Earth Song Michael Jackson

There are numerous ways that we as humans have damaged the Earth but there are three that personal I believe have had a massive impact. A rapid increase in the human population and an increase in the standard of living have led to widespread damage of the environment. Because of this: Humans are destroying habitats and reducing the amount of land available for other organisms by building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste. The greenhouse effect which is caused by pollutant gases building up in the atmosphere and preventing heat from escaping to outer space at night has resulted in the earth becoming gradually warmer. When we burn fossil fuels we produce sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide gases.

These gases rise up in the atmosphere from factories, power stations and vehicles and dissolve in the water in clouds forming acid. This falls as acid rain which later on damages trees. This links to a song by Michael Jackson titled the “Earth Song” written in 1995 which talks about ways humans may be causing damage and how we might raise awareness about these issues. Dubbed the “King of Pop”, singer-songwriter Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, on August 29, 1958. When he was younger he performed as the lead singer of the Jackson family’s popular Motown group, the Jackson 5. Jackson went on to become one of the most internationally famous award-winning solo pop sensations to date.

Michael’s concern and purpose in this song is that he felt that the Earth was in pain and that humanity wasn’t taking care of it and he also wanted to raise awareness about the issues. Michael stated “I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it’s about some of the joys of the planet as well.” This is also shown through the lyrics “Did you ever stop to notice, this crying Earth, this weeping shore?”

This song doesn’t have a targeted audience.

The tone of the Earth song is sad; Michael Jackson explained that “I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering”. Michael is also able to portray his suffering and pain through the lyrics of the song “What have we’ve done to the world, look what we’ve done, what about all the peace, what you pledge your only son…” Using the chorus as well, Michael is able to show his pain.

The main language features in this song is that there are a lot of rhetorical questions in the beginning such as, “What about sunrise?”, there is weather imagery also “sunrise/rain”, he uses personification “The crying Earth, the weeping shores“ and there’s repetition in the chorus “What about us?”.

The mood of the song makes me extremely thankful for what I have and that my country isn’t struck with war and crisis. I was introduced to this song by the news, it went through some of Michael’s songs and this one stood out for me because it shows so many environmental issues around the world.

Sadly, Michael Jackson died in 2009 which stirred controversy and was ultimately ruled a homicide. Doctor Conrad Murray, who had been caring for the pop star at the time of his death, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter on November 7, 2011, later receiving a four-year prison sentence. Thank you for listening.