Environment, Ecology and Earth Day Folk Songs

Earth Day, April 22

[played for ED 2008]
Shelley Posen\ No More Fish, No Fishermen\ The Old Songs' Home\ Well Done
Kim & Reggie Harris & Magpie\ We Belong To The Earth\ Spoken In Love\ Long Tall
Kristen Grainger & Dan Wetzel\ Oceans Rising\ Part Circus- Part Rodeo\ True North
Martyn Joseph\ Dolphins Make Me Cry\ Thunder & Rainbows\ Pipe Records
Joe Jencks\ Gasoline\ The Candle & The Flame\ Turtle Bear

[recycling]
Sparky and Rhonda Rucker\ Ain't Gonna Throw It Away\ The Mountains Above and the Valleys Below\ Self
Kim & Reggie Harris & Magpie w/Jay Ungar & Molly Mason\ Get Some Cash For Your Trash\ Guide My Feet\ Appleseed

[played by me for ED in 2005]
Finest Kind - Heart's Delight - No More Fish No Fishermen - Fallen Angel 
Dougie Maclean\ Ready for the Storm\ Dougie Maclean Collection\ Putumayo

[recent suggestions]
Catie Curtis\ Passing Through\ Sing Out V.51#1 (VA)
Lauren Lapointe\ The Last Tree\ Butterfly\ Self
Joe Jencks\ Gasoline\ The Candle and the Flame\ Turtle Bear
David Wilcox\ The Nightshift Watchman\ The Nightshift Watchman\ Koch
Northern Pacific\ Cold Sheets of Rain\ Lone Pine\ self
Martyn Joseph\ Dolphins Make Me Cry\ Thunder and Rainbows\ Pipe
Tim Robbins\ All My Children of the Sun\ Where Have All The Flowers Gone (VA)\ Appleseed
Baby Gramps\ Medley of Heartwarming Worm Songs\ Same Ol' Timeously\ self
Dar Williams\ The Beauty of the Rain\ The Beauty of the Rain\ Razor & Tie
Magpie\ We Belong To the Earth\ Seed on the Prairie\ Long Tail
Tom Lehrer / Pollution

Shelley Posen\ No More Fish, No Fishermen\ The Old Songs' Home\ Well Done
Kamm & MacDonald:
Toxic Dumpsite - Fields of Elysian and Live
Last Tango in Paradise - Calling on Love
The Hills of Glendale - Into the Clouds
Alathea - Game of Dances

[list compiled by Kelley Martin, 2005]
Carlos Olmeda - Trinkets and Blood - LEARNING TO WALK
(about the hunting of elephants for ivory)

Still on the Hill - Beautiful Butterfly - CHAOS & CALM
(about Julia Butterfly Hill's fight to save the redwoods)

Don McLean - Tapestry - TAPESTRY
Beat Goes On / EMI Group
(about the interrelationship between the environment and humans)

Patty Larkin - Metal Drums - LIVE IN THE SQUARE
(about industrial pollution)

Joni Mitchell - Big Yellow Taxi - HITS
Pete Seeger - My Rainbow Race - PETE
Pete Seeger - Garbage - CIRCLES AND SEASONS
Holly Near - Mountain Song - IMAGINE MY SURPRISE
Magpie - Circle of Life - CIRCLE OF LIFE
Magpie - The Living Planet - THE LIVING PLANET
Magpie - The Land Knows You're There - THE LIVING PLANET
Andrew McKnight - The Other Way - WHERE THIS RIVER RUNS
Laurie Lewis - Val's Cabin - TRUE STORIES
Bill Staines - River - FIRST MILLION MILES
T. R. Richie - Grand Canyon Song - RIVER OF SONG
Katie Lee - Dam Site - GLEN CANYON JOURNEYS
Lenny Solomon - Global Warming Blues - ARMANDO'S PIE
Walkin' Jim Stoltz - These Are the Ancient Forests - THE VISION
David Roth - I Do Not Need a Bag - NIGHTS AT THE CHEZ
Peter Rowan - Forest For the Trees - DUST BOWL CHILDREN

[older suggestions]
Magpie;The Chestnut ; SEED ON THE PRAIRIE [Long Tail]

The other one is Circle of Life.

