Earth Day 2014 – Do we need an Earth Anthem?

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Abhay K., Bill Martin, Dan Fogelberg, Earth Anthem, Earth Day 2014, Evergreen Earth Anthem, Laguna Beach, stonehenge, Taos, The Grand Canyon, The Turtles, UNESCO

I was in High school when we had the first Earth Day celebration. I remember people talking about ecology, peace and organic gardening. I thought I would like to live on a farm or commune. I loved plants, nature, animals and the idea of our planet being our Mother Earth. I read a lot of native American history and was influenced by the way they lived in harmony with the earth. I loved the music that was coming out then…I still do! Yesterday I saw a post about the upcoming earth day and went off to Google to check out more information. I love knowing more! I stumbled across the idea of an Earth anthem. I like the idea and so instead of sharing about gardening I am sharing about music. But like everything in life…it is all connected!

A few photographs I have taken over the years of our dear planet!

I treasure the mountains.

Since the first Earth Day in 1970 song writers have been singing about our world in ways that invites us to feel united with a planetary consciousness. I like the idea: we are one world! Bill Martin wrote a song “Evergreen (Earth Anthem)”. The Turtles put it on their album, Battle Of The Bands – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwAJdZ6x8I4 It was also recorded by Dan Fogelberg and Cyrus Faryar. I hope you take a few minutes to enjoy it and celebrate our amazing home.

Evergreen by Bill Martin

And we are but an island in an ocean
This is our home, third from the sun
Let it be evergreen, let it be evergreen

And we are but an island in an ocean
This is our home, third from the sun
God, keep it evergreen
To keep it ever green I would lay my life down

And we are but an island in an ocean
This is our home, third from the sun
Let it be evergreen, let it be evergreen

I treasure the oceans.

And there are more, we have Neil Young’s song “Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) and Michael Jackson sang Earth Hour by Andrew Huang.

I treasure the whole earth.

Here is a new one by Indian poet Abha K. that has the attention of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He is promoting the idea of a global song like nations have national anthems. “We find that the idea of having an Earth Anthem is a creative and inspiring thought which would contribute to bringing the world together.” -UNESCO His song has already been translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hindi and Nepali. It was launched in 2013 at the World Environment Day in India and is used there for educational purposes.

Earth Anthem (Multilingual verison) by Abhay K.

Our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl
the most beautiful planet in the universe
our cosmic oasis, cosmic blue pearl

all the continents and the oceans of the world
united we stand as flora and fauna
united we stand as species of one earth

black, brown, white, different colours
inshan hain ham, dharati hamara ghar
hami manav houn, yo sansar hamro ghar

mi lyudi, zemlaya nash dom
leken kulena bashiran wal arda mawtinena

Here it is on Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kQz8jxJLNOA and for more information about Abhay K. and his pursuit of a globally accepted earth anthem http://www.abhayk.com/p/p.html

I treasure the mystery of our origins.

What are you doing to take care of our wonderful home today?

Wishing you all a happy Earth Day!

2 thoughts on “Earth Day 2014 – Do we need an Earth Anthem?”

oracle2world said:

April 25, 2014 at 08:23

Here is an Earthday Anthem that is easy to sing (small vocal range), with a widely known tune in the public domain:

http://earthdayanthem.homestead.com/

and with all due respect, I have 10,000 visitors for my anthem on YouTube and Abhay K.’s work has 5,000 visitors.

I do not know how many folks have experience in writing lyrics to music, but it is extremely difficult. You have a limited number of syllables, they need to make sense, and rhyme. Translation into multiple languages is impossible with the same meaning and je ne sais pas. Check out the translation of Brahms Lullaby from German to literal English, to English, they are not even close. Singing lyrics in their original language is easy if you already know the tune. Frère Jacques in the original French is not a stretch for anyone whose native language is English.

As soon as you move outside a vocal range of about an octave, forget about amateurs singing it. Then there is the issue of not offending a myriad of cultures with either the music or the lyrics.

Sorry for the longwinded explanation, but if you want to know why no Earth Day song has ever caught on in 40 years, those are the reasons. And I think you could sing my anthem right off the bat without even one rehearsal.

— a professional arranger

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- Laurin Lindsey said:
  
  April 25, 2014 at 08:32
  
  Thank you for the information and sharing your song! I was not aware of it. I like it and I will try and remember to share it next Earth Day. The purpose of my post was to query peoples thoughts on an anthem. I was not promoting any song. I like the Turtles song but that is just because it is from my youth. My life is a bit sheltered and I have not been able to travel for quite awhile but I like knowing what people in other places think. That is why I am blogging! I truly appreciate you comment!
  
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