Naturally, all of us have been preoccupied with the current health emergency, but once we’re through it hopefully we can return our full attention to the climate-change crisis. April 22 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and to celebrate I’ve put together a playlist of some of the best songs ever written about the ongoing threat to our planet.
Ironically, songwriters seemed to address climate change more in the year that Earth Day was first celebrated (1970) than at any other time, with 7 of the 15 songs listed here released between ’69 and ’71. The only recent song (and it’s a great one) was released by Childish Gambino in 2018. We can only hope that protecting the environment becomes more top of mind for songwriters going forward.
Jeff Pollack, a film and television producer and music executive, disseminates Pollack Music Essentials each week