Pat Humphries- Same Rain CD contains Garbage, Swimming to the other Side, Common Thread.
Patty Larkin, Metal Drums, The Last Leviathan, she wrote both tho they have been covered aplenty

100 Million Little Bombs           Buddy Miller
A Town Called Progress             Andrew McKnight
Across the Hills           Ian Campbell Folk Group
Acony Bell                         Gillian Welch
Across the Hills                   Leon Rosselson
After the Flood                    Lone Justice
After The Deluge                   Jackson Browne
Big Mac Tree                       John Forster
Big Blue                           Gordon Lightfoot
Black Flies     Bill Staines:   JUST PLAY ONE MORE TUNE [FolkLegacy]
Black Sea                          John McCuthcheon
Bounce/Money Musk                  John McCuthcheon
Breathing Space                 Artisan                    
"Brigid's Shield" on Susan Graham White's new release, "Sounding Land"
Bring the Harvest Home             Chris Knight
Bristlecone Pine    Jim Salestrom:    FOLK LIVE [BluePlanet]
Buy Back the Amazon                Nylons
Chemical Voodoo                    Andrew McKnight
Copper River                       John McCuthcheon
Dancing in the Rain                Andrew McKnight
Deep Tang                          Kate Campbell
Dixie Storms                       Lone Justice
Earth Night Solution               Darryl Cherney
Earth First Maid                   Darryl Cherney
Ease on Down the River             The Acousticats
Ecology Song (Mercy Mercy)         Robert Palmer
Eel River Flood of '86             Darryl Cherney
Every Grain of Sand                Emmylou Harris
Forest For the Trees     Peter Rowan:  DUST BOWL CHILDREN [SugarHill]
From a Distance                    Julie Gold
Garden Song                        Dave Mallet
Gatlinburg                         Andrew McKnight
Great Gulf Wind                Sonny Landreth
Green Fields                       Laurie Lewis
Green Rolling Hills                Emmylou Harris
Harvest Moon                       Neil Young
Haven of Mercy                     Laurie Lewis
Hazardous Blues                    Kathy N. Right
He Looked A Whole Lot like Jesus   Darryl Cherney
Hickory Wind                       Gram Parsons
Homegrown Tomatoes                 Guy Clark
How Will the Wolf Survive?         Los Lobos
Idaho                              The Bodeans
If a tree Falls              Earthbeat
If You Love Me (Why Am I Dyin')    Boxing Gandhis
In The Pines      Sandy Rothman/Steve Pottier:    BLUEGRASS GUITARDUETS [Sierra]
Kern River                         Dave Alvin
King                               Neil Young
Kiss Mother Nature Goodby          Hank Williams Jr
Less Is More                       Laura Love
Like a Picture                     Darryl Cherney
Lonesome Canyon                    New West
Maxxam's On the Horizon            Darryl Cherney
Mine For Evermore                  Mike Silver
Mississiippi Flood of 1927         Charlie Patton
Montana Skies                      John Denver
Monterey Pines                     Brooks Williams
