URGENCY FOR GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION: Pop Song Lyrics From The 60's

Newspaper Headlines From The Past:

More Floods In  Cities Today, Wildfire Spread Fast In Forest Area,  Illegal Timber Trade, December Monsoon Rain Kills Many, Massive Landslide In Hill Resort, Poisonous Chemical In Rivers Uncontrollable, Acid Rain All Over Countryside, Polluted Beaches...

'Don't Go Near The Water': Beach Boys. 

YouTube Video by: Angela de Lara.

This article has been re-posted from 10th August 2012, twelve years ago. Comments my dear readers? 

One Observation At Shopping Malls:

I have no quarrel with people who are paid by others to distribute flyers to pedestrians and passers-by.  But if we are truly going green this distribution of paper advertisements has to be curbed because the practice is growing worse by the day.

People who accept these flyers, possibly out of curiosity or otherwise, throw them away at the next bin they pass. Some even do so without reading the flyers.  And in our letter-box?  It's filled with the same junk. Tons of paper rammed down the throats of mail-boxes.  Meantime trees are destroyed.

Statistics:

"Paper is the most common type of waste in Singapore and about 1.26 million tonnes of paper waste was generated in 2008. The recycling rate of paper is 48% in 2008, and most of this paper waste is sorted, baled and exported overseas for recycling as there are no paper recycling mills in Singapore (zerowastesg.com)." And paper wastage is only one problem...

Sixties Song Lyrics:

[1] In the final verse of his song, Tapestry (1970), 60s music composer and singer Don McLean (American Pie, Starry, Starry Night) reminds his listeners about the destructive nature of man:

And every fish that swims silent, every bird that fly freely
Every doe that steps softly,
Every crisp leaf that falls, all the flowers that grow,
On this colorful tapestry, somehow they know
That if man is allowed to destroy all we need
He will soon have to pay with his life for his greed.

[2] The Beach Boys have the same message with Don't Go Near The Water (1970) warns the public:

Don't go near the water
Don't you think it's sad
What's happened to the water
Our water's going bad
Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams
Have all been touched by man
The poison floating out to sea
Now threatens life on land

Toothpaste and soap will make our oceans a bubble bath
So let's avoid an ecological aftermath
Beginning with me
Beginning with you...

[3] And one by Cat Stevens (Yusof Islam) asks his audience Where Do The Children Play (1970)?

Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train
Switch on summer from a slot machine
Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
But will you keep on building higher till there's no more room up there
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

Wastage:

I have noticed a slight change now. Tissue paper is not offered free in fast food restaurants and coffee houses.  You gotta ask for it! And that's good. But we got a long way to go.

Paper, water, electricity, food. What else are we wasting everyday? There are other songwriters who write about warning green. Remember any?

Just a reminder. Have we improved much since 2012. If we have, it's really great, so do write in... [4/12/2024]

Lyrics: from Lyrics Websites.
Images: from Google.

Quote from: http://www.zerowastesg.com/2008/12/08/paper-recycling/

CoCo Lee 李玟与美国 R&B 巨星 Ne-Yo 尼欧演唱迈克杰克逊的经典歌曲 [Earth Song]，尖叫值破格. CoCo Lee invited US R&B superstar Ne-Yo to perform MJs 'Earth Song' in 'I Am A Singer 4' finals singing session. Co-operation went well and the treble and transition were precise. In the history of Chinese pops, Ms. Lee had successfully integrated urban and western music, opening up new opportunities n spreading Chinese pop music internationally. Comments welcome. [Hunan TV International]

Singapore Haze: Amazed! Dazed Neighbours Still Fazed About Haze

This posting was written in 2015 and reposted in 2016 and 2019. 

Just a reminder to readers to be wary and wear a mask 

if the haze comes on again! We hope it won't!

Today 12 September 2019 the haze 

has come home again. 

Haphazard, hazardous and horrible!

Will it ever end?

It's 2023 August!

UP TO 2,000 VIEWS

THE HAZE IN SINGAPORE: CAUSE AND GLOBAL CONSEQUENCE

Is It Clear?

