Music for the Environment

            When it comes to music, the environment and nature don’t come to mind. However, there are a few bands and artists that find it important to present controversial environmental topics including global warming, deforestation, and oil spills.

The band Rise Against has a song called “Ready to Fall.” This song deals with pollution and human impacts on the environment. The video shows animals suffering, deforestation, the Cove footage, oil drilling, animal cruelty, ice melting in the North Pole, slaughterhouses of turkeys and chickens, cars in traffic, and animals caught in nets. Through this video, the band attempts to bring awareness to their audience and stir emotion within others to want to make a change. At the end of the video, lead singer Tim McIlrath states, “Every action has a reaction. We’ve got one planet, one chance.” This is a powerful statement that more people need to hear. You can find this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN2FrUUq-zI.

The song “Beautiful Lie” by the band 30 Seconds to Mars contains powerful words about the lies we are told in order to carry on with our lives without giving any thought to what our actions may be doing to others and our world. The music video starts off with a match being lit slowly. Then a man tells a story about how he would hunt with a dog sled on the sea of ice, but now with the ice failing, he and his people can no longer do what they have done for generations. As the video continues, the Arctic is shown from a bird’s eye view, stating that this video was filmed entirely on location 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This band filmed images taken from all over the Arctic Circle, depicting the melting ice. The video ends with the words “In the 2 years since ‘A Beautiful Lie’ was released, nearly a fourth of the Arctic ice shelf has disappeared.” You can find this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Kvd-uquuhI .

A third band that discusses environmental issues through their music videos and lyrics is the band Melodeego. In a stand against fossil fuels, this band has people on bikes to power their sound system. The members of this band are committed to being a voice for this generation. Their mission is to spread their voice for change to challenge the actions of humans that are destroying our planet and ourselves. The music video for their song “It’s Something” flashes images depicting oil rig fires and oil spills. They promote the use of bike and solar energy throughout this video as well. They have another song called “Digging Us a Hole,” in which the lyrics and the video depict pollution, deforestation, and oil spills. This song was written in peaceful protest and awareness of the XL Pipeline. You can find these two videos at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M9X4VnlUDs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39_b1yEy0sM.