Mother Earth is Burning            Aloid
My Family Owns This Town        David Olney
Natural Resources                  Utah Phillips & Ani DiFranco
New World A-Comin'            JP Jones
Ohio                               The Pretenders
Paradise                        John Denver 
Plant Your Fields                  New Grass Revival
Power                  John Hall/Orleans
Power In the Earth      Walkin' Jim   THE VISION [Wild Wind]
Red Rain                           Peter Gabriel
Redwing Blackbird                  Billy Edd Wheeler
Return of Dismal Swamp             John McEuen
River's Rising                     Leftover Salmon 
Rocky Mountain High          John Denver
Sand, Water, Waves                 Laurie Lewis
Seventy Miles                      Malvina Reynolds
Shrimp Song                        Townes
Sierra Madre   Moon Over the Interstate    The Mollys      Apolkalips Now!
Silver Lining                      Nils Lofgren
Snowin' on Raton                   Townes Van Zandt
Song of the Sea                    Dan Fogelberg
Songbird by Pete Morton       Mad World Blues (Green Linnet) 
Southern Cross                     CSN
Texas Bluebonnets                  Laurie Lewis
Thanks Trees    Judy Dunlop/Ashley Hutchings   Sway WithMe ; SWAY WITH ME
The Earth Has Sent A Message   Jim Layeux      Earthlings      
The Oak            Judy Dunlop/Ashley Hutchings: SWAY WITH ME
 The Oak and the Laurel             Laurie Lewis
The Other Way                        Andrew McKnight
The River's Own                      Chris Knight
The Hills of My Home               Laurie Lewis
The Wild Places                        Dan Fogelberg
These Are the Ancient Forests     Walkin' Jim Stoltz:  THE VISION[Wild Wind]
These Woods      Atwater/Donnelly  WHERE THE WILD BIRDS DO WHISTLE[BCN]
This House & 90 Acres              Chris Knight
This Island Earth     Jonathan Edwards'   ONE DAY CLOSER CD    Rising Records
Traveler                    Andrew McKnight           
Uncloudy Day                       Willie Nelson
Val's Cabin                           Laurie Lewis
Walden (The Ballad of Thoreau)     Michael Johnathon     Dreams of Fire CD
We Want The Whole Thing Back      Dakota Sid:    GREENFIRE[Ind]
What am I Bid?                     Artisan
When the Rivers Had No Names      Bernice Lewis     Isle of Spirit    Blue Bhikku
Where Grass Won't Grow             George Jones
Where the Bluegrass Grows          Greg Garing
Where This River Runs                 Andrew McKnight            
Where Will the Children Play?      Cat Stevens
Where are We Going to Work When the Trees Are Gone  Darryl Cherney
"Whitebark"   TR Ritchie......Homeground 
Who Killed Judy Bari            Darryl Cherney
 Whoville                           Jupiter Coyote
Wild Roses                         Kimmie Rhodes
Wildflowers                        Dolly Parton
Wildwood Flower               Carter Family
Yellowstone                        John Denver
You Say That the Battle is Over    Dave Mallet
Yucky Bugs       MacArthur Family   MACARTHUR ROAD [FrontHall]