Fourteen million plus hits on Google when you type, "Haze in Singapore." 

Call it what you may, haze or smoke which has been polluting this region for weeks now is not created by Mother Nature but by Man himself.  One thing is clear; our air is so foul and "poisonin' my oxygen" that it is frustrating everyone in the area.  Worse, it is making every creature, great and small, sick.

Every day fires are destroying the beautiful forests of Indonesia's South Sumatra, Riau and Kalimantan and simultaneously endangering the health of its own people and surrounding neighbours and little red dot, Singapore [written in 2015].

I'm a hungry planet

I had the bluest seas

Oh the people kept 
Choppin' down

All my finest trees (1).

The lyrics above were written by The Byrds way back in 1970 and described a situation that is still persisting today. Hungry Planet is one of many songs that deals with an on-going ecological disaster and the problem will never be resolved unless a certain country follows its own laws which forbid the use of fire to clear land.

Or Still Unclear?

Another thing is clear; we can't do anything because Singapore is like a David standing in front of a cigarette smoking Goliath. We have to inhale what Goliath exhales, and the *problem has persisted from as far back as 1972, more than 40 years since. 

The country in question has promised it will enforce its laws but nothing's been done so far [written in 2015]. A pop group from 1970, The Moody Blues, reminds us of the foulness in the air in a composition called, How Is It:

How is it we are here on this path we walk
In this world of pointless fear filled with empty talk
Descend from the ape as scientist-priest all think
Will they save us in the end, we're trembling on the brink (2).

Responsible Lyricists:

Like The Byrds and The Moody Blues, many famous pop composers and lyricists get serious and write about how Man has savaged and ravaged Mother Earth. So while some readers  think that the West are only writing frivolous rock and roll music these same pop stars are doing the world a favour by warning how our selfish attitude towards the environment is destroying and killing it:

Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to earth (3).

Only last night (5th October 2015), I saw our local news headlines on television feature young children in hospitals with asthma and with some seniors suffering from a skin ailment agitated by the haze. The Byrds lamented in the same song that this condition is:

Diggin' into my skin

Taking more out of my good earth

Than they'll ever put back in

I"m a hungry planet... (4)

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the established folk rock super group from the 70's stated that Clear Blue Skies were not much to ask for. They were here before creatures roamed the earth. Question is, "Will they be here when we're gone?" (5)

Optimism:

According to an **article, two-thirds of the fires in Indonesia occur on peat wetlands. It is not widely known that Indonesia has the largest tropical peat wetlands in the world but these places are definitely rich in biological diversity. Imagine the devastation going on at the moment with the fires in full force and its outcome afterwards.

Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Ah oh mercy, mercy me
Ah things ain't what they used to be, no no
Radiation under ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh mercy, mercy me. (6)

How long more do we have to take the haze and the continuing saga of earth's destruction? I remain optimistic so let's leave the last words to Tommy James and the Shondells:

Maybe tomorrow

When he looks down

On every green field, ooh ooh

And every town

All of his children

And every nation

They'll be peace and good brotherhood (7).

FOOTNOTES

Other Earth Songs:

Mother Nature's Son - The Beatles

After The Gold Rush - Neil Young 
Where Do The Children Play - Cat Stevens 

Big  Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell 
Don't Go Near the Water - The Beach Boys
Hole In The Sky - Black Sabbath

The Trees - Rush 

Calypso John Denver
Nobody's Fault - Aerosmith

Earth Anthem - The Turtles
Every Day Every Day Celebrate - John Denver
Sweet Baby James -James Taylor

Traffic Jam - James Taylor

Goodbye To A River - Don Henley

The Eagle and The Hawk - John Denver
Down By The River - Albert Hammond

Quoted Songs Are:

(1) Hungry Planet - The Byrds 

(2) How Is It? - Moody Blues

(3) The Sun Is Burning - Simon and Garfunkel

(4) Hungry Planet - The Byrds 

(5) Clear Blue Skies - Crosby Stills Nash and Young

(6) Oh Mercy, Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye

(7) Crystal Blue Persuasion- Tommy James and The Shondells

*Straits Times Press report and image: 13/10/1972.

