As it is fifty years since the song Big Yellow Taxi was released, here is a list of songs addressing environmental issues, in one way or another, since then to now. There seemed to be a flurry of high profile eco-songs in 1970 and 1971.
In a way, this list shows how long society has been aware of the looming environmental crisis we are now deep in, without any significant political action being taken. A point that Greta Thunberg keeps making!
See the opening, main, post on this blog for a discussion on why the rise of eco-folk is of interest (to me).
I will try to add links and track down other songs. Suggestions welcome. Thanks to Annelise Franck for a number of suggestions thus far.
This includes some finds from
7 Songs for the Anthropocene on Medium.Com
#EcoList of Things We Love
1969, Survival, Yes.
1970: Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell; Ape Man, Kinks; After the Gold Rush, Neil Young; Hungry Planet, The Byrds; Out in the Country, Three Dog Night. Hungry Planet, The Byrds; Out in the Country, Three Dog Night; Nature’s way, Spirit; Dark Now My Sky, Barclay James Harvest.
1971: Don’t Go near The Water, Beach Boys, Mercy Mercy (The ecology), Marvin Gay; Poison MC5.
1972:
1973: Mama Nature Said, Thin Lizzy.
1974: Death of Mother Nature Suite, Kansas.
1975: Save the Whales, Country Joe McDonald ; Calypso, John Denver; Radio Activity, Kraftwerk.
1976: Nobody’s Fault, Aerosmith; Pull the whole thing down, John Miles; The Last resort, Don Henley.
1977:
1978: Enough about Human Rights, Moon Dog; Don’t Kill the Whale, Yes; The Day the World Turned Day-Glo, X-Ray Spex.
1979:
1980: The Wait, Killing Joke.
1981: Can’t happen here, Rainbow.
1982:
1983:
1984:
1985:
1986: Cuyahoga, R.E.M.
1987: Nothing but Flowers, Talking Heads; Chemi-kill, Exodus; Time Will Crawl, David Bowie.
1988: It’s Alright, Pet Shop Boys.
1989: Hard Day on the Planet, Loudon Wainwright III; Save Our Planet Earth, Jimmy Cliff; “Breathe” by Ministry.
1990: Oh Mother Earth, Neil Young; Earth Day Every Day (Celebrate), John Denver; Pass It On Down, Alabama.
1991: Saltwater, Julian Lennon; Conviction of the Heart, Kenny Loggins; Wind on the Water, Graham Nash; Hymn of the Big Wheel, Massive Attack with Horace Andy & Neneh Cherry.
1992: Song For A dying Planet, Joe Walsh (of The Eagles); Bear Up Bison, Shonen Knife.
1993:
1994: Sex Kills, Joni Mitchell.
1995: Earth Song, Michael Jackson
1996:
1997:
1998:
1999: New World Water, Mos Def.
2000:
2001: Time Is Ticking Out, The Cranberries; Johnny Appleseed, Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros.
2002:
2003:
2004: Stone River, J. J. Cale.
2005: S.O.S. (Mother Nature), Will.I.Am.
2006 : The 3 R’s, Jack Johnson.
2007: Flying, Seize the Day.
2008: Another World, Antony and the Johnsons; Nattura, Bjork; Gasoline, Sheryl Crow; The Devil’s Beat, Sandi Thom.
2009: Mother Nature Goes To Heaven, a-ha; Do The Joy, Air.
2010: Plastic Beach, Gorillaz; Eyes Wide Open, Gotye; Peaceful Valley Boulevard, Neil Young.
2011: Sacrifice (and other songs on the CD Biophilia), Björk.
2012: Unsustainable, Muse; Explorers, Muse; Wolf, First Aid Kit.
2013: Pass It Along , Scott Cook; Nuala Honan Wake and Howl.
2014: Who’s gonna stand up? Neil Young.
2015: Spores all settling, Silver John, This is the kit; Silent Spring/The Numbers, Thom Yorke/Radiohead. Animals, Al O’Kane.
2016: Why did you separate me from the earth?, 4 Degrees, Anohni; Tunnel Vision, Kate Tempest; Anthrocene, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; Blue Lullaby, BE.
2017: Inspired, Miley Cyrus; Fragments, Jack Johnson; My Name is Ruin, Gary Numan; Truth Turn To Power, One Republic.
2018: SUDAN (dedicated to the last Northern White Rhino)(and 7 other extinction songs), Anna lee + Mariajosé; Truth Be Told, Shama Rahman; Despite Repeated Warnings, Paul McCartney.
2019: Extinction Rebellion! Right Now! Right Here!, Peggy Seeger; On Fire, Where We Belong, Inanna; Blessing, The Lost Words; Earth Li’l Dicky + guests; Let nature Sing, RSPB.
2020: Flux (CD) Rachel Dadd inc the songs, LANGUAGE OF WATER ; ANIMAL; PALAEONTOLOGIST; SUPER MOON MACHINE; CONNECTED TO THE ROCK. See separate post on this here
Songs for Climate Change, Ecocide, and Extinction Rebellion 