed my epic #ClimateRocks thread last year, with 25 songs about #climatechange, I've collected it all together in two posts on my blog:
#ClimateSongs
Part 1: https://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2023/06/climate-rocks/
Part 2: https://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2024/02/climate-rocks-again/
We had Midnight Oil earlier in the thread, with Beds are Burning, which is often assumed to be about climate change, but is really about Indigenous Land rights. Given their legacy of protest songs, it's not surprising the band have turned their full attention to climate change.
Nearly all the songs on the new album deal with the climate crisis in some way, so give the whole thing a listen.
(Thanks to @takvera for alerting me to this album)
https://progressiverockcentral.com/2022/02/20/midnight-oil-resist/
#ClimateRocks #ClimateSongs
Last #ClimateRocks of the year. After a year of record temperatures, and useless climate policy negotiations, what could be more fitting than #MidnightOil's "Rising Seas", from their 2022 album Resist (featuring the warming stripes on the cover).
"Every child put down your toys/
And come inside to sleep/
We have to look you in the eye and say we sold you cheap/
Let's confess we did not act
With serious urgency/
So open up the floodgates
To the rising seas"
Midnight Oil – Rising Seas (Official Video) ‘Rising Seas’ Available Now: https://MidnightOil.lnk.to/RisingSeas Join Mailing list - https://eepurl.com/cBpcov ...
Macy's verse on climate change is pretty straightforward:
"All I want for Christmas is to have a chance /
So please take care of the environment /
Take Mr. Gore more seriously /
And do what you can to stop global warming"
The Mr Gore reference dates it a bit, but then it praises "Barack", and:
"I hope that your successor
Does the things he or she should /
That Mr. Trump, he's an entertaining guy /
But let's face it, really is he qualified?
Understated, perhaps?
This week's #ClimateRocks is a festive tune from #MacyGray, called "All I Want for Christmas".
It's packed full of sensible Christmas wishes:
"All I want for Christmas is a whole bunch of stuff /
But anything that you can buy me won't be enough /
'Cause everything I'm hoping for is intangible /
Like free health care and gun control"
Makes me wonder why there aren't more seasonal songs like this. Too earnest?
Ela's music is usually described as electro-pop, but I much prefer the term DIY techno-punk I saw in one review. Or, as she describes it: "bright music for dark times".
Megapunk is the perfect upbeat protest song:
"We can’t seem to find /
A reason to stay quiet /
We’re afraid we’ll run out of time"
and
"You don't want to understand /
You're choosing to lead us apart /
But against all odds /
You still won't make us stop"
For this week's #ClimateRocks, to mark the passing of another useless COP meeting, we need a protest song: Ela Minus with Megapunk, from her 2020 album "Acts of Rebellion".
On the album version, there's no other voices than Ela's own lyrics ("You won't make us stop"), but when she play it live, she mixes in other voice samples, so I'm sharing this version which includes samples from a Greta Thunberg speech.
Amazing how many #ClimateSongs Greta has inspired!
It's not actually Greta, but channels her style almost perfectly. The voice is Marta Wojtas, who does backing vocals and writes all the lyrics for the band.
The song is about our need for heroes, and the internal struggles faced by those in the climate movement that we treat as heroes.
It's perhaps my favourite song in the entire thread so far.
This week's #ClimateRocks is a lovely melodic rock song called "Hero", from the Polish band Amarok. It starts out with what sounds like a fragment from a Greta Thunberg speech:
"Now the eyes of all generations are upon you.
The planet is dying, destroyed, sick of consumerism.
Most people don't even notice it".
Take a listen - it's a gorgeous song...
Interestingly, #Pitbull's songs do not contain environmental messages, he just names his albums that way:
2012: "Global Warming"
2014: "Globalization"
2017: "Climate Change"
In interviews, he says: "If I made a record about [climate change], nobody would listen to it. I make records for people to have a good time, [...] but with the titles, they start to connect the dots like a treasure hunt that I put together for them
Pitbull sat down with Radio.com recently to discuss “Climate Change” — his new album and the global threat, which he pays close attention to. He also talked about the movie of the…
Steve Easterbrook