**Straits Times Press: S. Jayakumar and Tommy Koh; The haze, international law and global cooperation - 6/10/2015 - Pg A20 Opinion.

**Straits Times Press: Bustar Maitar; Instead of pointing fingers, start restoring peatlands - 7/10/2015 - PgA21 Opinion.

You Tube Video: Crystal Blue Persuasion- Tommy James and The Shondells

Images, Chart and gif: Google.
http://weather.asiaone.com.sg/weather-airdetails.php?d=&m=pre&area=

SAVE THE EARTH CAMPAIGN

SLIP NOTE: 11th October, 2015.

Exhilarating news piece that Indonesia is finally getting help from some countries to help douse out the fire and according to The President Mr Jokowi, it must be effective two weeks from today.  Hopefully, we get fresh air again and also save "all creatures great and small", which include the orang utans too. 

TODAY 26TH AUGUST, 2016. HAZE STILL HERE.

Disclaimer: 

There is absolutely no intention to criticise or point a finger at any country regarding the haze situation. This article has been written in 2015 and in the daily newspapers these days, reports of another haze occurrence is possible [3.6.2023].

Haze, Haze, Choking Singapore 2019 Again & Again

Here's the first poster and it comes from John Tan, artist, photographer, and a good friend.  He immediately drew this one and sent it to me. John says, "A good poster needs no words." How true.

Thanks, John for the pictures of three people suffocating in the haze.

No more outdoor activities, and we've been kind and patient but coughing and wheezing, while others are enjoying the perks of a financial harvest when flora and fauna are destroyed for purposeful gain.

This second poster was a window view of the sun hidden by the haze this morning. When the sun can be hijacked by Man and kept shrouded, what else can happen next?

Mercy Mercy Me: Marvin Gaye. "Where did all the blue sky go? Poison is in the wind. How much more abuse from man, can she stand?"

Whoa, ah, mercy, mercy me
Oh things ain't what they used to be, no no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows from the north and south and east.

Read this connection too:

https://singapore60smusic.blogspot.com/2015/10/amazed-dazed-neighbour-still-laze-about.html

All I Ever See Is Haze by Alvin Oon. Thanks, Alvin very much for permission to use the video.

Images: John BT Tan, Andy Young.
YouTube: Marvin Gaye. Mercy Mercy Me.

Plastics, Plastics, Plastics, Get Rid Of Plastics In SG

Browsing through the blog backward in time, I discovered many useful pieces of information. Here are two comments from good friends, Horace and Henri, who have contributed many articles about SG music from the 60s. Here are two but different i.e. about SG and Plastics. 

The Beach Boys song, 'Don't Go Near The Water', was written in 1971, that long ago:

(1) Horace Wee says:

Those ocean-going vessels from container ships, tankers to cruise ships. Are you telling me these vessels store their garbage till they can dispose of them responsibly when they are in port? Correct me if I'm wrong - I think not! They have scheduled dumping days! What control is there? 

Let's start in our own backyard. The only store here that stopped using plastic bags is IKEA and encourages BYO reusable bags. All the other supermarkets, stores, food outlets, other establishments - it's plastic bags for everything. With only a half-hearted effort by NTUC probably now long ignored or forgotten.

To wait for someone to tell you to stop using plastic bags is wrong. One should start doing this voluntarily as it is the responsible thing to do.
Unfortunately, the method here that only works is to impose a fine on people in order for them to do anything right. Quite pathetic.

(2) Henri Gann says:

Glad that your blog is venturing into environmental awareness. 

Plastic goods are definitely an issue as it has a half-life of 100s of years. In simple terms, it doesn't go away easily. Now many cities, counties, and countries around the world are dealing with it. Singapore should too if it has not.

Discharge into the ocean has been a way of disposing of our garbage for many years. It was out of sight, out of mind. Singapore should stop doing it if it has not including the discharge from the many ships for the protection of its clean waters. And, we can go on and on with climate change, etc.

I often wondered as a kid why there were corals and clear blue ocean water around Kusu Island but not at Marine Parade and why there was garbage swept up to the beach of Katong. 

