# Songs with an ecological message **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977 "2019-06-03T20:57:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/21 "2019-06-04T04:08:33Z")
[Save the World](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuindk2y804) - George Harrison [The Trees Are All Gone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRKHTXCoJOk) - Roger McGuinn [Don’t Go Near The Water](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjZES3_SSYA) - The Beach Boys ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/22 "2019-06-04T04:15:59Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > “Save the Whales” by Country Joe McDonald Which reminded me of: “[Don’t Kill the Whale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NO8h_uTkdU),” by Yes ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/23 "2019-06-04T04:33:56Z")
[“Don’t Ask Me”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJZe_AVtD2c) by Public Image Ltd. An excerpt from the lyrics: > [@Public Image Ltd.](#): > > What you gonna do when the river runs dry? > Put your drills in the mud, death up in the sky? > Should have saved those bottles > Should have saved those cans > Shoulda oughta listened to the plastic man > No more toilet papet—it’s gone just like the trees > Do you like the taste of honey? Isn’t it best without the bees? > Be careful what you’re doing—you’re messing up my life > And if all this world’s a cake, then you took too big a slice ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/24 "2019-06-04T05:10:40Z")
OK everyone. Here’s a pet peeve of mine. If you’re going to just link to a YouTube video can you at least quote which portion of the song you’re referring to? Like, I don’t want to click on a blind link and have to listen to a four minute song and figure out what the hell you’re talking about. OK? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/25 "2019-06-04T05:36:01Z")
[We Kill The World/Don’t Kill The World](https://youtu.be/e1aa04-asyw?t=13) - Boney M. And it’s the whole song, \*\*Leeffan \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/26 "2019-06-04T06:01:19Z")
[Burn On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtW8RkI3-c4), Randy Newman’s Cuyahoga River song. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/27 "2019-06-04T07:10:07Z")
John Denver’s _ **Calypso** _. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/28 "2019-06-04T08:17:52Z")
[Big Yellow Taxi](https://youtu.be/94bdMSCdw20) - aka They Paved Paradise\*. [Link to lyrics.](http://www.metrolyrics.com/big-yellow-taxi-lyrics-joni-mitchell.html) > [@](#): > > They paved paradise > And put up a parking lot > With a pink hotel, a boutique > and a swinging hot spot > Don’t it always seem to go > That you don’t know what you’ve gotTill it’s gone > They paved paradise > And put up a parking lot > They took all the trees > And put them in a tree museum > And they charged the people > A dollar and a half just to see 'em \*Well, that’s how _I_ remembered it… ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/29 "2019-06-04T08:25:19Z")
:smack: …aaaand it’s in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/30 "2019-06-04T11:01:50Z")
[Don’t Go Near the Water](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beachboys/dontgonearthewater.html) by the **Beach Boys** (1971) Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams Have all been touched by man The poison floating out to sea Now threatens life on land * * * [Slower Than Guns](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=slower+than+guns+iron+butterfly+lyrics) by **Iron Butterfly** (1970) Can you feel the manmade mist As it starts to twist your lungs? Slower than guns * * * ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/31 "2019-06-04T11:02:34Z")
“What Are We Gonna Do?” by Dramarama (“It’s April 21st and everybody knows today is Earth Day/Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday to whoever’s being born…”) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/32 "2019-06-04T12:34:22Z")
_Vengeance_, by New Model Army, has the alternative verse Loading up the barrels at the warehouse gates Men in overalls on double rates Put the stuff in the river and away for a beer Don’t worry too much, they don’t live around here And the poison seeps into every pore Every child’s eyes, every innocent’s sore Everybody knows behind the closed doors Kick down the doors, kick down the doors ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/33 "2019-06-04T12:59:10Z")
[Dead Skunk](https://youtu.be/nssSIKOrSNk) by Loudon Wainwright III. For Leaffan-- start at 00:00 and end at 3:05. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/34 "2019-06-04T13:28:35Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > “Whose Garden Was This?” by Tom Paxton Paxron also wrote [“There Goes The Mountain”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-P4VUw-e3o). There goes the mountain, greeter of sunrise Giant by starlight, the highest and best The roar of the engines, the first in its lifetime Will take what man values, and spit out the rest ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/35 "2019-06-04T13:34:02Z")
I vaguely remember some Bob Marley lyrics about the environment, but I can’t remember the words, much less the song title. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/36 "2019-06-04T13:50:04Z")
[“Bears”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfd8EcmFAZU), by the hard-rock band Zebra, has an unusual anti-hunting message. The first minute of the song gives the gist: > [@](#): > > In the middle of winter > The trees are bare and the bears are hibernating > The only sound in the forest > Is the sound of snow heard crashing to the ground > And in the middle of loving > I hope you’ll find a place in your heart for them > They really can’t do us any harm > It is only us who can do harm to them > > But there’s an animal that winter won’t affect at all > He sits by fireplaces waiting for the winter’s fall > He owns guns and oh you know he’s got that gun in his hand > He’s a man and oh he’s got that precious thing in his hand ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/37 "2019-06-04T13:55:11Z")
The Grateful Dead had at least two original overtly environmental songs I can think of off of the top of my head, namely Bob Weir’s (lyrics by John Perry Barlow) “Throwing Stones” and Brent Mydland’s “We Can Run” (lyrics by John Perry Barlow) and several that at least touched on various environmental/ecological concerns. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/38 "2019-06-04T14:03:01Z")
10,000 Maniacs “Poison in the Well” _Oh, they tell us there’s poison in the well That someone’s been a bit untidy And there’s been a small spill And all that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea That someone’s been a bit untidy They’ll have it cleaned up in a week_ ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/39 "2019-06-04T14:12:43Z")
What have they done to the rain - Malvina Roberts Covered by loads of people such as The Searchers, Joan Baez ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977/40 "2019-06-04T14:23:25Z")
The Dead Milkmen’s [Watching Scotty Die](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gjw5KPITaOw) is part parody, part ecology. It’s a parody of Bobby Goldsboro’s “Watching Scotty Grow” but in this case, Scotty is dying from chemical pollution (and so is the dog). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-with-an-ecological-message/834977.md?page=3)