Top Ten Songs About the Environment

Top Ten Songs About the Environment

Every good movement needs its music.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Every good movement needs its music. This weekend, in New York City and around the world, environmental activists are making their voices heard days before President Obama and world leaders attend a Climate Summit at the United Nations. This playlist is presented in tribute. The list is highly debatable—songs about ecology, nature and the environment cut across musical genres and generations—and the category is a bit reductive, if not trite. But there’s nothing trite about the people in the streets this weekend. These songs are for them.

1. Marvin Gaye, Mercy Mercy Me

2. Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

3. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, This Land is Your Land

4. John Prine, Paradise (Muhlenberg County)

5. Mos Def, New World Water

6. Malvina Reynolds, What Have They Done to the Rain?

7. Ziggy Marley, Dragonfly

8. Eliza Gilkyson, Before the Deluge

9. REM, Fall on Me

10. Lou Reed, Last Great American Whale

Bonus Track: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Texas Flood

We need your support

What’s at stake this November is the future of our democracy. Yet Nation readers know the fight for justice, equity, and peace doesn’t stop in November. Change doesn’t happen overnight. We need sustained, fearless journalism to advocate for bold ideas, expose corruption, defend our democracy, secure our bodily rights, promote peace, and protect the environment.

This month, we’re calling on you to give a monthly donation to support The Nation’s independent journalism. If you’ve read this far, I know you value our journalism that speaks truth to power in a way corporate-owned media never can. The most effective way to support The Nation is by becoming a monthly donor; this will provide us with a reliable funding base.

In the coming months, our writers will be working to bring you what you need to know—from John Nichols on the election, Elie Mystal on justice and injustice, Chris Lehmann’s reporting from inside the beltway, Joan Walsh with insightful political analysis, Jeet Heer’s crackling wit, and Amy Littlefield on the front lines of the fight for abortion access. For as little as $10 a month, you can empower our dedicated writers, editors, and fact checkers to report deeply on the most critical issues of our day.

Set up a monthly recurring donation today and join the committed community of readers who make our journalism possible for the long haul. For nearly 160 years, The Nation has stood for truth and justice—can you help us thrive for 160 more?

Onwards,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x