The Songs About Climate Change To Know
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Looking to put together a playlist that makes waves for the planet? Here are nine songs about climate change and the environment to know.
Music has a unique ability to convey emotions and ideas that are often difficult to express through words alone. Songs can also amplify urgent messages – such as protest songs that have stayed with us through the ages. So it’s no surprise that climate change has found a strong voice in modern songs.
Across almost every genre – from pop to alternative – artists are increasingly addressing the ecological crisis. Covering themes such as the destruction of the environment, and warming of the planet, alongside messages of hope and accountability, many artists are making complex scientific issues accessible to all.
10 Climate Change & Environmental Songs To Know
If you’re looking for climate or environmental songs for an event you’re holding, or looking for a song to accompany a talk or presentation, then I’ve put together 9 of my favourites.
Each song translates climate change data and warnings into something we can feel, and hopefully inspire action amongst listeners.
Use the quick links to jump to a video and a brief description about an individual song, or keep scrolling to see the full post:
- Feels Like Summer by Childish Gambino
- The 1975 by 1975
- Dear Future Generations by Prince Ea
- Four Degrees by Anohni
- The Effects of Climate Change on Densely Populated Areas by People Under The Stairs
- Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin Gaye
- Despite Repeated Warnings by Paul McCartney
- Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
- Monkey Gone To Heaven by The Pixies
Feels Like Summer by Childish Gambino
Feels Like Summer by Childish Gambino (whom you may know as Donald Glover, the actor and filmmaker) is a quiet song about climate change, masked as a laid-back summer track.
In the song, Gambino touches on the topics of environmental anxiety, and society’s tendency to overlook the urgency of climate issues. Urging listeners to think beyond the surface and confront environmental realities before it’s too late, it’s a great song to have to hand when organising any environmental events.
Key Lyrics
Every day gets hotter than the one before
Running out of water, it’s about to go down
Go down
Air that kill the bees that we depend upon
Birds were made for singing, wakin’ up to no sound
No sound
The 1975 by 1975
The 1975’s track The 1975 is a bold statement on climate change, featuring a powerful spoken-word introduction by climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In the song, Thunberg urgently calls for immediate climate action, warning, ““”We are right now in the beginning of a climate and ecological crisis.”
The track doesn’t just address the topic of climate change. It encourages listeners to take both collective and individual action to make a difference.
Key Lyrics
We admit that we are losing this battle.
We have to acknowledge that the older generations have failed. All political movements in their present form have failed.
But homo sapiens have not yet failed.
Yes, we are failing, but there is still time to turn everything around. We can still fix this. We still have everything in our own hands.
Dear Future Generations by Prince Ea
Dear Future Generations by Prince Ea is a powerful spoken-word piece that addresses climate change directly.
It takes the form of an apology to future generations for the environmental damage, reflecting on deforestation, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity caused by putting profit before people. The song ends with a pressing call to action, encouraging listeners to reconsider their impact and protect Earth.
Key Lyrics
Dear Future Generations
I think I speak for the rest of us when I say
Sorry, sorry we left you with our mess of a planet
Sorry that we were too caught up in our own doings to do something
Sorry we listened to people who made excuses
To do nothing
I hope you forgive us
We just didn’t realize how special the earth was
Four Degrees by Anohni
Four Degrees by Anohni (formerly the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons) is a darkly ironic song about climate change and society’s indifference to rising global temperatures.
The title refers to the projected four-degree Celsius rise in global temperatures by 2100 – a level that scientists warn could be catastrophic to all life on Earth. It feels like the dark and disturbing lyrics are a swipe at the arrogance of world leaders and industry, who seem indifferent to the impact four degrees could make.
Key Lyrics
I wanna hear the dogs crying for water
I wanna see fish go belly-up in the sea
And all those lemurs and all those tiny creatures
I wanna see them burn, it’s only four degrees
The Effects of Climate Change on Densely Populated Areas by People Under The Stairs
With a title track that does exactly what it says on the tin, The Effects of Climate Change on Densely Populated Areas by People Under The Stairs looks at urban life under environmental stress.
Through clever lyrics and beats, the track highlights how climate change disproportionately affects urban communities. This includes looking at how rising temperatures, pollution, and strained resources impact densely populated areas.
Key Lyrics
We got a heatwave
This burn, it’s like a heatwave
Heatwave, burn it’s like a heatwave
Heatwave, burn it’s like a heatwave
It’s like a heatwave
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin Gaye
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin Gaye is an early anthem for environmental awareness, expressing sorrow and regret over man’s destruction of the earth.
Released in 1971, the song was ahead of its time in calling on us all to come together to protect the planet. It covers topics such as pollution, nuclear waste, the impacts of industrialisation, and the exploitation of natural resources, all in one concise yet soulful three-minute song.
Key Lyrics
Woah mercy, mercy me, yeah
Ah, things ain’t what they used to be (ain’t what they used to be)
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Despite Repeated Warnings by Paul McCartney
Despite Repeated Warnings by ex-Beatles member Paul McCartney is a song about the frustration of the lack of action on the climate crisis, despite numerous warnings from the world’s top climate change scientists.
In the song, McCartney uses the image of an arrogant captain of a ship. They’re powering on at full steam ahead despite warnings from all those around them that staying on the same course would be perilous. I interpret this as a swipe at world leaders pressing on with their business-as-usual agenda.
Rather than leaving listeners feeling helpless, the song provides a rallying call for action.
Key Lyrics
Despite repeated warnings
Our danger’s up ahead
The captain won’t be listening
To what’s been said
Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
Despite its catchy melody, Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell is a scathing criticism of urban development, and the destruction of the environment. It’s a warning to us all about how quickly we can lose precious landscapes, under the guise of progress.
Key Lyrics
They took all the trees, put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people a dollar an’ a half just to see ’em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone
They paved paradise, put up a parking lot
Monkey Gone To Heaven by The Pixies
Finally, one song that’s never far from my personal playlist is Monkey Gone to Heaven by the Pixies.
This alternative classic may not be the most obvious song about climate change. However, its surreal lyrics, framed in terms of the Old Testament, are a lament about the effects of industrial pollution, the hole in the ozone layer, and the environmental destruction caused by man.
The Pixies’ take is that it doesn’t end well for Simians – so it isn’t the most uplifting of songs – but it’s a great cautionary message that we shouldn’t shy away from.
Key Lyrics
Got sucked in a hole, now there’s a hole in the sky
And the ground’s not cold
And if the ground’s not cold, everything is gonna burn
We’ll all take turns, I’ll get mine too
Looking For More Resources?
Are there any more songs you would include? Let me know in the comments below. And if you’re looking for more climate change resources then I’ve got heaps for you:
- Poems about climate change
- Speeches on climate change
- Quotes about climate change
- YouTube videos about climate change
- TED talks about climate change
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