The Acousticats     Ease On Down The River     The Cat's Meow     (Ranch Records - CD)
Ackerman, Winston & Hedges     Hawk Circle   An Evening With Windham Hill Live   Windham Hill 
Carolyn Aiken     Ground Zero    Butler Field    Silverwolf Records
DAVE ALVIN      Mother Earth     King of California       Hightone, 94
Dave Alvin         Dry River                          
Eric Andersen    Sunshine & Flowers  The Collection / Archive
Artisan     Our Back Yard                               
Artisan     Curupay Freijo     Breathing Space     (Bedspring Music - CD)
Artisan      Big Green Credit Machine           
Artisan       NIMBY            Our Back Yard / Bedspring Music
Artisan        This is the Way the World Ends     
Babes With Axes     Look Higher Up     W.O.W. Live Babes!                    (Babes With Axes - CD)
Cathy Barton & Dave Para     Granite Lake     Crazy Quilt                           (Barton & Para - CD)
Lou and Peter Berryman     Why Am I Painting the Living Room?        WHAT, AGAIN?!
Heather Bishop       Our Silence/Old, New, Borrowed, Blue/Mother of Pearl
Rachel Bissex     Wildflowers     Don't Look Down                       (Alcazar Productions - CD)
Rory Block       The Last Leviathan        Tornado        Rounder
Kate Campbell     Deep Tang     Visions of Plenty                     (Compass Records - CD)
Brenda Carlisle     Bless the Beasts and the Children     Tame Yourself      PETA/Q
BERNARD CARNEY/PETER GRAYLING     The Sugar and The Grain    
Tracy Chapman       The Rape of the World     New Beginning         Elektra
Don Charles/Deb Gessner      Row         MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH/Buzzard's Luck
Don Charles & Deb Gessner (D Squared)     Spinning the Mud Turtle   Matter of Life & Death                Buzzard's Luck Music 
Darryl Cherney     You Can't Clearcut Your Way To Heaven     If A Tree Falls   EarthBeat! 
Bruce Cockburn     If A Tree Falls     If A Tree Falls           EarthBeat! 
Judy Collins           Farewell To Tarwathie     Forever         Elektra 
Judy Collins       The Coming of the Roads       
Erin Corday         Fragil     Painted Door             Waterbug Rercords 
David Crosby & Graham Nash     To The Last Whale     Wind on the Water     MCA - LP
Alice DiMicele     The Beaver Song      It's a Miracle         Alice Otter
Alice Di Micele     Defend The Earth     If A Tree Falls      (EarthBeat! - CD)
Neil Diamond     Be     Jonathan Livingston Seagull           (Columbia - LP)
Carol Elliot    Sequoyah         The People I Meet     Heartstrong Records
Robin Flower & Libby McLaren     The Woman Who Planted Trees   Angel of Change   Little  Cat
Steve Goodman / Grand Canyon Song / Affordable Art / Red Pajamas
Herdman, Hills, Mangsen      Requiem for the Trees Voices    Flying Fish/Rounder
Tish Hinojosa      Something in the Rain        CULTURE SWING      Rounder
Ralf Illenberger     Forgotten Places     Earth Songs            (Narada - CD)
Nic Jones    Green to Grey   In Search of Nic Jones   Mollie Music 52 Newland Pk Dr., York YO10 3 HP England
Coco Kallis/God Bless the Grass/Environmental Songs For Kids/Smithsonian Folkways 45048
Paul Kamm & Eleanore MacDonald     Toxic Dumpsite     Fields of Elysian     (Freewheel Records - CD)
T.R. Kelley     Clearcut Disillusion     Water Wears The Stone      Darkwater Music 
Fred Koller       When It's Gone It's Gone / / Bay Folk 
Patty Larkin     Metal Drums         Tango/High Street & Live in the Square - Philo
Tom Lehrer     Pollution     That Was The Year That Was            (Reprise - CD)
Bernice Lewis      When the Rivers Had No Name     Isle of Spirit        Blue Bhikky
Jim Layeux     The Earth Has Sent A Message     Earthlings        (Stemwall Productions - CD)
Jim Layeux                 Earthlings                  
Abbey Lincoln    Wholly Earth       Wholly Earth     Verve/NQ
EWAN MACOLL         The     Isle of May        with Peggy Seeger and Calum MacColl WPR recording
MAGPIE        We Belong To The Earth       Seed On The Prairie       LongTail
John McCutcheon   Water From Another Time     Water From Another Time    Rounder