Many Millennials and Generation X in America like my kids are sensitive to the above issues here. Now they are reminding us of environmental awareness and will even go to the extent of telling us what presents we can buy for their kids. Just think, what presents can you buy for the kids that are not made of plastic. Now we buy only paper reading books which are healthy for the environment. 

Don't Go Near The Water: Beach Boys.

(4) The Beach Boys:
Oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams
Have all been touched by man
Poison (Plastics) flowing out to sea
Now threatens life on land...
(By Mike Love, Al Jardine).

(3) Andy Young Says:
Yes, I am guilty. Still using plastic bags to throw my garbage. A very bad habit that's killing our creatures.

Horace Wee and Henry Gann have contributed articles on this blog. Horace was with the Radio and TV station (RTS) at Caldecott Hill - MediaCorp today - and has written two articles in a book called, 'On Air'.

Henri Gann is an unselfish, kind-hearted and successful businessman who came all the way from California USA, to meet me in Singapore. He used to be with a winning guitar group called The Trekkers here.

Disclaimer:
There is no intention to discredit any business or point fingers at anyone or any organization. Truth hurts but truth tells.

John Gerald BT Tan 
observes plastic on seasides, in garbage dumps and other areas of rubbish as pieces of art after he does some magic tricks with his expertise as a media artist. Here are four pieces of these deadly but beautiful killers caught by natural light. He has names for them.

Many, many thanks, John.

The Swan

Serpent

Humming Bird

Whale Rising

Thank you, Horace, Henri, and John. What would I do without all your help?
Images: John Gerald BT Tan and Google.

Fish, Plastic Bags, 'Ikan Kekek', Malay Folk Song

The ban on plastic bags is a hot topic. Let's keep on highlighting this issue until the world gets rid of them. Below are two inter-related stories and a folk-song about fish dishes.

The above poster was taken off Alexandra Hsieh's Facebook post. Thanks, Alex. 

UP TO 2,000 VIEWS

1) Fish in plastic or plastic in fish?

Hooray, the world says it's getting rid of plastic bags. It will take some time.  

Lately, I went to one of the biggest Singapore supermarket chains and asked for a small paper bag. I was given instead a small plastic bag. 

"We don't have paper bags!" said the lady in charge. Strange.

(The picture is a representation of a dead whale from ingestion of plastic created by Greenpeace Philippines. Credit: Greenpeace Philippines)

2) Whales eat people or people eat whales?

No, whales swallow plastic bags and bottles.  And, yes, in a certain country, some people are still catching whales to eat.

"We have been eating them for generations! It's in our culture!" says a citizen. 

I love eating fish but definitely not whales. So be careful not only of fish bones but plastic pieces.

3) Ikan Kekek Folk Song:

Here's a Malay folk song I remember that little children sing in kampongs (villages) in the 1960s. It is just as popular today and sung in primary school classrooms in Malaysia and in Malay classes in Singapore.

Ikan Kekek is, according to a website, PONY FISH, pictured above, a favourite fish dish.

4) Songs with Fish titles:

I don't know too many songs about fish in the English language but here are a few:

Fish and Chips - Chuck Berry
Pisces Fish - George Harrison
Saturday Night Fish Fry - BB King

Gone Fishing - Bing Crosby n Louis Armstrong
Fish Song - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Pray For The Fish - Randy Travis

The Fishin' Hole - Andy Griffith
Moby Dick - Frankie Laine
The Down Easter Alexa - Billy Joel

You can improve the list of fish songs. Splash them on.

WE WANT TO EAT FISH NOT PLASTIC. GET RID OF PLASTIC BAGS!!!

Ikan kekek mak iloi-iloi

Ikan gelama mak ilai -lai

Nanti adik mak iloi-iloi

Pulang sama mak ilai-ilai

Ada satu si ikan parang

Badannya panjang berbelang-belang

Isinya sdikit banyak tulang

Sedap dimakan ala masak pindang

Ikan kekek mak iloi-iloi

Ikan gelama mak ilai-ilai

Nanti adik mak iloi-iloi

Pulang sama mak ilai-ilai

Ada satu si ikan pari

Badannya bulat penuh isi

Sedap dimakan kalo masak kari

Jangan lupa taruh lebih chili

Ikan kekek mak iloi-iloi

Ikan gelama mak ilai-ilai

Nanti adik mak iloi-iloi

Pulang sama mak ilai-ilia

Ikan kekek, oi

Ikan kekek

Ikan kekek, oi

Ikan kekek

Saloma: Ikan Kekek. 

