Environmentalism in music
Environmentalism has been a theme and cultural trend in popular music. Ecomusicologists (musicologists and ethnomusicologists focusing on music and environmental issues) and music educators are increasingly emphasizing the intersections of music and nature, and the role of music in ecological activism.[1][2]
Environmental themes in music have ranged from an appreciation of nature and wilderness and advocating for its protection, to environmental degradation, pollution and climate change. The earliest popular music exploring environmentalist topics can be traced back to the 19th century and early folk, gospel and blues music. The counterculture of the 1960s facilitated an increase in environmental music that continued into subsequent decades. Genres that have addressed the topic include hip hop, punk rock, heavy metal and modern classical.
Some musical artists have used their platform to promote and raise money for environmental causes. Efforts have also been made to improve the sustainability of the music industry and live music.
History in popular music[edit]
Early examples[edit]
Some of the earliest songs to cover environmental topics originate from the 19th century, with one example being "Woodman! Spare that Tree!" by George Pope Morris and Henry Russell.[3] Folk music explored environmental topics throughout the 1930s and 1940s.[3]
Icelandic music has had a long tradition of prominently featuring nature since the country's independence in 1944.[4][5][6]
By genre[edit]
Blues and gospel[edit]
In the days of the African slave trade to the United States, the role of the environment was closely tied to spirituality and agricultural labor. Enslaved generations born in Africa passed down beliefs in divinity, superstition, and human connection to the natural world. "Africans believed in the interconnectedness of the human, spiritual, and environmental realms and felt that harm toward or care for one necessarily affected the others."[30] These influences were expressed in the form of Spirituals or Gospel music and generally performed in either "praise houses" or in outdoor communion called "brush arbor meetings" or "bush meetings" [31] This style of music was a way to authentically express the black experience in America, which in many ways meant reflecting on suffering. In reaction to this, references to heaven in gospel refer to it as a natural or pastoral landscape.[32]
The Blues which came out of the south at the beginning of the 1900s spoke on the agrarian and impoverished lifestyles of the African American community. Firmly grounded in the realities of slavery and the systemic discrimination that followed, the Blues exemplified by artists like Roosevelt Charles was a reflection of rural labor and connection to the land.[33] Later versions of the Blues shifted to faster tempos and themes of urban life as communities of colour migrated to cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York. Some historians denote the dukes as an expression of reliance in the face of a continued struggle against white oppression. Thereby the Blues derived community amongst the minority in shared experience. Geographer Clyde Woods claims that citing artists like Robert Johnson that the Blues as well as Hip-Hop represent sustainability ethics by promoting the ‘co-operative rural and urban land forms’ through communities as sacred outside of their material value.[33]
Modern classical music[edit]
While composers have often used nature as their inspiration, modern classical from the period since World War II has seen an ever increasing amount of music in this regard.[34] Composers such as John Cage and Olivier Messiaen began using patterns in nature as their materials in musical composition.[35][36] One example of Cage's use of environmental sounds is the piece "Child of Tree". This work involves amplifying a cactus and pea pod shakers in addition to other instruments chosen by the performer.[37] John Luther Adams writes music directly from his surroundings in Alaska.[38] He is an environmentalist who has written and discussed the role that artists can play in combating global warming.[39] An example of his music is the piece The Place Where You Go to Listen. This work involves a sound and light installation that is "controlled by natural events occurring in real time."[40]