Magpie with Kim and Reggie Harris    We Belong To The Earth   Spoken in Love    Long Tail Records
Eileen McGann       Requim for the Giants     Turn it Around
Eileen McGann       Bonny Portmore        Journeys          Dragonwing Music/QQ
Joni Mitchell           Big Yellow Taxi       Ladies of the Canyon     Reprise 
Holly Near     Mountain Song, Kentucky Woman      Imagine My Surprise          Redwood
Casey Neill     Old Father Hudson/Sailing Down Dirty Stream     Where Have All The Flowers Gone       (Appleseed Recordings - CD)
Tom Nielson     Radiation Train - Dancin Shoes - Roaring Jelly 
CHRIS NEWMAN         The Riverside   
Nightnoise     The Cricket's Wicket     The White Horse Sessions    Windham Hill - CD
Tim O'Brien     On the Rolling Sea     When No One's Around       Sugar Hill
RIK PALIERI     Plant A Tree     Panning For Gold       Azalea City
Victoria Parks     I'm Going Solar Just Soon As I Can     Sure Feels Like Home   Appropo Multimedia
Tom Paxton        When It's Gone, It's Gone     It Ain't Easy         Flying Fish 
Tom Paxton    Let The Sunshine    Up & Up      Drive
Tom Paxton     Whose Garden Was This        Best of      Elektra
Tom Paxton    There Goes the Mountain    Heroes         Vanguard
Peter, Paul & Mary     The Coming of the Roads     Flowers and Stones     Warner 
John Prine      Paradise     John Prine          (Atlantic - LP)
Darryl Purpose          Same River Twice        DARRYL PURPOSE/self
Toshi Reagan       Justice       Justice       Flying Fish
Ann Reed        Styrofoam        By Request          A Major Label
Malvina Reynolds       What Have they Done to the Rain?   
Rhiannon      Love of the Land      Toward Home     Ladyslipper     QQ
David Roth    Earth           Rising In Love             Folk Era 
Peter Rowan     Forest For The Trees     Dust Bowl Children     Sugar Hill 
Barbara Saint John     Gone The Days     Emily             Mystic Pilgrim Music 
Schooner Fare       Leviathan     Classic Schooner Fare       Outer Green Records 
CARLA SCIAKY    The Song that Bird Sings        AWAKENINGS       Green Linnet 
Pete Seeger       Garbage     Circles & Seasons                     Warner 
PETE SEEGER    God Bless The Grass   God Bless The Grass, Columbia
Pete Seeger          Sailing up my Dirty Stream         
Cosy Sheridan      18 Holes on the Open Range      Grand Design        Bonneville Worldwide
Cosy Sheridan       Don't Go In the water - Grand design 
Bill Shontz     Hole in the Ozone       Animal Tales    Lightyear Ent. 800 229 STORY
Mike Silver     Mine For Evermore     Roadworks         (Faymus Recordings - CD)
Woody Simmons    Who Will Save the Animals     Woody Simmons       Deep River/Q
Fred Small   Hot Frogs on the Loose    Fred Small in Concert & Everything's Possible - Flying Fish/Rounder
Bill Staines     River     The Whistle of the Jay          Folk-Legacy 
Dean Stevens            Salmon River            EYES OF WONDER/Volcano
John Stewart        After the Rain     American Sketches     LaserLight 
Walkin' Jim Stoltz     The Vision      The Vision         Wild Wind Records 
June Tabor       Elephant       Angel Tiger         Green Linnet
Tiddas        Spirit of the Winter Tree        Sing About Life           Loose Cannon
Sue Trainor     Sludge Train     In A Closeup                          (Sue Trainor - CD)
Norma Waterson&Martin Carthy    Earth        Wings of Butterflies     Mrs. Ackroyd
Welfare Starlets       Trash the Planet       Wreaking Havoc        Space Anne Records
Susan Graham White     Brigid's Shield     Sounding Land        Big Bay Records 
Cris Williamson, Teresa Trull       For Molly's Sky      Country Blessed        Second Wave
Paul Winter Consort     The Lake     Earthbeat            (Living Music Records - CD)
Paul Winter, Paul Halley & Leonard Nimoy     Whales Weep Not!/Lullaby From The Great Mother Whale To The Baby Seal Pups     Whales Alive              (Living Music - LP)
Kate Wolf                Agent Orange 
Wyrd Sisters      Farewell to Clayoquot Sound      Inside the Dreaming       Wyrd
Yagottawanna      Mahogany Tree      Live!         Yagottawanna
Various Artists     Hero's Journey     Eco-Challenge          (EarthSea Records - CD)

