Nature's Animals
Why does my animal get set on destruction?
Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Nature” by Holly Near. If you’d like to hear the song before you read about it, I’ve included a YouTube video below the article. Below, you’ll find my interpretation of the lyrics which are written in italics. For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese below. TOEIC (PBT) 450+, Eiken 2, CEFR B1.
(511 words)
In this song by Holly Near, the singer makes some observations about animals, mainly humans. Humans have offspring (children) just like any other kind of living being. However, the things that we do often have very bad results for those children. For example, when companies pollute the air, water, and soil, they benefit from increased sales, but people and other animals suffer.
Nature is a reminder that we are animals
Life and death and the food chain, all part of the plan
But why does my animal hurt its offspring
And sell them down the river
For a tidbit, an acre, or a bone?
"Selling someone down the river" is a way of saying that you are betraying or hurting someone by giving away their trust for your own benefit. We use this phrase to describe any situation where someone betrays a friend or a coworker in order to get something, like getting a better job, more money, or more land (an acre).
To “throw someone a bone” or a tidbit means you do someone a very small favor, just enough to show you’re being nice, but not really changing anything important. It’s like when someone asks for a big piece of cake, and you give them a tiny crumb instead. You’ve given them something, but it’s not really what they wanted.
So, the last two lines in the verse above mean that humans will do things that will be good for themselves and not think about the consequences for others.
Nature is a reminder that we are animals
Life and death and food chain, all part of the plan
But why does my animal abandon its reason
And dampen a spirit with an insult, a bat, or a bomb
Why does my animal?
To “abandon one’s reason” means to stop thinking clearly and carefully, or to not make good choices. We sometimes hurt someone’s feelings or “dampen their spirit” when we call them names or say bad things about them. Sometimes we commit acts of violence like attacking people or even bombing other countries. It is only the human animal that does this.
Nature is a reminder that we are animals
Life and death and food chain, all part of the plan
But why does my animal get set on destruction
Poison our mother, level the mountain
For a promise, a nugget of gold?
Again, the singer refers to the destruction of the planet. Companies around the world dig for oil, mine for coal, copper, uranium, or diamonds, for example. They blow up mountain tops (to level means to make something flat) to make it easier to mine minerals. If they can sell these resources, they can make a lot of money.
And anyway, I’ve just been thinking about it
And anyway, I’ve just been thinking about it
I’m like that, I think about things
In the middle of the night
The singer wonders why people do these things for some kind of profit instead of being kind to others. She is asking us to think hard about these problems.
Questions for discussion
• What are some examples of how human actions can have negative consequences for their own children and other animals?
• Why do humans sometimes think their own needs are more important than the needs of others and the environment?
Vocabulary
offspring 子孫
tidbit 一口
coworker 同働者
crumb カス、ぱんクズ
consequences 結果
reason 推理、推論
dampen 気をそがれる(to dampen one's spirit; to discourage)
insult 侮辱、侮言
destruction 破壊
copper 銅
to level something 何かを水平にする
nugget 金塊
Note:
Gil Cohen art: An image of de Havilland DH.98 Mosquitos raiding German-held territory, during WWII, by Gil Cohen. Image was featured on the cover of the August 1961 issue Man's World magazine. Gil Cohen (born July 28, 1931 in Philadelphia) is an American artist, noted for his illustrations of aircraft and people in military service, who also illustrated men's magazines, books and movie posters. (Information from Wikimedia Commons)
Learn more about Holy Near at https://hollynear.com/
#英検2級 #protestsong #protestmusic #TOEIC
I believe that education should be free.
All of the articles about the songs will remain free for students to use. (We are all students, are we not?) However, if you find these articles useful and are in a position to make a small (or large) donation, I would be deeply grateful.
buymeacoffee.com/socialissuesinsong
Would you like to see my cats? I post regularly about them on Notes in the app.