YouTube Video from: Madey Retro Klasik

Translation from Malay:

Mak iloi-iloi snicker fish

Gelama mak ilai -lai fish

Later, my sister will be iloi-iloi

Go home with Ilai-ilai's mother

There is one machete fish

The body is long and striped

It contains quite a lot of bones

Delicious to eat pindang style

Mak iloi-iloi snicker fish

Later, my sister will be iloi-iloi

Go home with Ilai-ilai's mother

There is one stingray

The body is round and full of content

It's delicious when cooked with curry

Don't forget to put more chili

Mak iloi-iloi snicker fish

Gelama mak ilai-ilai fish

Later, my sister will be iloi-iloi

Go home with Ilai-Ilia's mother

Snicker fish, oi

Snickerfish

Snicker fish, oi

Snickerfish

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Anonymous.

Moby Dick The Whale & Sea Life Struggle On: No Killer Whale But Killer Plastic

Save The Whales And Sea Creatures: Ban All Plastic Bags.

      UP TO 6,400 VIEWS      

    12+ LONG COMMENTS    

"Thar she blows..."

Coming from Captain Ahab whose leg was bitten off by Moby Dick, the creature was, "an accursed white whale that razeed me made a poor pegging lubber of me forever and a day (1)."

The book Moby Dick, a classic novel by Herman Melville, has brought to mind the plight of these sea mammals and other ocean creatures, victims again, not of whale hunters like Captain Ahab but by irresponsible people who use the ocean as a huge rubbish dump to discard their garbage. 

Most of these waste matters are placed in plastic bags and swallowed by the poor whales and other forms of marine life. Whales have also been killed for food by some communities. In time they die, like Moby Dick and those in the story, "Oh, lonely death on lonely life! (2)."

Michael Bangar (image right), Singapore guitarist and musician has this comment to make, "Andy, the biggest culprit is mankind, as with a lot of other problems throughout the globe. Rubbish that has been thrown overboard from seafaring vessels over many, many years are swept out to sea from rivers, streams, canals and drains worldwide.  Many countries don't set control laws and throw their waste into the oceans.

It is a huge but unseen problem that needs massive cooperation from all nations to rectify. The poor sea creatures suffer. We just don't know how many more of them have died from this catastrophe. Like the poor innocent whale, thinking that rubbish-filled plastic bags was food. So sad!"

In the song, made popular by Frankie Laine in the mid-fifties, the whale was a symbol of fear: 

Oh Moby Dick was so big and slick
There was never such a whale
He'll take a ship with the slightest whip
Of his mighty, mighty tail...

We know today that the whale is not the aggressor. Man is. Merlin Lim (image below), the former guitarist for pop band Silver Strings, roamed the world in large ships after he decided to work at sea. Here's what he said:

"Andy, I saw the video sometime back and have been thinking about how the whales and other sea life suffered because of the human being's lack of respect for these creatures. 

I recalled the time I served on board ships. All rubbish, food waste, plastics included, were dumped overboard while the ship was at sea. Seagulls would hover over the garbage, pick up bits and pieces of food and debris while the rest sink into the ocean. 

These remains will eventually end up in the stomachs of the bigger fishes as 'food'.  The practice has been going on for years from way back in the early 70's.

Sad to say, I am also guilty of this big mistake we have all made." 

Indeed Michael and Merlin. And as we, "Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool (3),"  we are all guilty as hell.

An Original Article (Copyrights Reserved).

I thank contributions from Michael Bangar and Merlin Lim, both rhythm guitarists from The Silver Strings.

1,2,3: Quotations from 'Moby Dick' by Herman Melville
Images: A Personal Collection; Google.