Religion and Environment Songs: Earth Song by Michael Jackson

Picture courtesy of wikipedia.org

Song Picks by Natalie

Earth Song by Michael Jackson is about all of the damage that has been done to the planet and how people are too busy to even notice. Throughout the song he repeats the line:

“Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth, these weeping shores?”

I think this is him describing people ignoring the signs and chosing not to notice how the condition of the earth is deteriorating. He also talks about other global issues that people chose to ignore like war and poverty. In the middle of the song he says:

“What have we done to the world?
Look what we’ve done
What about all the peace that you pledge your only son?”

I think this is him referring to God sending his only son to forgive the world’s sins. He is saying that we have forgotten about this sacrifice and have chosen not to respect it by not taking care of what God has given us. At the end of the song he makes several references to nature and Christianity. He first says:

“What about nature’s worth?
(Ooh)
It’s our planet’s womb
(What about us?)
What about animals?
(What about it?)
Turned kingdoms to dust”

This is another instance of him talking about people forgetting about nature and animals and essentially destroying them. A few lines later he says:

“What about The Holy Land?
(What about it?)
Torn apart by creed?
(What about us?)”

…

“What about Abraham?
(What about us?)
What about death again?
(Ooh)”

I think that these are both examples of Michael Jackson referring to Christianity. When he says that The Holy Land has been torn apart by creed, I believe he is referring to the conflict in Israel between the Palestinians and the Israelites. He is questioning peoples faith if they are having war over and destroying The Holy Land.  In the second verse, I think that he is alluding to the Book of Genesis and the Blessing of Abraham. He is reminding people that God blessed all people of earth through Abraham and when he says “What about death again?” he is referring to the rapture or the return of Christ. Overall with the mention of Abraham and death again in this verse, I think his message is that there will be consequences if we forget the blessings that God has given us.

To read the lyrics, click here.

To listen to the song, click here.