Our Own Backyard

Here's a thing or two that everyone can do

Welcome to new subscribers and regular readers! Thank you for joining me for today’s song, “Our Own Backyard” by John McCutcheon (1995). 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.

Eighth grade students from St. Bonaventure High School spend recess period picking up trash on beach near oil wells (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

(338 words)
The word “backyard” has a couple of meanings. It could mean an area behind a house or other buildings. Sometimes there’s grass or maybe flowers or trees. A backyard usually has a fence around it. Another meaning is the area close to where you live, for example, “I don’t want a nuclear power plant in my backyard.” That means “in the area near where I live.”

Today’s song is about taking action to make the environment cleaner. The song is for children, and adults (grownups) can learn something, too!

Sometimes grownups forget things
It really isn't very hard
Maybe we can teach them something new
In our own backyard

Did you know that when you use a car to go somewhere, you’re not only using gasoline. You’re using oil to make the engine move. Tires are made of natural and man-made rubber, steel and plastics (and plastics come from oil!). Tires wear down every time you take the car out for a ride. Tiny pieces go into the air that we breathe. Smoke from burning gasoline also goes into the air. This song gives us some ways to save oil and other materials.

You can walk to the store, you can ride your bike
You know, it really isn't very hard
Recycle that can for another time
In our own backyard

Right in our own backyard
Here's a thing or two that kids can do
In our own backyard

What kinds of things do you already do?

Take your own bag to the grocery store
It really isn't very hard
Pick up the litter on your street and
In our own backyard

What other things can you think of to help keep your neighborhood clean and not use resources?

You know that in this world there's problems and pollution
But it really isn't very hard
For you to become a part of the solution
In your own backyard

Each of us can do something to make a better planet. We just have to start in our own backyard.

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Leaving a comment is a good way to practice your writing skills.

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Vocabulary

nuclear power plant 原子力発電所
grownups 大人
backyard 裏庭
man-made 人工
rubber ゴム
grocery store 食料品店
litter ポイ捨てのゴミ
pollution 汚染
solution 解決策

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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.

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