I have written about Earth Day for the past few years, and as its date – 22 April – falls on a Tuesday this year it feels like an opportunity to combine two things. So I’m following the pattern of previous years by telling you a little about the day, and by playing some songs to illustrate it: a couple that I have played for this day before, and some others to complete the set of five.

Earth Day was first held in the US on April 22, 1970, and was opened up to the rest of the world in 1990: it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) involving 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and 120 other countries. In recognition of this many communities engaged in Earth Day actions: an entire week of activities was focused on the environmental issues that the world faces. On Earth Day 2020, over 100 million people around the world observed the 50th anniversary in what has been referred to as the largest online mass mobilisation in history. 55 years on, the message is more vital than ever. The official website leads with this statement:

“Earth Day’s 2025 theme is “Our Power, Our Planet,” calling for everyone to unite around renewable energy so we can triple clean electricity by 2030.”

That is, of course, an absolutely vital message, but I fear that it will be extremely difficult for it to be acted on in many countries. The wave of right-wing populism that has swept across many countries in recent years has resulted in much climate change denial, often at the highest levels of government, and commitment to doing what is necessary is becoming less and less strong across the world. Just to underline the message, EarthDay.org have made a simple little video for today:

I’m not counting that as one of my five for the day, but felt that it was worth including to make the point. I’v chosen five songs to complement today’s theme, in a variety of ways. As I said, I’ve played a couple of these for Earth Day before, and have played two of the others before for other themes, but there is a brand new one in here too. I’m starting with one of the return visitors:

That is from a Cat Stevens album released in 1970, Tea For The Tillerman, which was reworked in 2020 to mark its fiftieth anniversary. I think that video is absolutely brilliant, as I have said when playing it before: “The song’s message is even more powerful now than it was fifty five years ago. This is one that has never been released as a single, so may not be familiar to you, but I think it deserves to be heard. I saw him play live in 2009, as part of a series of concerts to mark the 50th anniversary of Island Records. He began with a track from his newly released album, and then played this: you could have heard a pin drop, apart from the audience singing quietly along with him. We were all word perfect, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!” I share his concerns for my granddaughters’ future, especially now that there is another on the way in a few months’ time. What kind of world are we bequeathing our little ones?

Coincidentally, my next tune for today was also released in 1970, showing that musicians were concerned for the health of the planet even then, though it may have taken politicians longer to grasp the message. I’m sure you’ll know this little gem of a protest song:

Big Yellow Taxi was a track on Joni Mitchell’s third album, Ladies Of The Canyon, which was released in April 1970 and reached #8 in the UK and #27 in the US. The song was issued as a single to coincide with the album and made #11 in the UK and #67 in the US. There have been many cover versions, my favourite of which is the one by Counting Crows, which made #13 as a single in the UK – the only top twenty single hit they have had here. As a message of concern for the damage humans are doing to the environment I don’t think that there are many better than this, and that line “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” has become ever more true down the years. I last played this one on as a Tuesday Tune in November 2022, but I think it well merits its inclusion today.

Today’s next tune is the other that I have previously played for Earth Day, and on other occasions too. It is a real favourite of mine and, while there are several live performance videos for it I keep coming back to this one:

That was, of course, Jackson Browne with Before The Deluge. Amongst a catalogue of some truly wonderful songs, that has always been my favourite of his. This is a performance from 2010, which is when I saw him play live at the Royal Albert Hall in London, three days after this video was recorded. It was fabulous to see him after all the years of loving his music but I did come away feeling a tinge of disappointment: he didn’t play this one but it was still a great evening. The album it was on, Late For The Sky, was released in September 1974: it peaked at #14 in the US but didn’t reach our charts. He has a loyal following here and has regularly played at the RAH during his tours, but his albums generally only make the lower reaches of our charts. Some of us know great music when we hear it, though! The song’s meaning is still as valid today as it was when first released, perhaps even more so.

I promised you a new one for today, and as this was released just four days ago I think that counts. When this appeared in my YouTube recommendations on Sunday evening I just knew that I’d be playing it today:

That was I’m With Her, with their lovely new song Standing On The Fault Line. You may recall me playing music by them before: their beautiful harmonies are wonderful. They are Sara Watkins (in red), Sarah Jarosz (in black), and Aoife O’Donovan (in teal/khaki). The song is as much about relationships as the natural environment, but the imagery in the video is, I think, a good fit both for the song and for today. This is a track from their forthcoming new album, Wild and Clear and Blue, which is due out 0n 9 May. Three tracks, including this one, have so far been released and they are all lovely.

I wanted to close today with a message of optimism, and I can’t think of anything better than this. I played it four years ago, so I think it deserves another spin:

Louis Armstrong released Wonderful World as a single in 1967 and it was a #1 here in the UK, though it flopped in the US: the record company boss didn’t like it and refused to promote it. It was re-released there in 1988, having been featured in the Good Morning Vietnam movie, and reached the heady heights of #32. A version by Katie Melua, singing along with the track to Eva Cassidy’s cover version, was released in December 2007 as a charity single here in the UK, to raise funds for the British Red Cross – we clearly like the song, as this was also a #1. As the closing point for this week’s tunes that video feels perfect, though I just hope that the optimism isn’t misplaced: so much needs to be done to protect our environment for the future, not least in encouraging recalcitrant governments to take the issue seriously, not to deride it as a hoax, and get up off their fat arses and do something about it. Our world is a lovely place, but it will be too late to recognise that when we have finished destroying it. Please don’t let this be our legacy: