What a wonderful world: music inspired by nature

 

This post will explore how myself and others have been influenced by the natural world in our music. As I write this I have been transported back to childhood. I still have a compilation of poems that I wrote as a child I remember one of the first  being about nature and autumn (my favourite season) in stark contrast to this very dreamy poem of jumping in colourful leaves was one about pollution and war. Whilst thinking about songs to include here I realised that like me many writers are as inspired by the destruction of nature. Perhaps you could say because we find it so beautiful we hope to protect it through pointing out  its fragility and resilience to our bad choices.

Around the age of 10 my teacher played us Vivaldi's 'Winter'. We had to pretend to be encased in ice and slowly come to life. Many years later I played Vivaldi's 'Winter' and 'Spring' to children of around 3 years old and they could distinguish which sounded cold and remember which piece was which. Vivaldi did a good job at introducing many generations to the sounds of the seasons as did Holst with' The Planets'. I remember laying down around the age of 8 at school and listening to his work and then having to say what I imagined. I remember it being pretty bleak so I'm guessing it was one of the outer planets. 

All these years on I am still transported by music and even without lyrics whole worlds and landscapes are triggered by the smallest sound. Most recently I have been listening to the work of Ludovico Einaudi. Einaudi composed 'Elegy For The Arctic' and played this piece up in the arctic as the ice started to melt to promote awareness of global warming and the melting of the icecaps. How wonderful to be able to be inspired by nature and also in some way be able to pay back by alerting people to the impact we have upon the Earth. He has also composed an album named ' Seven Days Walking' with titles such as 'Golden Butterflies ' and 'Full Moon'. 

Through listening to many interviews with songwriters it seems that many get inspiration by going for walks especially in nature. Sting, in an interview with Sodajerker on Song writing talked about going for a walk whilst working on an album. He walked through fields in Salisbury and came back with the lyrics to 'Fields of Gold'. His writing partner asked where he found the words and he answered "under a tree"

Often, especially when I am traveling I write outside. My songs in Australia were mostly written on the beach 

In Hawaii in an outdoor kitchen looking over the ocean. 

When I lived in Somerset my piano was set under the window and I looked out onto our front garden. 

Each place lead to me using literal and metaphorical references to nature. 

Whilst in Somerset I wrote a song called Garden. It was inspired by my partner who is a gardener. He doesn't buy me flowers but he has grown me a whole garden, displaying his commitment, patience and nurturing spirit. 

The beginning of the Song talks of where we met in Australia. 

'I found you where others fear to tread 
In the depths of my wildest dreams and fears
Where water runs so clear you might be afraid of your own reflection
Where crocodiles creep and snakes sleep above our heads'

It was a time in my life where I was trying to conquer my fears and live the kind of life I wanted. To let go of negative emotional patterns I had been in my whole life. The backdrop of the rainforest was perfect to describe where I was emotionally as well as physically. Not only did my partner grow me a garden he also helped and supported me to grow through an emotional time of many changes. 

'You're growing me
You're growing a
You're growing me a garden'

So onto another love song inspired by nature. 'As' by Stevie Wonder in 1976 and later covered by many including George Michael and Mary J Blige.

The song compares the certainty and longevity of love with that of the certainty of nature doing its thing.

"As around the world the sun know's she's revolving

And the rosebuds know to bloom in early May

For I'll know deep in my mind

The love of me I've left behind

'Cause I'll be loving you always" 

The song 'Feeling Good' recorded by Nina Simone in 1965 and originally written for the musical 'The roar of the greasepaint-The smell of the Crowd' (1964)

"Birds flying high
You know how I feel
Sun in the sky
You know how I feel
Breeze driftin on by
You know how I feel"

The song compares their own feelings to how they imagine animals and features of nature such as the sun and breeze must feel. Bringing a sense of freedom, lightness, joy and of course 'feelin good'.

Louis Armstrong's performance of 'Wonderful World' 1967 captures how love can also help you fall in love with your surroundings. It is as though everything becomes more beautiful when you are high on that dopamine that romantic love can bring. 

 "I see leaves of green
Red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world"

Just a few years later in 1971 Marvin Gaye  recorded 'Mercy, Mercy Me' talking about the destruction of the environment.  

"Oh mercy, mercy me,

Ah, things ain't what they used to be, no, no, no.

Radiation underground and in the sky;

Animals and birds who live near by are dying"

This element of humans relationship with nature and the world is something that my most recent compositions such as 'A change is gonna come' from my EP 'Brave' look at.

"Stealing from your mother to feed the greed
You're pulling out the carpet from beneath your children's feet"

I could and probably will write a whole post about songs inspired by the ocean and rivers. Water is a standard metaphor for our emotions, love, our journey, depths and basic human needs. Rivers especially are a place of congregation and cleansing in many cultures. 

"Take me to the river " is a common phrase in blues music and conjures up the image of being cleared of sin, to be reborn and wash off the dirt of the day. My recent favourite river song is Ibeyi's haunting 'River'  

"Carry away my dead leaves
Let me baptise my soul
With the help of your waters...
I will come to your river 
Wash my soul"

The beautiful imagery created by Stevie Nicks in the song 'Landslide' which she wrote whilst in Aspen in a crossroads in her life. She really wanted to become successful as a musician and looking at the mountains inspired her to keep pushing on to get to the top.

So how about you let nature inspire you today!

Here is a playlist of nature inspired songs

Below are some creative start points

Link a natural feature to your life, body or emotional state 

Mountain, ocean, river, flower, tree etc 

Zoom in on the small features of nature eg the small pebbles/rock/snow of a mountain or the veins on leaves of a tree 

Take a walk to inspire your creative work.

Create whilst looking out of a window/in a garden/in nature notice how this changes your creativity

Watch a film set in a natural back drop make notes on the natural features link them to the story of the film or your own experiences

Use a piece of landscape art to inspire you. Imagine you are in the painting, what is happening in the place depicted? Or perhaps what was in the artists mind as they created it-this painting was created whilst in an asylum. 

('Starry night', Vincent Van Gogh 1889)

Create as if you are nature telling it's story eg a tree telling all the things it has seen in it's lifetime