In my day job I work on environmental politics. In my other career, I’m a folk singer-songwriter, and (as Sing Out! magazine noted in its review of my first CD) many of my songs have a “gentle political message.” You’d think, then, that it would make sense for much of my songwriting to touch on environmental themes. Yet, until my recent song “Bigger, Faster, and More,” I stayed far away from the topic. It’s just not that easy to write a good environmental song – and, I think, it may actually be harder the more you know about the subject. I’m thinking about environmental songs, because I’ve been booked to play at the Boston Greenfest later this summer, and I want to play some green-themed songs there, written by me or by others. And so I’m, once again, thinking about what makes an environmentally-oriented song effective. By effective I mean a couple different things. The first is that it has to succeed on its own as a song, regardless of message. Although there’s a lot of politics in my songs, that’s not because I set out to write songs to accomplish particular political goals; it’s simply because there’s a lot of politics in my world view. So – sometimes – when my song tells a story there is some political undercurrent to that story. But it’s the story I’m pushing, not the politics. The second part of effectiveness is that a good environmental song needs to carry an accurate and relevant environmental message. An effective environmental message could be as simple as telling a story that makes people care about an issue in a way they might not have previously. But whatever it does, it has to do it with information that is correct. I get really frustrated by songs with inaccurate or incoherent environmental details. If you’re trying to get people to care about global climate change but linking it the "hole" in the ozone layer (which not only is not directly related, but the latter is an issue that the standard consumer in the developed world is hardly contributing to anymore) you’re going to lose anyone who understands the issue and misinform those who don’t. When I write a song about an area where I’m not an expert, my goal is to learn enough about the issue or location so that people who are don’t notice anything in my song that doesn’t fit. On the other hand, part of the reason I think it’s hard for me to write about environmental topics is that I know a lot about them. In addition to understanding the causes, I know that it’s rarely a simple “good guys versus bad guys” story. I teach a course that has the nickname of “why good people do bad environmental things,” which presents the variety of social (institutional, structural) reasons that environmental problems come to be, even if few people actually set out to cause environmental problems or desire their creation. But “internalize the externalities” or “reduce subsidization” are not the beginnings of a catchy chorus. So I need to start where most of my songs start (or, at least end up): with a story. Actual people (even if they’re fictional) experiencing actual things. I asked folks on my FB fan page for suggestions of what they think are the best environment songs, and some of them definitely fit in this category. But I’m also interested in songs people suggested that don’t tell stories, but instead serve as either a general statement of concern for the earth, or as a rallying cry in favor of something specific. That’s generally not the kind of song I write, but it has been, at some points in my life, the kind of song that has moved me. I know that the music I grew up with influenced my ethical and political beliefs and sometimes did so in a more direct way than a story song can. I’m going to think about how I might approach that kind of songwriting about environmental (or other political) topics in a way that’s true to what I know and believe about the environment, and also to what I know and believe about songwriting. Don’t expect quick results but stay tuned.