Climate Action
5 Stunning Songs That Sing for the Planet
August 5, 2025
Music is one of life’s great joys. In few other art forms or popular culture can you find so much artful meaning, reminding us of why our planet is beautiful and unique.
So let’s celebrate some of the music that explores the wonder of the world around us. From the mellow tunes of Marvin Gaye to the sheer exuberance of Lil Dicky’s Hollywood-packed Earth Day anthem, environmental musicality exists all around us.
1) Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) – Marvin Gaye
Music: David Van DePitte
Lyrics: Marvin Gaye
In this ode to the environment, Gaye laments how human activity has deteriorated the world around us. Gaye’s refrain, “Whoa, mercy mercy me / Things ain’t what they used to be,” expresses a sadness for human-caused pollution as he points to, “Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas,” and asks, “How much more abuse can she [Mother Earth] stand?”
And Gaye is right to raise this question. Although the frequency and scale of oil spills have drastically decreased since the 1970s, when he released this climate anthem, they continue to damage ecosystems to their core.
When oil is released into marine ecosystems, organisms at all levels are affected. Marine mammals and birds rely on their layer of fur and feathers to insulate themselves from the cold ocean water. With oil added to the equation, these insulating abilities are compromised as their coats and plumage become matted down.
Dolphins, whales, and fish also find themselves at risk as oil can impair the function of the respiratory, immune, and reproductive systems, and above all else, lead to poisoning.
If anything, Gaye’s musical illustration of the climate crisis points to the necessity of cleaner energy generation. In moving away from fossil fuels, we no longer rely on logistical chains that are inevitably susceptible to major disaster.
2) Big Yellow Taxi – Counting Crows (Featuring Vanessa Carlton)
Music: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics: Steve Lilywhite
In their 2002 release, Counting Crows offers a similar critique of humanity’s impact on the natural world. The band’s vocalist, Adam Duritz, sings, “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot / With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swinging hot pot.”
Human cohabitation with nature is great, but what Big Yellow Taxi highlights is how humanity is developing the earth in excessive and unsustainable ways. In America, urban sprawl – the spread of so-called ‘development’ into undeveloped, green land – has become a serious issue.
Between 2000 and 2020, urban land – where systematic human development, such as street grids and commercial centers, exists – increased by 14% in the United States. While this trend of development has been accompanied by a significant demographic shift towards cities, urban expansion needs to be sustainable. If not done conscientiously, new urban projects can quickly descend into expanses of suburban homes, strip malls, and megastores. This sort of dotted growth often necessitates single-family home and car ownership, foisting both financial and environmental costs on local communities.
3) Somewhere Over the Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
Music: Harold Arlen
Lyrics: Yip Harburg
Israel Kamakawiwo’ole takes on a different approach to musical environmentalism through his classic, Somewhere Over the Rainbow. He shows that appreciation for nature doesn’t have to come exclusively from a place of fear for its destruction.
He proclaims, “Well I see trees of green and / Red roses too / I’ll watch them bloom / For me and you / And I think to myself / What a wonderful world.” In Kamakawiwo’ole’s view, nature is worthy of appreciation in itself, not for any sense of utility that it provides.
He continues, “The colors of the rainbow, / So pretty in the sky / Are also on the faces / Of people passing by.” As Kamakawiwo’ole demonstrates, it only takes careful attention to see how interconnected we are to life all around us, and consequently, to understand what a blessing that is.
This messaging has perhaps never been more important than it is now, as national parks – sanctuaries for the public and wildlife alike – come under threat as their funding is slashed.
4) Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
Music: Milt Okun and Susan Ruskin
Lyrics: Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, and John Denver
Similarly, John Denver explores how nature provides us humans with an irreplaceable sense of belonging through his American folk classic, Take Me Home, Country Roads. As he describes his drive back home through West Virginia’s Appalachian peaks, Denver plays on the specific relief of a homecoming. Anthropomorphized in the song as “West Virginia, mountain momma,” the state’s landscape guides us home through its welcoming scenery, which Denver describes as “Almost Heaven.”
Unfortunately, Denver’s heaven has been slowly chipped away over the course of decades. Mountaintop-removal mining, a process in which coal mines remove large volumes of surface material to reach coal lying underneath, causes major disruptions in the Appalachian landscape and ecology. Satellite imagery shows the spread of these sorts of mines, procedurally thinning out the very forests that John Denver once sang about.
The damage goes beyond the loss of tree coverage, however. Although mine operators are legally obligated to return the landscape to its approximate shape prior to mining, this task is often impossible as the mined earth cannot hold the same form that it once did in its solid, intact state. This means that leftover rubble is often dumped into valleys and streams, polluting ecosystems and causing health complications, such as cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, pulmonary disease, and birth defects, in local communities.
The good news is that mountaintop removal and coal mining in general are becoming far less popular in the United States. While these mines have done irreparable damage, and some continue to operate, the closure of many coal mines shows that the undeniable economic and political pull of renewable energy is prevailing.
In 2024, West Virginia’s electricity mix remains dominated by coal, generating approximately 84.7 % of the state’s power. Meanwhile, low-carbon sources – wind, hydro, and solar – make up only about 7.3 % of total generation, admittedly well below the U.S. average of around 43 %. However, clean energy employment in the state is on the rise; in 2022, the sector employed 17,959 people, about 1.4 % of the workforce, a 6 % increase from the previous year.
Plus, solar capacity is growing rapidly across the country, jumping nearly sevenfold in just a couple of years. Wind energy is also expanding steadily, doubling generation over the past decade, supported by the bountiful wind resources blowing through Denver’s country roads!
5) Earth – Lil Dicky
Music: Benny Blanco, Cashmere Cat
Lyrics: David Burd, Benjamin Levin, Magnus August Høiberg, Joshua Coleman, Jamil Chammas
Released in conjunction with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, just before Earth Day 2019, Lil Dicky’s Earth brings together some of Hollywood’s most famous artists and actors. A comedic call to action, Earth features Justin Bieber as a baboon, Snoop Dawg as a marijuana plant, and Katy Perry as a stub-legged pony.
Highlighting the interconnectedness of all living beings and the impact of human actions on the planet, the song emphasizes the urgency of addressing climate change and encourages collective responsibility.
Although a far cry from more traditional forms of environmental advocacy, the project highlights how environmentalism has truly entered the mainstream. With celebrities getting involved, you can see the effects of grassroots activism, with Hollywood feeling the need to respond to the public’s opinion.
And these efforts were not without effect. The song successfully raised over $600K for six charities at the same time. Full disclosure we were not one of them, but we liked the sentiment of the song!
EARTHDAY.ORG is now without its own famous fans – check out the Ringo Starr collaboration in our store, Antonique Smith’s ambassador page, or the one and only William Shatner supporting our Wikie and Keijo orca appeal.
Let The Music Move You – To Act
Environmental action doesn’t have to be limited to Hollywood; in fact, it shouldn’t be. While all the songs listed here are achievements in their own right, the world they are acknowledging with can only be preserved with real-world action.
Luckily, we have established a network of local environmentalists here at EARTHDAY.ORG. Why not ease your way into the movement and sign up to join a web of like-minded volunteers?
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