 On "Progress"
Joyful Noise    We're in the same boat now - Cassette
David Rovics    Parking Lots and Strip malls - We Just Want the World 
John Gorka      Houses in the Fields - Jack's Crows - High Street Rec.
Andrew McKnight      Gatlinburg - Traveler - Falling Mountain 
 
    Some simple ideas of what you can do:
I Don't Need a Bag - David Roth       Nights at the 
What Can You Do? - Jim and Dave       Awesome Environmental 
What You Gonna Leave? - Greg Trafidlo      Old Dog New 
Garden Song - Dave Mallet       Parellel Lives - Flying Fish/
Lay Down Your Whopper - Howlin' at the Moon      Cassette - self
Doggie-Doo Blues - Cali Rose      Gets Goofy -
Rolling in Green - Jim Gorden and Dave    Awesome Environmental 
Bottles and Cans - Bob Norman     To The Core - Night Owl Records
Roadside Art - David Wilcox      East Ashville Hardware - Fresh baked Records
How about Changing Your Mind - Jay Mankita      Jay Mankita 
White Wings - Magpie     Seed on the Prarie - Long Tail Records
Robert Forrest - Frannie Gates     

Farming
As Long as the Land             Trova
Vermont Farmer's Song   Margaret MacArthur
The Man Behind the Plow           Paddy Tutty
Prairie Lament                  Sue Massek on a cassette
Russian River Flood             Kim Wallach
Grandma's Penny Sale            Larry long
Bury Me In Bluegrass            Kate Campbell
Listen to the Thunder           Carla Sciaky
Leaving this Land               Suzanne Thomas
Trouble in the Fields           Nancy Griffith
Prayin For Rain               Kittie Donohoe
Lambing to the Wool             Judy Small
Farmer                          Kristin Lems (I am a farmer, not a farmer's wife.."
Farm Auction       Garnet Rogers     The Outside Track 
The Farm             Susan Graham White      Sounding Land - Big Bay Rec.
Ask Any Farmer          John McCutcheon     What it's like - Rounder

http://www.topsoil.net/farmsongs.htm
I also did a three hour radio show on the subject, which is here:
http://www.topsoil.net/farmplst.htm

There is a whole album of environmentally aware stuff called "Think About the Planet"
that contains numerous appropriate material. Remy Rodden is the artist
Ray Korona Band CD _It's Still the 60's, "Polluting Is Fun".

Bede Weeps   Jez Lowe     Bede Weeps   Fellside
Jez Lowe  Tenterhooks Sweep Horizons Clean  Green Linnet  (A song using the images of
coal mine-stripped land and the once green hills.)
Jez Lowe  The Crake in the Morning   Tenterhooks    Green Linnet (Uses images of the
corn-crake, a bird, which almost disappeared due to industrialization of Britain.
Now that the industry is disappearing there, the crake is reclaiming the countryside.
It is woven in with the dual meaning of the plight of workers.)
Jez Lowe    Sons of the Century Tenterhooks  Green Linnet (About technology & its effects)
Jez Lowe    Aloysius    Tenterhooks  Green Linnet (A talking dog who complains about
the mistreatment of dogs by man.)
Jez Lowe   Galloways Galloways  Musica Pangaea (About the ponies used in European mining.
The ponies were blinded by the lack of light in their service to man.)

Peter and Lou Berryman, ONE LAND, ONE HEART, put out by Musicians United to Sustain the
Environment, organized by Walkin' Jim Stoltz.  That whole album would make a great earth
day show.

Mike Silver   "Mine For Evermore"   "Roadworks" CD.  It's anti-whaling from the whale's
point of view.
Feeling that Earth Day had been co-opted, Darryl Cherney wrote "Earth Night  Action",
which is essentially about a world wide eco-sabotage campaign, from a humorous
point of view if you can imagine that.

There's a whole album that comes instantly to mind, called "If a Tree Falls," on the
Earth Beat label.  It's a compilation CD, with some percentage of sales going to some
environmental groups and it's got everyone from Bruce Cockburn to the Wyrd Sisters to
Buffy St. Marie, and another fifteen or twenty people besides, doing songs 

Folk Music Song Themes Last modified