Away
A simple song about saving the environment
Thank you for joining me for today’s song, Away.
Comments and questions are welcome. Please be respectful of others’ opinions if they should differ from yours.
For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below.
The Song
(174 words)
Someone recently asked me, “Do you have any songs that deal with social issues but for younger learners?” So today, I’ll talk about an easy song that you can use for almost any level.
The song Away deals with the environmental issue of pollution. It was written in 2000 by singer/songwriter Joyce Johnson Rouse who goes by the name of “Earth Mama”. The song is written as a round, three parts that can be sung together to form a harmony.
The lyrics are quite simple and direct, and the message is clear: You can’t really throw anything away on our tiny planet. You can take other actions such as dumping it somewhere or sinking it in the bay, but the things do not go “away”. The song encourages us to reuse the things we have. It also reminds us that everything - the air, water, and soil - on the planet is connected.
It’s a good reminder that we should only buy what we really need and do what we can to recycle and reuse.
VOCABULARY
sink 沈める
encourage 勧める
remind 思い出さる
For more information see:
©2000 Rouse House Music, ASCAP. All rights reserved. www.earthmama.org
From the CD Grass Roots by Earth Mama, ℗ 2002 Earth Mama