AnEarth anthem is a celebratory song or a musical composition thateulogizes, extols or exalts planetEarth.
"Voices for Today" is a song composed byBenjamin Britten in 1965 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the foundation of theUnited Nations. The lyrics are based onVirgil’sfourthEclogue.[1][2][3]
On the request of thenUnited NationsSecretary-GeneralU Thant, a "Hymn to the United Nations" was performed on the occasion of its 26th anniversary, on October 24, 1971, byPablo Casals, the lyrics to which were penned by the poetW. H. Auden.[4][5]
In January 2014,Abhay K. of the United Nations Permanent Delegation of India cited a need for a global anthem.[6] While UNESCO's assistant director generalÉric Falt agreed it was necessary but claimed UNESCO "lack[ed the] resources to organize an online global competition to select an Earth Anthem".[6]
There are a number of songs or a musical composition that eulogizes, extols or exalts the planet Earth.
In 1968,The Turtles released "Earth Anthem" on their fourth studio album,The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands. In 2003,Dan Fogelberg covered this as the last song of his album,Full Circle.[7][8]
"Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" byNeil Young, "Earth Song" byMichael Jackson,[9] "Earth" byLil Dicky, and "Earth Anthem" byAbhay Kumar are other examples of popular music with Earth as a theme.[10][11]
In 1990, lyricist Barbara Lee George first performed the "Earth Day Anthem" with the Children’s Chorus ofSussex County,[12] sung to the tune of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy".[13][14][15] New York state congressmanBenjamin Gilman recommended that the United States adopt it as the official Earth anthem. It was nominated for aMarcus Nobel United Earth Prize in 1992.[12] George's song was first recorded in 2015 in collaboration with guitarist Al Orlo, producerJohn Lissauer, and singerVaneese Thomas among others.[12]
In November of 2010, the UFO religionUniverse People's website published an instrumental "New Earth Anthem".[16]
In 2012,Andrew Huang wrote a pop song titled "When The Lights Go Down" forWWF-Canada. ThisEarth Hour anthem contained lyrics such as "Protecting the Earth is our message".[17][18]
Theworld music ensemble,Libana, has recorded multiple songs dedicated to the Earth. Recorded in 1986, "Ancient Mother" and "The Earth is Our Mother" chants were part ofSongs of the Sacred Wheel.[19][20][21][22] Their 2024 single, "Gaia Now", addresses the effects of climate change with lyrics such as "Wake up now,the Earth is flooding, rise up and protect her / Cry about your mama, she's our home, she is our mother".[23]
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 World Anthem by Mindshare |
In 1996, Denver composer John Guillot was working on a compilation CD ofnational anthems when he "conceived of a single piece of music based on the common notes and tendencies of all of the world’s national anthems".[24] It was not meant to replace any anthem but rather to "bring its message of peace and understanding across national borderlines".[24]
In 2000, Guillot worked with professorDavid Cope at theUniversity of California, Santa Cruz, whose artificial musical intelligence program Experiments in Musical Intelligence (EMI) was able to generate a conglomeration of songs based on commonalities in lyrics and sheet music (such as phrases, notes, and melodies). Using files created by composer Stephen Bigger, "Guillot and Cope entered the [national anthems] into the program and the result was the words and music of 'The World Anthem'", which was completed by the year 2000.[24] The Tommy E. Short Charitable Foundation provided a grant of an unknown sum to create an international recording.[24] The music was recorded by an orchestra inPrague with vocals from Los Angeles.[24]
The recording was first publicly heard atDenver, Colorado'smillennium celebration on Dec. 31, 2000, "at the stroke of midnight" in conjunction withNew Years' Eve fireworks.[25]
The first live performance was in November 2001, by theColorado Symphony Orchestra.[24][25]
In 2001, it was performed in the 40th anniversary celebration of thePeace Corps in Washington D.C.[24]
Circa 2002, the "World Anthem" was published by the Mindshare Institute and Foundation and used by the Praxis Peace Institute in Croatia.[24][26] The same year, it was performed in thePoudre High School commencement and graduation atMoby Arena at CSU. There, it was met with some criticism, such as by radio commentatorsMike Rosen andPeter Boyles, as well asletters to the editors of CSU publications. Opponents, who were usually parents of the students, claimed they were "offended" theAmerican national anthem was not played instead.[26][25]
In 2006, theUnited States Air Force Academy Band published its performance of the "World Anthem",[27] conducted by Philip Chevallard and arranged byJoseph T. Spaniola.[28][29]
The music video was uploaded to YouTube in 2007.[30] The MindShare Institute of Fort Collins hired producer Brian Doubleday to contact more than 200 photographers around the world to contribute "faces of humanity" for the video.[24]
Since at least 2011,Reverend Billy and the Earthalujah Choir has performed in front of theBlue Marble flag, singing joyous songs that celebrateenvironmentalism andanti-consumerism.[31]
In 2020, Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir premiered "Earthalujah!", a rearrangement of theHallelujah chorus fromHandel's 1714 oratorio,Messiah. It was arranged by Nehemiah Luckett and Gregory Corbino with lyrics by Billy Talen.[32]
Written in 2019, "The Resolution Song (The World on Our Shoulders)" is an ongoing global song project, made in collaboration withMusic Declares Emergency. The song invites covers, celebrates human cultures, and declares humanity's shared responsibility to preserve the environment.[33]
Individuals from theWorld Wide Fund for Nature, Decca, andExtinction Rebellion began work on the project, with the goal of "people in every country in the world singing the same song".[33] The song was composed in a workshop byViolet Skies,Låpsley, and Robin Howl, who purposely made its arrangement and lyricspublic domain and downloadable. Afterwards, volunteers reached out to musicians worldwide to cover the song.[33]
It premiered at theDecember 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference.[34] Since then, it has been sung by thousands of people in over 100 countries.[35] Its goal was to call for governments to enactNew Year's resolutions to resolvethe climate crisis.[34] In 2022,NME described the song as a "call forpeace, unity, global harmony andaction on climate" that celebrates the diversity of human culture.[36]
According to Planet Resolution, there is "at least one version of the song from every country on Earth".[37] Project lead Abbey Wright summarized some global performers in 2022:[33]
From a girl band inBenin to a drill group inBrazzaville, Congo to theKuikuro people in the Amazon; aMongolian nomadic herder, theGeorgian State Opera Chorus, panpipers from theSolomon Islands and refugees fromEritrea,Iran andSyria. The song has been sung on the frontlines of climate change inSan Andrés,Mozambique, theMarshall Islands, theAntarctic,Haiti andThe Maldives...InSierra Leone, a group of street kids sing the song, as well as people from slums inUganda,Kenya and the brilliantRecycled Orchestra from Paraguay, who make instruments from rubbish and teach music to children fromCateura...[33]
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| "Resolution Song", a conglomeration of video entries edited by Planet Resolution, 2022 |
Celebrity supporters of the project includeEmma Thompson,Keira Knightley,Naomie Harris,Bill Bailey,Jodie Whittaker, andMark Rylance.[38]Notable performers of the Resolution Song include:[36][38]
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